Mad Dog Read Online Free PDF

though, we’ve got to find the point of origin.”
    He digs into his doctor’s bag and comes out with a silver instrument that looks like large wire cutters or blunt-end scissors. “Hold him, Dakota. But don’t let him hurt you. If he rears up, get out of the way. I have to find out where the hoof’s the most sensitive. He’s not going to like this.”
    Doc’s right about that. He presses the clipper thing into different spots on the horse’s hoof. Blackfire flinches every time. I wonder if his whole hoof is bad.
    I want to get a better look, but I don’t want to go inside the pen. I don’t trust that black horse. As a rule, I stick with dogs and have as little to do with the horses as possible.
    Doc Jim presses the silver thing on one side of the hoof. Blackfire lets loose a squeal and jerks back. Doc drops the hoof. “Guess we found the problem,” he announces.
    “Easy, boy.” Dakota mumbles other things to her horse until he calms down. She strokes the sore leg all the way to the hoof. Then she lifts the hoof and nods for Doc to take over.
    Doc slips in and takes the hoof from her, giving Dakota a weak smile.
    “Go ahead, Doc,” she says. “Do what you have to do. We’re ready, aren’t we, boy?” She stays close to Blackfire’s head and leans her cheek against his.
    Doc pulls a curved knife out of his pocket and goes to work. Strips of hoof fly to the ground. “I have to get as deep as I can,” he tells Dakota.
    He keeps digging.
    Dakota winces with every slice of the knife, like she’s the one getting cut.
    Suddenly, Blackfire squeals and rears. Rex and I jump back. Even the vet backs away, pushing Dakota aside.
    “I have to stop,” Doc says. “I can’t go any deeper.”
    “Did you get it?” Dakota asks. “The abscess?”
    He shakes his head. “It’s really in there deep. I could feel pus under the membrane. It’s soft and squishy. But I don’t want to go deeper.”
    Dakota swallows so hard that her neck quivers. “So how do we get it out?”
    “You’re going to have to soak the hoof in Epsom salts a couple times a day to draw the infection out of there.” Doc studies Dakota. “You think you can do that?”
    She nods and scratches Blackfire under his mane.
    I, personally, can’t even picture this. Soak that horse’s hoof? I wouldn’t touch that hoof with a 10-foot leash.
    Doc gives her more instructions. “Soak the hoof for as long as you can each time. Shoot for 20 minutes. Twice a day.”
    Right on cue, in walks Hank, leading Starlight. “I didn’t know you were here, Doc,” he calls from the doorway. “I thought you weren’t coming by until later.”
    “I juggled a few things and got here early,” Doc says. “Dakota sounded pretty desperate.” Doc grins at Dakota, but she doesn’t give it back.
    Hank leads his horse toward her stall. “Just a minute—I’ll be right back.” When he returns a minute later, he’s carrying his saddle. He chucks it into the tack room and jogs over to us. “So, what’s the verdict?”
    Hank makes the vet go through the whole diagnosis and treatment again. What’s he think? That Dakota and I are idiots? That he’s the only one who can do anything around here?
    Rex nudges me. I know he’ll start barking any minute if I let big-brother Hank get to me. I reach over and scratch my dog’s chest and behind his ears until both of us calm down again.
    “I’ll go ahead and give Blackfire a shot of penicillin now,” Doc says, digging the syringe out of his bag. “Can you give him another shot tomorrow, Hank? Saturday too, just to be on the safe side.”
    “No problem.”
    Hank helps Doc steady Blackfire for the first shot. Doc Jim keeps the syringe behind his back, pats the horse’s neck, flicks a spot with his finger, then slips in the syringe.
    Blackfire whinnies and jerks his head up, but he’s better than I thought he’d be.
    I wait around while Hank walks Doc to his truck. Then I clear my throat and ask, “You okay,