Chapter 9: Ben and Vincent

Ben reached into the nest to grab out another egg but was greeted with a sharp pain in his wrist. He recoiled his hand in shock and discovered a bite mark! He put his hand right back into the offending nest and grabbed out an egg with a brightly colored snake coiled around the egg. His hand was throbbing, but he needed to finish collecting eggs.

He remembered a time so long ago now about getting bit by little green grass snakes. The pain was nothing near what he felt in his wrist now, but he didn't want to bother Avery. He also grew up around a farm like Sarah. It was his fault for not checking the nests and just reaching in to grab eggs. Vincent was in the coup with him watching him collect eggs. Wouldn't the cat have warned him about danger?

After another hour, Ben painstakingly filled the basket. Vincent was purring between Ben's legs, but Ben couldn't even bend down to pick up or pet Vincent. 'You've been bit by a bad thing,' Vincent told Ben. 'Don't let Tim see or I'll get in trouble.'

Avery was busy checking and mending a fence outside the small goat barn with Sarah inside playing with the goat's young babies. "You finished collecting eggs?" Avery asked and noticed Ben had one arm behind his back. "You know we have water here to wash up if you got anything nasty on your hands." Avery grabbed the basket from Ben and went to put the eggs in a cupboard.

"Thanks." Ben said as Avery vanished to put the eggs away. Ben went to wash up his hands enjoying the feel of the cold water on his wrist.

Tim appeared in front of him and started inspecting his wrist, 'What happened here?' he demanded. Ben shrugged and Tim repeated his question.

"It's my fault really. I reached into the nest without checking and a snake bit me." Ben said.

'Was Vincent around?' Tim asked Ben.

"Yes. It's not his fault. I was going too fast and he didn't have time to check every nest before I was grabbing the eggs from it. I wanted to finish as soon as possible so I can go see the older goats today." Ben said.

Vincent purred between Ben's legs. 'I'm sorry Elder, I didn't have time to stop him. I tried to scare away all the snakes, but some remained. We need to have a bunch of cats move into this area to scare away the snakes.'

Tim's hair stood on end, 'You do not give orders around here, Vincent. I'll see about having Francine and a few of the other female cats check out the area if the infestation is as bad as you say it is.' He hissed out a warning to Vincent for overstepping his boundaries.

The pain became so bad in Ben's wrist that he fainted. Avery heard the fall and came running. He scooped up Ben and ran to bring him to the home. Ericka was sitting at the desk taking down notes when she saw Avery running in with a collapsed Ben and a dark blur flashed ahead of them.

"Did you forget to make him drink water?" Ericka said to Avery. "Ms. Carol, can you come here for a minute?" she called out to the caretaker of the home and head nurse. Ericka cleared off a bed in a small room behind the front desk. It was a smaller room than the others. It was just a small bed and an open toilet room with no dividers and a tiny sink in the corner near the toilet. It also had some books on a shelf. It was Ms. Carol's room. "What's this on his wrist?" Ericka asked Avery. Ben's wrist was bulging and purple-colored with puss leaking from the bite marks. "Do you know what bit him?"

"I don't know. I can't stay here. I have to head back to the animal farm." Avery said.

"Of course! You'd avoid the home and any slight chance of catching an illness at all costs." Ericka snapped. Avery never came to the home. It had become her and Lexi's responsibility.

"No! Sarah is still there playing with the baby goats. I can't leave her there alone." Avery said.

'I'll stay here with Ben and Vincent.' Tim said. Avery looked down shocked at first forgetting that the cat had ran into the building with him.

Ms. Carol came around the corner entering her small room, "What is it, Ericka?" she asked then stopped when she saw Avery and Ben. "Oh no! What happened to him?"

"It seems he was bit by a snake or something. I shouldn't have sent him out alone to go collect eggs. I should have been there with him, but Sarah was also playing with the baby goats. She's a natural at that." Avery said. "I'll go check out the coup and see if I can find any snakes to identify what bit him."

'No need.' Tim said. 'He will die from this bite.'

'No.' Vincent shakily interrupted Tim, 'He is my ward. I can heal him.' Vincent cuddled up in the small bed against Ben and began licking his wrist. It didn't seem to work at first, but slowly the purple-colored skin turned back to normal and a cold sweat broke out all over Ben's face. Signs that he was fighting whatever venom was put in his system by the snake.

'Do not give them false hope.' Tim warned.

Meanwhile at the goat barn, Sarah sat playing with the young goats. A brightly colored snake appeared. Sarah jumped at the sight of it. It was an unfamiliar snake to her. Ophelia jumped on top of it and ate it. 'That is a bad thing that could hurt you. I protect you.' Ophelia said soothingly to Sarah. 'I'll have to report this to Tim later…' Ophelia thought to herself.

'Those have been appearing more often.' Francine said to Ophelia. 'I don't know why those bad dragons are coming here now. Haven't they caused enough damage in dragon form that they now want to take on snake form to hurt our humans? Has Tim been told about this?'