the gloves and then crouched in front of Dunder’s face, using a flashlight to make his pupils dilate. They did, though slowly, which meant his blood sugar was probably low. Not unexpected, considering he hadn’t eaten in 24 hours.
She moved to push his lip up, and he grunted, pulling away.
“Hey, boy,” said Mr. Nichollas. “This is Doc’s girl. You treat her right.”
Dunder’s eyes flicked to her, and she could have sworn he understood, because he opened his mouth for her.
“What are you looking for?” asked Caleb. He’d come closer when his dad had come in, and she sensed his nearness like warmth from a Yule log.
“Sores. If he’s drinking but not eating, it could mean an abscessed tooth.” She finished the oral exam. “Nothing.” She moved to his stomach, listened to his heart and noted the fresh pile of droppings that meant his bowels worked. “I’m going to need to draw blood.” Thankfully, they had the supplies in the bucket.
Caleb came forward and put his hand on Dunder’s neck, just above where she was about to insert the needle.
She pulled back. “Is he going to jerk?” If he was, she wanted to be out of the way of the antlers. More importantly, they’d have to bind his legs to protect themselves. How had she skipped that step? She turned to stare at the reindeer, shocked that she’d forgotten he wasn’t domesticated and could easily harm her or Caleb.
Caleb spoke softly. “No, but he’s scared.”
Her head whipped to the side, where she caught the fear in Dunder’s eyes.
She whipped back to look at Caleb, shocked that he was in tune with the animal. Usually, her large-animal clients stepped back and let her do what needed to be done. They didn’t care about the animal being afraid. Dog and cat owners? That was a different story altogether. They knew their pets, loved them as members of the family. “That’s very kind of you.”
He ducked under the brim of his hat as he confessed, “I care about this old buzzard.”
Dunder moaned like someone would at a bad joke.
Caleb winked at her and started scratching behind Dunder’s ear. “What? Are you embarrassed in front of the pretty lady, huh?”
While Caleb distracted the reindeer with his teasing and talk, Faith filled five vials of blood. She pulled out the needle and applied pressure with gauze. “There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Dunder rolled his eyes.
She slipped off her gloves. “I don’t know what’s more disturbing: that I talked to him, or that I think he responded.”
Caleb grinned. “This breed of reindeer is extremely intelligent.”
A loud clang rang through the air. They both jumped and turned to see the red-nosed reindeer shake out his head and then walk into the metal bar outlining the doorway again. She sputtered a laugh. “Intelligent, huh?”
Caleb’s rueful grin was something to behold. “That’s Rudy. He’s smart, but he’s also half-blind.” He jumped to his feet and went over to the open doorway. “Rudy,” he said by way of warning the animal he was getting closer. “How’d you get out of your stall?”
Rudy sniffed Caleb from belt to chin.
“Sorry, no carrots on me today.”
Rudy shook out his head in disgust.
Faith rocked back on her heels, watching with interest. One reindeer with seeming telepathic abilities she could understand, but two?
Caleb took Rudy’s halter and turned his head to the side. “This way.”
“Hang on.” She patted Dunder’s neck before standing, feeling like Dunder would be insulted if she just ran off. She got closer to Rudy, expecting the same sniffing treatment. Instead, he buried his face in her stomach and rubbed his head on her. She laughed, stepping back with one foot to brace herself. “What’s he doing?”
Caleb lifted a shoulder. “Saying hello.”
She scratched both sides of Rudy’s face, just under his jaw. His back leg started pounding on the floor like a puppy’s, making her laugh.
Caleb’s eyes widened, and he threw his arm over the back of the reindeer, leaning on him as if he were a countertop. Rudy’s feet clicked against the floor.
Faith paused. Wait, his feet … No. She must have mistaken the sound of his thumping foot. It had moved fast enough to blur in her vision. He didn’t lift both hooves off the ground at the same time.
“That’s good. He likes you.” Caleb held out a staying hand. “Let’s give the scratching a rest, okay?”
“Okay.” She pulled her hands away from the warm fur and placed them on Rudy’s face so she could turn his head. Using the