Chapter 22
Llama see, llama do.
Okay, enough was enough.
Hudson was done waiting for Scout to come back. As he stepped onto the front porch, he saw that the farm was still lit up but the sky was eerily dark, with clouds blanketing the stars and even moon so that everything was gray and dreary.
Maybe it was an omen of Scout being about to kick him out.
He should have kept his mouth shut, but the damage was done. And fine, he was relieved she knew the truth.
He hated keeping things from her for reasons he didn’t fully understand.
As he headed in the direction of the animals, Clover raced at him, her bleating wild and frantic. Later he would wonder when he’d started to be able to tell the difference in their bleats, but she was scared.
Rushing up to greet Clover, the multicolored cream and brown llama, he gently rubbed the back of her head as she stomped around nervously in front of him.
“What do you want me to do?” And where were her besties?
As if she understood him, she turned and raced away. He gave chase, following the wild hops of the animal who was clearly slowing her pace for him.
His adrenaline had spiked because something was wrong and there was no sign of Scout anywhere.
He heard llama shrieks as they raced down a row of festival booths, dirt and hay kicking up behind them in a cloud.
As he rounded the corner, adrenaline and raw fear surged through him.
Lucy and Patricia were tied up to one of the fences and bucking against their restraints so much it was clear they were going to hurt themselves.
Lucy had already started gnawing on hers and was doing a good job of freeing herself. But it wouldn’t be fast enough.
“Lucy,” he snapped out as he raced over.
She spit at him.
He pulled out his knife. “Lucy, I want to find Scout as much as you do so cut it out!” Maybe he’d lost his mind, but Lucy and Patricia must have understood something because they stopped jerking wildly.
The knots were too tight so he simply cut the ropes free.
The two llamas raced away from him, jumping the nearest fence.
He cursed to himself but sprinted toward the stables. He felt as if he was losing precious time, but he couldn’t follow them on foot. They were too fast, and given the boot and horse tracks—and drag marks—he’d seen around this pen, someone had kidnapped Scout.
Instead of taking the ATV, he slid onto one of the horses a rancher had left behind for the duration of the festival.
Winnie neighed softly, but was compliant as he guided her out of the stables.
Heart still galloping in his chest, he was surprised to find the three llamas impatiently waiting for him at the trail that led away from the farm.
When they saw him, they turned and started running.
He gave chase, hoping that whoever had taken Scout hadn’t… No, he couldn’t even go there. Just couldn’t.
He had no idea what was going on, though he wondered if he’d made yet another mistake by letting Black Jack go. If he had…
He would never forgive himself if harm came to Scout. But he refused to give up hope.
She was his and he’d do everything possible to bring her back to her farm safely.