Llama Drama (7 page)

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?”