Llama Drama

by Rose Impey

  Lamar was led out next and Lewie gave him a smile too.

  “You’ll be a sensation,” he told Lamar. “Just remember to keep your head up and your bottom in.”

  Lamar’s large bottom wasn’t his best feature. He tucked it under now and lengthened his neck. He too strode into the arena feeling like a winner. He patiently held his poses while the judges inspected his frame, his fleece and the straightness of his legs. Oh yes, he was a handsome animal all right.

  Lamar returned triumphant with his own huge red rosette, his usual high opinion of himself restored. When the others asked how it had gone, Lamar answered dreamily, “Oh, I was sensational.”

  Lewie smiled fondly; he was pleased to see his brothers’ success.

  Latisha was next. She was feeling the most nervous of all because she had so much more to remember.

  As Latisha passed Lewie’s pen she whispered, “Oh, Lewie, what if I forget everything?”

  “You won’t forget,” said Lewie. “Just stay calm and remember not to pull on the halter.”

  This was Latisha’s weakness – she had a tendency to lead Mrs Palmer instead of the other way around. Although she tried not to, she still tugged at the halter now and then, which lost her a point or two, but she did win Most Intelligent Llama.

  And Liberty did well too, with all the different tasks she was given: walking backwards and forwards, up and down slopes, through arches, on and off blocks and neatly squeezing through incredibly narrow spaces without touching or knocking anything over. Liberty was awarded Best Newcomer in Show and Farmer Palmer told her how proud he was. “Now try not to escape and spoil things,” he added, smiling. Liberty blushed and looked away.

  When Lewie saw them all wearing their red rosettes, he felt so proud. He just wished Mama and Papa Llama could have been there to see it all too.

  Lewie could hear the cheering and the applause coming from the arena and it made him more excited to get out there himself. But Lewie had to be content for now with helping the sheep and lambs to practise and trying to lift everyone’s spirits.

  The sheep were still being argumentative and the lambs were getting even more nervous. The moment they attempted the Lamb Pyramid they all hesitated, stopped, started again, rushed into their places, then lost their balance until the whole pyramid collapsed. It was as if they’d all developed a Lamb Pyramid mental block. Lewie didn’t know what to do.

  The sheep in the nearby pens tried to be encouraging, but the other Guard Llamas weren’t having any of that.

  Hadrian shooed his flock away from the fence and hissed nastily in their ears, “No fraternising with the enemy!” He forced his sheep to be mean to Lewie’s flock, hoping to distract them from practising.

  While the sheep could ignore their remarks, it was harder for the lambs.

  Each time Bertie or Shane or Shep lost their balance for a moment, or Sheba or Shah or Shoo overshot in their enthusiasm, the neighbouring sheep bleated nastily.

  “Uu-se-le-e-ess!”

  “Wha-at a me-ess!”

  “Ni-i-il points!”

  Lewie knew it was only because Hadrian was standing behind butting them that the sheep were being so nasty. But it made his flock furious, especially Ginger.

  “Oh, go boil your wool!” she bleated back. “You might scare your own flock,” she told Hadrian, “but you don’t scare us. We don’t care what you think. If Lewie says we’re OK, we must be, because Lewie’s the best Guard Llama in the world!”

  “Best Gua-ard Lla-a-ma in the wo-o-rld,” echoed Lewie’s sheep and the lambs as well.

  In fact, it drowned out all the other sheep and stunned them into silence. For once, even Hadrian was lost for words.

  Hearing his flock praising him, Lewie went pink with embarrassment. For a moment he had to turn away to hide a tear. Rather oddly, more than once during the afternoon, Lewie had been surprised to find the gate to his pen open. Farmer Palmer and Millie had been in and out a couple of times, but Lewie knew they were always careful to close it. Thank goodness he’d noticed before any of the lambs had got out. Lewie shook his head and muttered to himself about keeping a careful eye on it from now on.

  “What a missed opportunity,” Nelson muttered. “If someone left my gate open I wouldn’t ignore it, believe me. I’d be off.”

  “But what about your flock?” Lewie asked, surprised.

  “Oh, they’d be all right,” Nelson said dismissively. “Farmer Nettles would soon find a new Guard Llama. Nobody’s irreplaceable, you know.”

  Lewie didn’t reply. He was shocked by Nelson’s words. He knew he would never do anything to put his flock in danger.

  Later, when Farmer Palmer arrived to settle the animals for the night, he seemed in good spirits. It had been a successful day in terms of prizes and he whispered to Lewie, “It all rests on you now. You’re my trump card, Lewie. Let’s win Best Guard Llama and pinch it from under old Hardman’s nose.”

  Farmer Hardman and his men were standing nearby, watching Lewie’s pen, but pretending not to.

  “Hardman thinks he’s got that prize for life,” said Farmer Palmer, “but let’s give him a surprise. In it to win it, eh, Lewie!”

  Lewie’s heart swelled. He really did want to win the prize, but he couldn’t help a slight shudder when he looked over at Bolt and Dolt. He knew they were up to something. He just didn’t know what yet.

  After Lewie had settled his flock and told the lambs a bedtime story, he was feeling surprisingly tired. He turned to find a generous helping of alfalfa – any llama’s absolute favourite food – just inside the gate of the pen. He thought that Millie must have left it. She was always so kind to him. But it was a very large amount of food to digest at this time of night.

  Mama Llama had always warned her children about eating rich snacks before bedtime. At first he promised himself he’d just eat the smallest amount and save the rest for tomorrow. But Lewie was young and couldn’t resist the treat. The more Lewie ate the more delicious it tasted and somehow he found himself eating it all! With such a full stomach, Lewie soon felt even sleepier. Although he knew it was his job to stay awake and be on guard, he found his eyes closing. In moments, Lewie was in a deep, dreamless sleep.

  n the middle of the night, Lewie woke with a very uncomfortable stomach as well as the feeling that something very bad had happened. He found himself surrounded by his whole flock of sheep bleating frantically in his ears. It took a while for Lewie to understand what they were telling him, but eventually the message got through. All the lambs were missing – had disappeared – maybe lamb-napped!

  “I woke up,” Ginger bleated, “and they were all gone!”

  “Go-o-one,” echoed the other mothers.

  Lewie flew into a panic. How had all those lambs disappeared without one of the sheep seeing or hearing anything? he wondered. He dragged himself to his feet and found the gate to the pen wide open this time.

  A sliver of moonlight fell upon a trail of what looked like food leading out of the pen and all the way through the yard.

  “Lamb titbits,” Ginger announced, tasting one to be sure. “Bertie’s favourite,” she added.

  This was clearly the bait that had been used to tempt the lambs away and Lewie had a good idea who’d left it – the same sneaky pair who must have left the alfalfa.

  How could Lewie have been so stupid? This was his fault.

  “If I’d stayed awake, it would never have happened,” he sobbed. “I’m a greedy and foolish animal.”

  “That may be so,” said Ginger briskly, “but what are we going to do about it?”

  “D-o-o abo-out i-it?” the other sheep echoed softly.

  Lewie knew exactly what he was going to do. He was going to follow the trail and hope it would lead him to the lambs. Those poor, helpless little creatures were his responsibility and he had to find them.

  “I’ll bring them back, every last one of them,” he promised the mother sheep. Lewie gave himself a good shake, then he went through the
gate, pushing it closed behind him.

  Just as he turned to go, a plaintive voice whispered in the dark. “Take me with you. I’ll help you find them.” It was Nelson, who’d heard the disturbance. “Let me out, please,” he begged.

  Lewie hesitated for a moment. Although he would have liked some company, he didn’t have his sister Liberty’s knack for opening gates. And, anyway, he didn’t know what he might find and Lewie didn’t want anybody else coming to harm. So he ignored Nelson.

  “I’m relying on you to keep everyone calm,” he whispered to Ginger. “Hopefully, I’ll be back before morning, before anyone knows we’ve gone.”

  But, of course, he wasn’t. Oh dear, no, not by a long way.

  The next morning, there was the most awful uproar when it was discovered that all Farmer Palmer’s lambs were missing – as well as his new Guard Llama. The police were called, although, as Farmer Hardman pointed out, there was no evidence to suggest that the animals had been stolen.

  This was true. The gate hadn’t been forced. There were no signs of a struggle, and the remaining trail of titbits had mysteriously disappeared. In fact, there was no evidence at all for the two policemen to go on.

  Inspector Smout, who was in charge, cheerfully admitted he’d never had any experience before of lamb-napping, let alone llama-rustling. His deputy, PC Plum, laughed heartily as though his boss had made a joke. But no one else was laughing, especially not Farmer Palmer.

  “I think you’ll find your animals simply got up and wandered off,” Inspector Smout told him.

  Farmer Hardman agreed, pointing out that Lewie was a very inexperienced Guard Llama. “It’s likely he just took a fancy to go walkabout,” he said.

  “And I’d bet someone left that gate open. Not mentioning any names,” added the policeman, winking at Millie.

  “Perhaps you could give us a description of the animals,” said PC Plum, taking out his notepad. “Now, any particular distinguishing marks? I don’t suppose you’d have a photograph?”

  Farmer Palmer tried to hide his impatience. He had very little confidence in the policemen. He had to accept that it was doubtful now he’d find Lewie and the lambs in time to win the big prize. But the prize was the least of his worries. He was absolutely distraught at the loss of his animals and he just wanted them safely returned.

  Millie was distressed too. Inspector Smout had made her feel responsible, even though she knew for sure she hadn’t left the gate unlocked. When she’d cleaned up that morning, Millie had spotted one or two titbits still inside the pen – food she knew she hadn’t given them. But when she told the policemen this, Inspector Smout dismissed the information with another wink.

  “Not exactly surprising to find sheep food in a sheep pen,” he said. “I’d leave this to the professionals, miss,” he told Millie. “We’ll find these lambs …”

  “And llama,” Millie added hastily.

  “And llama,” Inspector Smout sighed. “Pretty hopeless case,” he muttered to his colleague as they walked away.

  “Without an eyewitness, I’d say we’ve about as much chance of finding these lambs as a snowball in summer,” said PC Plum.

  The policeman might have been surprised to know that there had indeed been a couple of eyewitnesses. But if they wouldn’t listen to a little girl like Millie, it was pretty certain they’d have paid no attention to a pair of untrustworthy coyotes.

  The night before, Clutterbuck and Crazycoot had sneaked out of the burrow to go on a shopping spree. A larger, more organised attack was being planned for the next night, but the two greedy coyotes couldn’t wait. Their stomachs were empty and they were planning to grab a little lamb appetiser each.

  As the two coyotes approached the livestock yard, a scene greeted them that was beyond their wildest dreams. A dozen lambs were dreamily following a trail of food that was leading them to the very edge of the showground.

  The lambs looked like sleepwalkers, following their noses as if they hardly knew where they were. Had they been properly awake, they would have known better than to wander off in the middle of the night.

  But the lambs had been disturbed from their dreams with a handful of the tastiest snacks they’d ever eaten. They couldn’t help but follow the trail, gobbling more and more titbits as they went.

  Clutterbuck and Crazycoot watched open-mouthed as the lambs passed by.

  The two coyotes thought all their Christmases had come at once. Crazycoot licked his chops and prepared to pounce. But Clutterbuck suddenly grabbed his friend and pulled him back.

  Just in time, he’d seen the two big men. One at the front of the line was scattering food, the other, carrying a gun, was herding the sleepy lambs towards the open door of a rundown building. As the last of the lambs skidded and skittered through the door, it was firmly closed behind them.

  The coyotes were hopping mad. They’d had a glimpse of heaven and, in a moment, had it snatched away. Crazycoot could almost taste the lamb in his mouth. He immediately started to blame Clutterbuck for their missed opportunity.

  “If you hadn’t stopped me,” he hissed, “I’d have got two at least!”

  “If I hadn’t stopped you, you’d have got us both shot!” Clutterbuck hissed back. “Do you want to lose the rest of your tail?”

  “It’s not my tail that’s empty,” Crazycoot groaned, “it’s my stomach.”

  “Come on,” Clutterbuck told him. “There’s plenty more where they came from.”

  The coyotes turned around and headed back towards the animal pens.

  The pair were so busy blaming one another that they almost walked into a young llama coming in their direction. They soon recognised him as that idiotic young Guard Llama, Lewie, probably in pursuit of his lambs.

  Crazycoot couldn’t resist teasing him. “Lost your lambs, Lewie?”

  Lewie turned on the wild-looking young coyote. He wasn’t afraid. Nothing, and no one, was going to keep him from his mission. He reared up, stamping his hooves to warn off the coyotes. He made a scary noise in his throat. For once Lewie felt truly fierce.

  The two coyotes were surprised to see the llama show this much spirit. They backed off for a moment and Lewie carried on following the trail. He had more important things on his mind than those two idiots.

  Now the coyotes had a dilemma: should they take their chances in the animal pens, with proper Guard Llamas to deal with, or follow this young one in the hope that he might retrieve his lambs? In that case they might still get an opportunity to snatch one or two for themselves. They decided to take their chances with Lewie.

  Completely unaware that the coyotes were stalking him, Lewie continued to follow the trail to where it ended outside the door of an old building. He looked about, then sniffed his way all around it. He strained to see through the windows, but they were boarded up.

  As he stood there very quietly, trying to think of a plan, Lewie heard the unmistakable sound of frightened lambs bleating. He’d recognise those bleats anywhere! They were his lambs! Lewie hammered on the door with his foot, braying to be let in. He felt so helpless and distressed for a moment that the most heartfelt cry welled up in his chest. “Mwaaaa!” he cried, loudly enough to wake up the whole showground.

  The door of the warehouse swung open. Lewie stepped back nervously, but when nothing else happened and no one appeared, Lewie hesitantly moved forward. He peered inside, but it was far too dark to see anything. He could still hear the lambs bleating so he bravely followed the noise and stepped inside.

  The two coyotes weren’t far behind. They paused at the door too. They were just about to follow Lewie inside when they heard the llama cry out. It sounded as if he’d stumbled in the dark – or been pushed over.

  Suddenly, Bolt and Dolt burst out of the door and slammed it closed behind them, drawing the bar across.

  They almost fell over the two coyotes, who quickly recovered themselves and shot away. Bolt and Dolt hissed and shouted after them, throwing anything that came to hand at the young anim
als.

  The coyotes moved fast and had no trouble escaping, but they’d had quite a scare. They gave up their shopping trip for one night and scuttled back to the safety of their burrow.

  But they were returning with important information. Tomorrow, with that dozy young llama out of the way, his flock would be completely unprotected. It would be Open House at Farmer Palmer’s pen. The rest of the flock would be ripe for the taking. Nothing would stand between the coyotes and a slap-up lamb supper.

  y the end of Day Two of the County Fair, with Lewie and the lambs still missing, it looked as if Farmer Palmer’s remaining flock of sheep would have no protection overnight. They would be a sitting target, a free feast for the hungry coyotes.

  Farmer Palmer mistakenly thought that with no lambs left, the coyotes wouldn’t bother attacking his flock. With so much on his mind, the farmer clearly wasn’t thinking straight. If it hadn’t been for his desperate hopes that Lewie and the lambs would still come back, he would have packed up his remaining animals there and then and headed home.

  The police were showing no real enthusiasm for the task of finding his missing animals and the farmer felt very frustrated.

  Later, his daughter, Millie, asked, “Papa, are you sure the flock will be safe tonight, with Lewie gone?”

  The farmer replied with more confidence than he really felt. “Don’t you worry about that. The flock will be just fine.”

  But Millie wasn’t entirely convinced, and nor were the sheep. They were worried about their lambs, and about Lewie, but now they were also anxious for their own safety.