Chapter 2
Tiffany looked over at Keisha and asked, “Are you sorry you came?”
Keisha shrugged. “Had to happen sometime,” she muttered.
“Are you doing okay though?”
“Sure, of course I’m doing okay,” she replied, with a bright smile for her friend. “I knew this time was coming and something that was needed. We move in the same circle, so it would happen eventually anyway. I just wasn’t thinking that today would be the day.”
“Of course not, and it didn’t need to be.”
“No, but today you needed help, and I won’t let life stop me from doing the things that need to be done, and today we had animals that needed help,” she explained. “No need to make a fuss now. It’s all good.”
“I appreciate the help.”
“I know you do and so do these animals.” Keisha gently stroked the neck of a very hot llama. “We really need to get shearers out here.”
“I’ve made several phone calls, but they are a dying breed.”
Keisha winced but nodded. “I know that he probably won’t volunteer, but Jaxon is a pretty-decent shearer.”
“Where on earth would he have learned that?”
“He was raised on a ranch, and they always had sheep, as well as a few other curiosities. His father would never pay for the proper people to come by and take care of things, so Jaxon used to do the job for them.”
Tiffany looked over at the animals and frowned.
“I know I’m making it sound as if he would do a terrible job, but honestly, he’s pretty decent.”
“And you’ve seen it?”
“I’ve seen him at work. I’m not sure he would appreciate what I’m saying though.”
“Of course not,” she said, with a nod. “It would help if he volunteered.”
“Sure, but, if he doesn’t know what’s needed, he can’t volunteer,” she pointed out, “and, if you don’t say something to him, he won’t know.”
“I can ask him,” Tiffany noted. “Absolutely I can ask him. I did pick up some decent shears, but I’ve never used them before. Plus, I’m not sure I can manhandle these guys as it is.”
“Probably not.” Keisha frowned at them and then smiled. “Obviously it’ll be more than a one-person job, so I guess that would be him and me,” Keisha pointed out, with a sigh, “but, if you tell him that, he’ll immediately say no.”
“You don’t know that,” said a man behind them, his tone hard.
Wincing, Keisha turned to see Jaxon standing there, glaring at her.
He asked, “What is it you think I can do?”
“We can’t get a shearer,” Tiffany stated immediately, “and Keisha mentioned you’re a decent shearer.”
His eyebrows shot up. “That’s a plus,” he muttered.
“Spilling secrets, are we?” He walked over, took a look at the llamas, and nodded, ignoring Keisha.
“These coats need to come off,” he declared, turning to Tiffany.
“You sure you couldn’t get anybody? These mats won’t make for an easy job.
A pro would be better to not stress out the animals. ”
“True. However, we’re not trying to save the wool. In this case, I see wool breaks all over anyway. Instead of long healthy strands, the wool has breaks in the fibers, likely due to stress and diet changes.”
“I agree,” he said, taking a closer look at the animals, their mouths open from the heat that was already tormenting them. He frowned as he studied them and added, “It won’t be pretty.”
“I don’t need pretty,” Tiffany stated. “I just need the animals cooled down to reduce heat stress at this point.”
“Well, in that case, have you got shears?”
“I picked up a good set a while back when I found out what Timber was planning out here,” she shared, “and brought them with me from the clinic.” She pointed toward them.
He walked over and took a look, then nodded, plugged them in, took a good look around the shop, and muttered, “I’ll have to get more wiring done in here. We have an outlet here, but more are still in the works. If you’ll do this on a regular basis, we’ll need better access.”
“Yeah, we can talk more about that as soon as we get the animals in,” she noted. “It usually takes a little bit of a trial run before everybody can figure out exactly what’s needed in a place like this anyway.”
He didn’t say anything but walked over to the first llama and took a closer look at it. “It’s just you and me, bud,” he whispered, “but, with a little cooperation, we can get through this.”
Of course, cooperation was asking a lot from a stressed and overheated animal, but, even as he started, the animal seemed to calm down.
Jaxon managed to get the animal down on one side, bringing the shears up through the belly.
It was almost magical to watch, and Keisha couldn’t take her gaze off him.
When he struggled a little bit, keeping the animal calm while he did their legs, he looked up and announced, “A little help would be nice.”
Keisha immediately jumped into action and held the llama, keeping it still in order for him to get to the places that he needed to reach, before rolling over the llama and completing the other side.
By the time he was done, he stood back and helped the animal to its feet, cleaning up the animal’s neck in the process. “It certainly wasn’t a three-minute pro job,” he admitted, as he looked at the animal with satisfaction, “but it’s better than what he had.”
And, indeed, the animal slowly stopped panting. With that first one done, they went to work on the rest, and by the time they were all done, Keisha was shaking.
“I didn’t think it would be that much work,” Keisha admitted with a hard sigh, as she stepped back.
“It wasn’t a lot of work for us,” Jaxon clarified briskly. “It was nothing compared to what it was for them.”
She nodded. “Very true,” she muttered, knowing he struggled with her being here anyway. She looked over at him and shared, “I wasn’t trying to avoid you or to pin you in place.”
He looked at her briefly, cleaned off the shears, and started to walk away. “Doesn’t matter now if you did or not,” he noted, “as it didn’t work either way.” And, with that, he stepped outside.
Tiffany raced behind him and called out, “Hey, Jaxon.”
He pivoted and almost snapped, “What?”
“Take it easy now,” she said, with a smile. “I just want to thank you. Those animals were really suffering from the heat in there.”
“Yeah, they sure were,” he conceded. “You’ll have to keep them shorn regularly.”
“And I’m okay with that,” she replied, and then she laughed. “You better tell Timber that too.”
“He knows it.” Jaxon gave her a quiet smile. And, with that, he turned and walked back to the bunkhouse.