Proditor : Book 5 of the Heku Series Read Online Free PDF Page A

strolling casually into the stables. He frowned
when he saw the look on Emily’s face, “What’s going on?”
    “ Encephalomyelitis,” Emily
said, and gave Patra an injection. Patra tried to kick her, and she
dodged out of the way, barely missing the angry hoof, “The
Council’s going to have to wait until this is over.”
    “ Did… did Patra just try to
kick you?” Kyle asked, wide eyed.
    “ Yes,” Emily told him, and
then gave the stallion a shot.
    Kyle blurred from the stables and appeared
back in the council chambers.
    “ Is she coming?” Zohn
asked.
    “ No, there’s a problem with
some of the horses. Mark said she’s called the Thukil Captain in to
help,” Kyle said, and sat down in his chair.
    “ She said no to the Council
because a horse has the sniffles?” Zohn asked, frowning.
    “ Not the sniffles, this is
usually fatal,” Kyle said. “Plus, Patra has it.”
    Chevalier frowned, “Are you sure?”
    Kyle nodded, “So far three of them have come
down with symptoms.”
    Chevalier was torn. He wanted to go comfort
Emily, to help her with her beloved horses, but he realized how
badly he’d behaved and wasn’t sure she would take any help from
him. He’d watched her sleep the night before, hiding in the corner
shadows of the small bedroom, and it was obvious from her soft
talking that she thought he no longer loved her.
    “ Go and help her, keep us
posted,” Chevalier said, and Kyle disappeared from the
room.
    “ Let’s wait until the
horses are well then. We will start the trial as soon as Emily is
ready,” Quinn said, and looked around. “Until then, let’s
adjourn.”
    Four hours later, the sound of a helicopter
coming in brought the Elders out of their discussion about
replacing James on the Council. They went out to meet with the
Thukil’s Captain.
    “ Thank you for coming,
Darren,” Quinn said.
    Darren was in a hurry to get to the stables,
“Have you kept Emily away from them?”
    Quinn stopped Darren with a hand on his arm,
“No, why?”
    Darren frowned, “If it really is
Encephalomyelitis, then it can be passed on to humans.”
    “ What?” Chevalier growled,
and blurred down into the stables. He found Emily leaned over
Patra, who was lying motionless in her stall.
    Emily looked up at him with tear filled
eyes, “She’s paralyzed.”
    Darren walked around the corner and knelt
down by the painted mare. He quickly looked her over, “What have
you done for them so far?”
    “ They’ve had an
antibiotics, acyclovir, vitamins, and ribavirin,” Emily said, and
leaned her head on the mare.
    “ That’s all we can do right
now. We just have to watch them, but, Emily,” Darren said, and
touched her hand. “This can pass to you by mosquitoes.”
    “ I don’t care,” Emily said,
and rubbed Patra’s nose.
    “ Lady Emily?” A member of
the Cavalry walked in with another horse, whose head hung low and
his ears drooped, “This one is listless.”
    Darren stood up and took the stallion into
an adjacent stall, “Where are the medications?”
    “ They’re out here on the
bale of hay by Chevalier,” Emily said, and stood up slowly. She
walked over to check on Kralen’s pregnant mare, which was also
paralyzed in the stall next to Patra.
    “ Darren’s here now. Why
don’t you let him handle it?” Chevalier asked softly.
    “ I can’t leave them. If I’m
going to catch it… I’m already infected,” Emily said, and returned
to Patra.
    Darren came in with a long tube and needles,
“We need to intubate.”
    Emily nodded and took the tubing, quickly
putting an I.V. into the mare as Darren intubated her so her airway
stayed clear.
    “ Do we have Dilantin?”
Darren asked.
    “ No, there’s Diazepam and a
corticosteroid in the storage room though,” Emily told
him.
    Chevalier sat helplessly, and watched as the
two of them worked through the night to make sure all four horses
were medicated and intubated. Only one of the horses stayed on his
feet, but swayed slightly in