Llama Drama

by Rose Impey

  Ginger tried to stay strong and reassure

  “We’ll be just fine,” she said briskly, echoing farmer’s words.

  “Fi-i-ine,” bleated the other sheep rather less confidently.

  But really Ginger was wondering how much worse things could possibly get. She was soon to find out.

  As dark fell and the flock was beginning to settle down to sleep, there was first a bleat, then a whimper, then a chorus of distressed cries as the first sighting of a coyote was reported and passed through the yard from flock to flock. Sheep huddled together in terror as Guard Llamas rose to their feet, ready to protect their sheep. None of them were going to take responsibility for someone else’s flock, not even Nelson. Lewie’s sheep were on their own and they knew it.

  Oh, where is Lewie when we need him? wondered Ginger. She tried to stay strong right up until she caught the first sniff of coyote, then like the other sheep, Ginger buried her head and waited for it to be over.

  But just when all seemed lost, when the sheep thought their end was in sight, they were amazed to find that they weren’t unprotected after all. Suddenly, Liberty was standing between them and the coyotes, ready to take her brother’s place.

  Like Lewie, Liberty had never been a fighter. She had no idea if she could rise to the challenge now. But she wasn’t going to let Lewie and Farmer Palmer down. She reared up to her full height, stamping and braying, prepared to meet the coyotes head on.

  The sight of Liberty did stop the coyotes in their tracks – for a moment or two. Captain and Cupcake thought Lewie must have returned; Liberty looked so much like her brother. But the rest of the coyotes were just confused to find any llama where none was expected. Liberty was no pushover, but even one, albeit fierce, llama wouldn’t stop so many coyotes for long.

  The coyotes were organised; they had a strategy. The frontrunners put their heads down and moved forward in a pack of three; the next flank of four were ready to follow on from them. This was a properly planned attack, and they looked to Liberty like a small army.

  She couldn’t believe her eyes. Surely it wasn’t possible for her to fight off so many coyotes on her own.

  “Oh, Lewie,” she breathed. “Help! I need you. Now …”

  Despite her bravest intentions, Liberty was almost ready to give up when, suddenly, Leo, Lamar and Latisha came around the corner of the yard like the US cavalry!

  Desperate to avoid the flailing feet of three bigger and more formidable llamas, the coyotes went into a blind panic, running into each other as they tried to escape. The llamas scattered coyotes in all directions, tossing a particularly fat one into the far distance. The coyotes turned tail and fled.

  There was a great wave of baa-ing and bleating as sheep from all the different pens cheered the four llama heroes.

  Even the other Guard Llamas were generous in their praise.

  “Excellent work!” honked Hadrian.

  “Great team effort,” said Blunderbuss.

  “Always good to have reinforcements,” agreed Wellington.

  Liberty smiled at her brothers and sister. “Yeah, thanks,” she said. “It was pretty scary there for a minute or two.”

  “We couldn’t let you do it all on your own,” Latisha said, smiling back.

  “That’s what family’s for,” said Leo grandly.

  “We certainly showed those coyotes,” said Lamar proudly.

  Leo, Lamar and Latisha had all felt quite ashamed of their behaviour yesterday, when Lewie had been so kind and encouraging to them before their events. So when they realised Liberty planned to guard Lewie’s flock they decided that the least they could do was back her up. And what a triumph it had been!

  Once all the excitement was over, it was decided that Liberty would stay with the sheep to help calm them down.

  As her brothers and sister left, Liberty softly called after them, “Who’s the escape artist now?”

  Leo and Lamar turned back and grinned. They nodded towards Latisha.

  “Tchhh!” she smiled modestly. “Seen Liberty do it enough times.”

  The next morning when Farmer Palmer and Millie turned the corner of the yard, their hearts leapt for a moment when they saw what they thought was Lewie back home in his pen. They were equally amazed when they found that it wasn’t Lewie, but Liberty. That she’d escaped from her own pen wasn’t a surprise to the farmer, but the fact that she’d stayed with the sheep confused him. The pen and the area around it was in chaos, as if there’d been a big attack during the night, but none of the sheep were hurt or missing. It was yet another mystery for Farmer Palmer …

  But the farmer decided to leave Liberty with the flock until Lewie’s return. He set off to find the two policemen to force them to do more to find his missing animals. If they hadn’t returned in the next twenty-four hours he realised he would officially have to pull out of the Best Guard Llama event.

  Millie stayed with Liberty and the sheep, trying to tidy up the pen. All afternoon she talked to the animals and, while she almost felt that they understood what she said to them, sadly she couldn’t understand a single bleat of their replies. She felt quite sure that if only she could, they would be able to tell her exactly what had happened to Lewie and the lambs. Millie was sure that those titbits were an important clue, as she told Liberty and the flock.

  “I don’t care what that stupid policeman says. I didn’t leave them here, so somebody else must have.”

  Later that evening, Ginger told Liberty, “Lewie thought someone was up to something bad, and it looks like he was right.”

  Nelson, who was quietly minding his own business in the next pen, put his head over the fence and whispered, “I bet I know who it was.”

  Liberty and Ginger moved closer.

  “Farmer Hardman. He’ll be behind it,” Nelson told them. “He always makes sure his llama wins – whatever it takes.”

  Lewie had told Liberty he didn’t trust Farmer Hardman’s men. Why hadn’t she listened to him. She felt she’d let Lewie down.

  “If no one else is going to find him, I’ll have to,” Liberty told Ginger.

  “If you’re going, so am I,” Ginger announced.

  “So-o am-m-m I-I-I,” echoed all the sheep, rallying around her.

  But Liberty put her foot down about that and Ginger agreed. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she bleated. “We can’t all go.”

  Then quite an argument followed between Liberty and Ginger, and between Ginger and the other sheep.

  But in the end, as usual, Ginger had the last word. “There’s a whole bunch of small, scared little lambs out there somewhere, waiting to be rescued, and my little Bertie’s one of them. And if anyone’s going to find him, it’s me!”

  “But what if it’s already too late?” breathed Shelley, putting into words what everyone else was thinking.

  “To-o-o la-a-ate?” echoed the other sheep, their voices rising in panic.

  “Wash your mouths out!” Ginger said sharply. “We’re going to find those lambs – and Lewie – and bring them home safely, if it’s the last thing we do!”

  Ginger’s strong character and moving words settled the argument. Liberty agreed to take Ginger with her while the rest of the flock agreed to stay behind.

  “What about me?” said Nelson. “I can help. Take me as well.”

  Liberty refused, but Nelson at least persuaded her to open his gate.

  “Then, if the coyotes come back, I can look after Lewie’s sheep,” he promised.

  “Thank you,” Liberty said as she unlocked Nelson’s gate, leaving it ajar. Then she and Ginger set off on their search for Lewie and the lambs.

  They hadn’t been gone long when Shona, Shelley, Shirley and the other sheep were surprised to see Nelson sneaking out of his open pen, looking pretty pleased with himself.

  “Where-re a-a-are you go-o-oing?” the sheep bleated.

  “Freedom calls,” Nelson announced happily as he headed off into the darkness.

  “But what about us-s-s-s?
” cried his own flock.

  “Oh, you’ll be fine,” Nelson called back cheerfully. “Hasta la vista. Au revoir.”

  ound about the same time as Liberty and Ginger were setting out to find him, Lewie began to wake up. He was struggling to escape from a bad dream, where he was drowning in alfalfa. His head was spinning and when he tried to put weight on his right front leg, he collapsed to the floor.

  It was pitch-black and Lewie had no idea where he was. Llamas are used to being outside where even at night they can see the moon and the stars. But this was a total darkness Lewie had never experienced before.

  He was aware that he was covered with a thick warm blanket that moved every time he moved. Slowly, Lewie realised it was a living blanket made up of small, breathing bodies.

  Lewie’s little lambs had draped themselves over him to keep him warm while he slept. They were all so relieved when he finally began to stir.

  “Lewie, are you awake?” whispered Bertie.

  “Where am I?” Lewie asked sleepily.

  “We don’t really know,” said Shoo.

  “But we’ve been here a long time,” bleated Shep.

  “You fell and banged your head,” Bertie told Lewie.

  “We were worried about you,” added Shoo, sounding close to tears.

  “We tried to keep you warm,” said Shah.

  “Wa-a-arm,” echoed the other lambs, sounding a little teary too.

  Lewie desperately tried to remember how he had got here. He could recall setting off, following the trail, finding the warehouse, hearing the lambs’ frightened voices, then the door opening, him looking inside, nervously venturing into the darkness, being pushed roughly out of the way, then, finally … falling over.

  After that it was all a blank.

  “But how did you get here?” he asked the lambs.

  Everyone was rather quiet; no one wanted to admit how silly they’d been.

  “It was just too tempting,” Shoo admitted at last.

  “All that lovely food,” said Bertie.

  “Lo-o-ovely fo-o-od,” echoed the lambs, whose stomachs were now empty and growling.

  “Farmer Hardman’s men gave it to us,” said Shep.

  Bolt and Dolt! It was exactly as Lewie had suspected.

  “But then they locked us in here. Why did they do that, Lewie?” Bertie asked.

  Lewie sighed wearily. “To stop us winning the Best Guard Llama event,” he told them.

  The lambs were outraged.

  “They can’t do that!” bleated Bertie.

  “We’ll show them,” said Shep.

  “Let’s get going,” squeaked Shoo. “Come on!”

  “Co-o-ome o-o-on!” echoed the other lambs, ready to go.

  Lewie knew he should try to get up again, but he was feeling soooo sleepy. All he wanted was to snuggle down under his lovely warm blanket and sleep. But the lambs knew that now he’d finally woken up, going back to sleep was the worst thing Lewie could do. They had to keep him awake, but how?

  “Let’s sing,” suggested Bertie.

  The lambs sang one song after another: “Baa, baa, black sheep …”, “Row, row, row your boat …”, “Sing a song of sixpence …” But rather than keeping him awake, the songs seemed to lull Lewie even further to sleep.

  “We’ve got to try something else,” said Bertie.

  Then the little lambs poked and prodded Lewie, gently tugging on his fleece and tickling him until finally he said, “OK, I give in! I’m awake!” Lewie struggled once more to get up. “We’d better get out of here before it’s too late,” he sighed.

  But that was easier said than done. In the darkness they felt their way around the walls until they found the door, where a very narrow band of moonlight was trickling in at the top. But even when Lewie and all the lambs put their weight against it, the door wouldn’t budge. They tried several times before Lewie announced, “It’s no good; it must be locked.”

  The lambs collapsed on to the floor in a heap.

  “Now what are we going to do?” asked Shoo.

  Meanwhile, Liberty and Ginger were slowly piecing together what was left of the trail. Very few titbits remained and it took all Ginger’s concentration to sniff them out. Liberty was getting more and more anxious and could hardly control her impatience.

  “Can’t you hurry up?” she begged.

  “I’m doing the best I can,” snapped Ginger, as slowly, very slowly, they made their way ever closer to the warehouse.

  When they finally arrived, the trail completely disappeared, and Liberty and Ginger were faced with two or three buildings, any of which, or none of which, might hide their beloved Lewie and the lambs.

  One by one, they tried each door and called loudly through keyholes, “Lewie, are you there? Bertie?”

  Then at last they found the right door!

  “We’re in here!” squealed a number of shrill little voices.

  “Is that you, Mama?” bleated Bertie, recognising his own mother’s voice and almost bursting into tears.

  “We’re here, my darling,” Ginger replied, almost in tears herself. “Now open that door and let us in.”

  “Oh, we’ve tried that,” said Lewie, “lots of times, but it won’t budge.”

  Liberty and Ginger exchanged glances. They could tell from Lewie’s shaky voice that he was not quite himself. They needed to get him out, fast. Liberty looked up and saw a bolt right at the very top of the door.

  “Oh dear,” she sighed. “If only I was taller.”

  “If only I was younger,” said Ginger, “I could climb on your back.”

  But that was never going to happen. Ginger was a big sheep, heavy and solid and not exactly athletic.

  Suddenly Liberty had a bright idea! If the lambs could do their pyramid on the other side of the door, maybe the one on the very top could slide a hoof through the gap and loosen the bolt. It was a long shot, but it was the only hope they had.

  Dawn was approaching and they had to get back to the livestock yard before morning. Time was running out.

  Liberty explained her plan to Lewie. But everything went quiet inside the building, apart from the sound of a crying lamb. Ginger recognised Bertie straight away.

  “Don’t cry. You’ll be out any minute,” she told him.

  But the crying went on. “I can’t do it,” Bertie sobbed. “I’ll mess it up and we’ll never get out of here.” The sobs turned into a gasp.

  All the other lambs crowded around Bertie, telling him it was OK.

  “Maybe I could go on the bottom?” Shoo suggested kindly.

  But they needed Bertie. He was the only one strong enough to hold the weight of the others. Lewie bent down and whispered into the lamb’s ear, “You’re the best, Bertie, my one and only anchor-lamb – and we need you. We’re a team, remember? In it to win it! I believe in you, Bertie.”

  Bertie stopped sobbing and went quiet for a moment. “You do?”

  Lewie bent down and rubbed noses with the little lamb. “We all do.”

  Then, very quietly, Bertie said, “OK, I’m ready. Let’s do it.”

  Liberty and Ginger waited nervously, having heard one or two false starts as the lambs struggled to make their pyramid in the dark.

  “I can’t see where I’m standing,” Shah complained.

  “On my tail!” Shep bleated.

  More than once they heard, “He-e-elp! I’m falling!” before they finally saw Shoo’s tentative little hoof poking through the small gap above the door.

  “To the right! No! No!” Ginger said sharply. “That’s your left.”

  “Don’t worry, try again,” Liberty told him more gently. “A bit further … further still … down a touch. There! There! Now push!”

  It took Shoo a few tries, but finally the bolt slid back. The door gave way and a whole pyramid of lambs came tumbling out at Ginger’s feet. She quickly helped the lambs up and pounced on her own precious Bertie, cuddling him so close he was soon gasping for air.

  “I did
it, Mama,” he said. “I did it!”

  “I’m so proud of you,” Ginger whispered in his ear.

  The lambs were ecstatic to be out of that horrible, dark place and in the fresh air again. They danced around, bleating away, trying to tell the story over the top of one another.

  Liberty left Ginger to manage the lambs while she went over to her exhausted-looking brother. Lewie gave a brave smile, but he clearly wasn’t his usual bouncy self.

  “Oh, Lewie, I wish I’d listened to you,” Liberty admitted, “when you told me about those terrible men. If they’ve hurt you …” she said threateningly.

  “I think I banged my head when I was pushed over,” Lewie told her. “But my leg hurts too and I’m not sure I can walk properly.” He took a couple of hesitant steps and managed to limp forward, but he was clearly in pain.

  “Lean on me,” said Liberty.

  Ginger walked over and supported Lewie on his other side. Between them they managed to take most of his weight, but it was slow progress. The lambs kept running ahead and then skipping back to encourage Lewie.

  “Nearly there,” they told him, long before it was true.

  “You’re doing really well,” Shoo told him kindly.

  “Not far now,” Bertie said.

  The lambs, though very hungry, seemed none the worse for their ordeal, but poor Lewie was weak and weighed down by feelings of guilt and responsibility.

  “If I hadn’t been so greedy,” he kept repeating, “and so stupid …”

  Liberty and Ginger tried to reassure him. “Look how brave you were, Lewie. You went out in the night all on your own and you found them.”

  At last, as the sun was rising, they reached the livestock yard and made their weary way back into their pen. Liberty and Ginger urged Lewie to have some water and a little food, but he was too tired to eat more than a mouthful. Then the sheep surrounded him, and the lambs sang him to sleep.

  “Rest is what he needs most,” Ginger told Liberty. “You can go now. We’ll take care of him. Those two villains will have to get past me before they can do him any more harm – and I promise you that is never going to happen.”