“I cannot allow a Copperstone heifer to be roaming the lands unsupervised,” the farmer murmured. He carefully looped a lead over Jasper’s neck. “I have no plans to be cursed by a family of powerful witches.” He began to lead Jasper to the barn. “Girl, you will have to wait here until your owners can fetch you.” The farmer patted Jasper’s side. “Not to worry, I will send word to them immediately.” He sighed. “Of course, with the war, it may be some time before the message gets to them, let alone before they can retrieve you.”
Jasper’s heart sunk. Of course the war would make things difficult. But at least the farmer had a plan in place to get her to Anya’s family. She would be safe here until then.
“I will be sure to keep the bulls away from you,” the farmer continued. He brought Jasper into a private stall in the barn. “They were really determined to breed you. Given the virility of my stock, I feel they were probably successful. But we shall see. In the meantime…” The farmer leaned over, looking at Jasper’s udder. “Ye gods! You are just about bursting with milk!”
The farmer quickly pulled up a stool and bucket, then began to milk Jasper. Jasper mooed in relief at the pressure in her udder being released. She hadn’t even realized how badly she needed to be milked. The farmer was able to fill up four buckets before Jasper ran dry. He patted her neck.
“I do not know your name, so for now, I will call you Milka,” he said. “While you stay with us, we will not need to purchase any milk, that is for sure! Maybe we will even have some left over to sell at the market.” The farmer brought the buckets of milk out of the stall and left, closing the door on his way out.
Jasper, now Milka, sighed. She would just have to make the best of things. Hopefully, her life as a dairy cow on a stud farm wouldn’t be as rough as it had started.