text: Some four hours later, Grit led the mules into the barn while Paulie took little Astrid into the house. Colleen greeted Paulie at the door.
  
  "What's the little bundle you have there, Paulie?" she asked.
  
  "Little Astrid was all alone, but now she's going to stay with us awhile."
  
  Colleen took the little girl into her arms and said, "Oh my, Astrid, we are so glad to have you visit us."
  
  "Where's my mama?" she asked in a pitiful voice just loud enough to be heard.
  
  Colleen hesitated before saying, "Mama has gone on a trip. Let's get your coat off and get you something to eat."
  
  When Paulie got back to the barn, he asked, "You think the mules will make it?"
  
  "Doubtful," Grit said. "They're not built to go without food for long periods, but we'll feed 'em and give 'em lots of water, and we'll see how it goes. I don't know enough to do anything else except to walk them every so often. I'm no equine doctor, that's for sure."
  
  Little Astrid seemed to have periods when she was happy, then she'd go into funks where she'd cry for her mother. Colleen held her often and so did Paulie when he was around.
  
  The men walked the mules regularly, and they shoveled the snow from the corral so that the horses could get outside. The day after, they came out in the morning to find one of the mules thrashing around on the ground.
  
  "What's wrong with him?" Paulie asked.
  
  "You're askin' the wrong man, Paulie," Grit said. "I'd say he has colic, but I really don't know. Let's see if we can get him up and walk him around the corral for a half hour and see if that helps."
  
  After the long walk, the mule seemed improved, and he got even better after he stopped near the end of his walk, stood stiff-legged, dropped a load and passed an enormous amount of gas.
  
  "I don't know, Paulie," Grit said. "Maybe that'll help him."
  
  "I hope so," Paulie said, "but what are we gonna do with the baby?"
  
  "I have no idea," Grit said. "I guess I'll go back to the Knudsen place and see if I can find anything with the address of a relative, but even if we find an address, how're we ever going to get Astrid over to Minnesota or wherever the relatives might live?"
  
  "I guess we'd have to wait till spring, but we can't afford the time to take her over there," Paulie said. "Maybe they could come and get her."
  
  Later that day, Grit walked the other mule, and he also emptied his bowels and passed gas repeatedly during the walk.
  
  "It's a good pair of mules if we can get 'em over this," Grit said to Paulie. "We could use 'em to haul the logs after they're cut."
  
  "If they live," Paulie said. "They were a long time without food, and it's upset their guts a lot."
  
  Strangely enough, the mules got better with a regular diet of hay, oats, fresh water and exercise several times a day. And Astrid became a little chatterbox, always asking questions of everyone.