Page 46 - LIfesOuttakes3

Spunky went after the bottle with great vigor and appreciation. After giving them some last minute pointers on raising a calf, I headed home to get my own chores done. More than two years passed by, and I had totally forgotten about Spunky. I had graduated from high school, and was spending the fall doing mechanic work for my dad. I was upside down inside a big tractor when Jed approached me with a question. “Um, I was wondering if you could tell me how old a calf has to be before you wean him from the bottle?” I pulled myself out of the giant transmission and leaned against the tractor tire as I answered. “We usually wean them at about three months.” Jed’s shocked expression was only matched by how white he turned as the blood drained from his face. “Oh, my heck!” he gasped. The trauma in his eyes and voice suddenly brought the memory of Spunky back to my mind. “How old is this calf you want to wean?” I asked, afraid I already knew the answer. Jed shrugged. “It’s that one you brought over to my house.” The calf would be a full grown bull, and likely 41