Llama Drama (3 page)

But the lambs didn't look reassured and nor did Lewie. He didn't like the way the farmer was tipping them backwards on to their bottoms, then wedging them between his legs. The sight of Shoo's little nose anxiously peeping out made Lewie quite cross. In fact, if it had been anyone but Farmer Palmer, Lewie would have given him a hefty kick. Instead, Lewie leaned over the side of the pen to let Farmer Palmer know that he was watching! Millie knew how Lewie must be feeling and gave him a friendly stroke. But it was all over quickly, for Shoo at least. Farmer Palmer turned on the electric clipper and ran it in long, smooth strokes down the length of the lamb's body. In minutes, Shoo's little woolly coat fell away in strips, like the peel off a piece of fruit. Shoo wobbled for a moment, pale and naked-looking, before skipping back to his mother. He looked half as big as before the shearing, but otherwise none the worse for his experience.

The farmer pressed on with the rest of the lambs. If there'd been a zip fastener down the front of each, he couldn't have taken off their coats much faster. By lunchtime the field was dotted with tiny little pale-pink creatures running around almost in their underwear.

Lewie felt a little sad at how different his lambs looked. But the lambs quickly discovered one advantage. They were so much lighter on their feet now, even faster and more agile than before. They found doing somersaults, and forward and backward rolls, was twice as easy. They positively bounced around as if their hooves were spring-loaded, sometimes overshooting as if they'd been fired out of a cannon.

Lewie tried to ignore the rude remarks that could be heard coming from the llama enclosure.

“Hey, look at Lewie and his performing pink mice!” shouted Leo.

“Pity he can't afford costumes for them,” Lamar honked.

Lewie was about to tell off his brothers when he saw Farmer Palmer coming towards him carrying a pair of hand shears.

No way
! he thought, backing off. He wasn't going to the County Fair feeling naked. There was a bit of a chase before Farmer Palmer managed, with a lot of help from Millie, to corner Lewie and to calm him down.

“It's only a trim,” Millie promised. “Just to smarten you up. It won't hurt, honestly.”

Lewie didn't have to
like
it, but he decided to trust Millie and submit himself to a bit of a haircut.

“With summer coming he'll be far more comfortable losing some of this heavy fleece,” the farmer told Millie.

But it wasn't summer quite yet and Lewie could feel the breeze blowing around his legs. He shivered, as much with embarrassment as cold. He could hear the other llamas honking in delight.

“Ewww! Look at Nudie Lewie!” they cried.

But Lewie's revenge was coming. The farmer next made his way to the llama enclosure to give everyone else a trim …

For Lewie the following week passed far too quickly. The lambs were beginning to look slightly less pink and bare, but despite lots of practice, they were still letting their nerves take over. Sometimes they resembled a box of fireworks, all exploding at the same time – but often in different directions.

It was the same with the sheep. When Lewie took control, they managed to pull together and not argue, but if he left them alone things quickly fell apart.

“You were in the
wrong
place at the
wrong
time –
again
!” Shelley told Shirley.

“
You
got in my way,” Shirley told Shelley, “with your big hooves.”

“
Your
big hooves!” Shelley echoed.

“Let's all take a break, shall we?” Lewie said, trying to calm down the sheep.

“Don't worry,” Ginger told him, “it'll all work out. They're just a bit nervous. You know, in the past, if we got things wrong
The Terminator
threatened to nip us.”

Nip them
? Lewie was horrified to hear this. He relied on the flock following him because they wanted to, not out of fear. But he did sometimes wonder what would happen if they ever decided not to.

That night, Farmer Palmer and Millie checked all the animals and made sure everything and everyone was ready to travel to the County Fair tomorrow. Millie was as excited as the lambs. It would be her first time at the fair too. Farmer Palmer had given her an important job to do: making sure the sheep and lamb pens were kept clean and tidy. There were strict rules about how to look after the animal pens at the fair and Millie was determined to do the job well.

“You're definitely going to win
Best Guard Llama
,” she told Lewie.

Lewie wished that he felt as confident about it as Millie. He put his head down so the little girl could reach up to stroke his nose. Lewie so wanted to make her and Farmer Palmer proud of him and his flock.

Over in the llama field, Mama and Papa Llama were giving their older children a few encouraging words for the next day.

“We know you'll all be a credit to your mama and me,” Papa Llama told them. “Remember that our family has a strong tradition of prize-winning. Your mama and I won
Best Breeding Pair
for more years than I care to remember. We have every confidence that Lewie will win
Best Guard Llama
this year and maybe
one of you
will bring home the other big prize:
Best Llama in Show
.”

This immediately brought out the competitive streak in Leo, Lamar and Latisha. They each privately promised themselves, in addition to winning their own events, to grab the big prize too. Mama Llama beamed at her children, but then gave Liberty a pleading look.

Liberty felt a twinge of guilt. She hated to upset her mama, but a girl had to do what a girl had to do – and escaping was in her blood. Surely Mama Llama must have known that all those years ago, or why would she have given her daughter a name that means
freedom
?

Later, when Liberty slipped out of the llama enclosure to see Lewie, she found him still feeling a little anxious.

“It's just cold feet,” she reminded him.

Even if it were just cold feet, Lewie didn't want to feel like this for days to come. The
Best Guard Llama
event wouldn't be held until Saturday – the last day of the fair. That was five days away. Lewie loved his flock and he had faith in them, but if the sheep didn't start working together soon, and if the lambs did not conquer their nerves, he really couldn't see how they would ever win the prize.

For Lewie, who loved to perform and had always thrived on it, this felt like the most important performance of his life.

At that moment, unbeknown to him, Lewie was being discussed around the coyotes' campfire. Not that any of the coyotes had met Lewie yet, apart from Captain and his nephew, Cupcake. And Captain still felt uneasy when he remembered his past experience with Lewie, so he was keeping quiet on the subject.

The conversation had started with a general discussion about the famous Guard Llamas in the county. Certain names were mentioned, like the mighty Hadrian, Farmer Hardman's Guard Llama. Hadrian was a huge, powerful animal – and pretty fierce. Coyotes for miles around knew to give him a wide berth.

“He snapped my old dad's tail clean off,” Clutterbuck told the others as the coyotes shared stories of encounters with Hadrian and other Guard Llamas like him.

Crazycoot had lost half his tail too, but that had been shot off by Farmer Blunkett's gun. His Guard Llama, Blunderbuss, might be getting old, but he was another llama the coyotes tried to avoid.

Clutterbuck asked if anyone had had a run-in yet with Farmer Palmer's new one. But the coyotes shook their heads.

“Well, he won't be as fierce as
The Terminator
, that's for certain,” Clutterbuck said firmly.

And everyone agreed.

“Don't be too sure about that,” Captain muttered. The coyotes looked up, expecting more information, but Captain went quiet.

“What's up? Llama got your tongue?” laughed Clutterbuck.

“Yeah, got the jitters, Grandpa?” asked Crazycoot nastily. “Don't worry, you stay back behind us. We'll protect you, won't we, lads?”