Ella went behind her. Someone had bound the horse’s tail with long strips so that it was out of the way. She took a deep breath. “With God’s guidance,” she whispered, and broke the white membrane with the tip of the blade she’d hidden in her sleeve, tearing it so that she could see the juncture of the foal’s tail. Birthing fluid flowed out, the pungent smell filling the air. Flattening her hands and thankful for them being small and strong, Ella slid them inside the mare, following the body of the foal. “Gentle pressure now,” she murmured as she guided the foal’s body slowly back up into the birth canal.

The horse neighed. “Calm her,” she said, and Cain moved around to the front to stroke Ginny’s head. He spoke in a deep, peace-filled voice.

“I feel the legs, the back ones,” Ella said. “The foal’s head is far inside. I have to bring it out backward, so we must work fast to get it into the air once we start.”

“Get the ropes,” Cain said, and Joshua held them up, already anticipating their need. “I will hold Ginny’s head,” Cain said. “Joshua and Bàs, be ready to pull the foal out gently. Ella will remove the sack once the head is free. Gideon, be ready to rub the foal down with a towel.”

Ella clasped the upper part of the foal’s leg, guiding it around toward her. Then the second leg, until they were both facing the opening. Grasping first one and then the other, she worked them down the canal, trying not to pull too much and rip the mother’s red sack from the uterine wall. “The legs are coming.” She felt one of them try to pull back inside and caught it again. She smiled. “And it is alive.”

“There,” Bàs said, jumping in to grasp the little hoof and tightening the rope loop around it so it couldn’t disappear back into the birth canal.

“And the second,” Ella said, prompting Joshua to do the same.

Reaching both of her hands inside the mare, Ella held firmly to the foal’s lower half. “Pull gently when I say,” she said, waiting for the feel of the mare’s contraction pressing inward. Ella held her breath until she felt the start of a contraction against her hands. “Now, slowly pull.” The brothers stood directly behind her, Cain at the mare’s head. “That’s it,” she said. “Come on.” The little body slid slowly toward the exit, and Ella bent forward, ready to catch it, since Ginny was standing. Inch by inch, the foal moved until the muscles relaxed again.