Hindel Kidz #41: Fair Thee Well
Hindel Kidz #41
Fair Thee Well
2015 had been a bad year for baby goats all the way around. Jack had tried to breed Hope and Faith twice with Charlie, but neither one of them had taken. The Goat Lady had tried to breed eleven of her goats. She wasn’t having very good luck either. Even with the ones who were bred; they were having stillborns. Charlotte called two other farms, but they weren’t having any better luck.
Savannah and Joey weren’t going to have any goats to show in the junior class; the class for all goats under one year old. Babe, Boots and Waddles had turned one in April. They were just going to have to show the same goats as last year. Jack in the Box was the backup goat.
Since Jack had fractured his ankle, he wasn’t going to be able to walk the goats around the yard every morning like he had in the past. Aw, what a shame.
Babe had to make a trip to the vet. She had a large cyst on her brisket that was beginning to wrap around her voice box and windpipe. Dr. Robb did surgery right then and there. There had been a small infection starting so Jack had to give her follow up shots for a few days. The cyst had nothing to do with CL. If a goat has any kind of abnormality they would be disqualified.
When it was time to take the stitches out, Jack wanted Sven to help by holding Babe. Grace went in and hooked the leash on Babe’s collar and led her out of the barn.
“Savannah will be happy since you are walking her goat,” Jack replied.
“Well then I better not walk Babe anymore,” Grace answered. There was no reason to make Savannah happy.
Savannah was supposed to come up one day and walk the goats. When Sven asked if she had shown up, Jack said, “It’s not the day before the fair yet.”
According to Joey, Savannah had only been to one 4-H meeting so far. She always came up with an excuse not to go: she had to work, she had school, she was too tired, she wanted to go see her boyfriend…
Joey came up one day to walk Boots. Well Boots put on the brakes. Jack went over took the leash and Boots trotted right along beside him. When he stopped, Boots would look up and him as if to say, “Okay, what’s next?”
Savannah and her family had decided to go to South Carolina. On the news there were reports of shark attacks along the Carolina coast. Two teenagers had been attacked. Grace and Sven looked at each other and grinned. The ages of the victims were twelve and sixteen… then it wasn’t Savannah and Joey. However the shark attacks had been only 30 miles away from where they were.
Babe, Boots, Waddles, Clark and Libby had been all spruced up, washed and groomed to get ready for the fair. Over 300 goats and 30 to 40 4-H clubs participated. Babe got junior champion and over all grand champion. Libby got senior champion and overall reserve grand champion. It’s unlikely for the junior champion to beat out the senior champion, but Babe proved she could do it. A couple years ago Hope had done the same. Boots and Waddles came in first and second in their class. Clark got zip even though he acted like a perfect gentleman and didn’t cause any problems. Charlotte wasn’t the kind of person to make excuses for the goats, but she thought Clark should have been in the top five at least. There were a total of twelve goats in his class.
Savannah and Joey had come out on top again. They couldn’t have done any better. It’s pretty sad when they can win without doing a single thing. Even though they were allowed show one more time after they graduated, they decided not to. Smartest decision they ever made.
And like all stories, they eventually must come to an end.
