Page 50 of Overdue for a Cowboy

“Well, I’ll be damned. You were right.”

The llama was light brown and cream-colored and was resting on the ground next to the fence. Its fur blended in with the dirt which must have been why Dodge hadn’t seen it at first. And probably because he’d also seemed lost in his own thoughts.

“Itoldyou I saw a llama.” Her brow furrowed as she realized the animal hadn’t moved. She took a few steps closer and realized why. “Oh, Dodge. Look. Its leg is caught in the fence.”

“Shit. You’re right.” He held out his hands and cooed soft words to it as he slowly approached the animal. “Hey now. You’re okay. Nobody’s gonna hurt you. I’m just gonna take a look at your leg.” He swore again as he got closer. “It’s got a piece of barbed wire wrapped around it’s leg, and the fencing is still connected.”

“It’s bleeding,” Maisie said as she followed Dodge’s lead and slowly drew nearer to the animal.

Dodge’s brow knit together. “I think it’s been here for a bit. It looks plum worn out and is probably a little dehydrated. There’s a couple of water bottles in a small tool bag in the backseat of my truck. Can you grab them and one of Moose’s collapsible waterdishes? We’ll see if we can’t get her to try to drink something. Actually, bring the whole tool bag. I’ve got some wire cutters in there I may need to use if I can’t get its leg free.”

“I’m on it,” Maisie said, already scrambling back up the hill.

By the time she got back with the tool bag and the water, Dodge was sitting on the ground near the animal’s leg and had its head resting in his lap.

“Oh my gosh. I was only gone for two minutes, and you’ve completely earned its trust,” she said, popping out the collapsible bowl and then unscrewing the cap from one of the water bottles.

“This is a pretty old llama, and I think it’s spent from fighting this fence. It’s obvious it’s been around people before. It let me come right up to it. I want you to give it some water, and if it does okay with you, I’ll have you try to keep it calm while I cut away the fencing.”

“Okay,” she said, pouring some water into the bowl. She was a little nervous, but Dodge was right about the animal seeming to be in bad shape, so her apprehension was overruled by her need to help. She slowly approached the llama, holding the bowl out in front of her then set it on the ground close to its head. “It’s okay,” she told it, mimicking Dodge’s soothing tone. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m just going to give you some water.”

The llama strained its head forward as she approached then stuck its mouth into the dish and sipped up some water. Maisie slowly stuck her hand out and ran it carefully down the llama’s neck. The animal lifted its head and leaned into Maisie’s palm then rubbed its cheek against the side of her leg before returning to the water bowl for another sip.

“Good job,” Dodge said, and Maisie couldn’t help but feel a small sense of pride at getting the animal to trust her. “Keep talking to it like that. It seems pretty friendly, and I’m gonna do my best not to hurt it, but be ready to get back if it gets upset.”

“Gotcha,” she said, smoothing her palm along the llama’s neck again.

The animal tipped toward her and nudged at her hand, just like Moose did when he was trying to get her to scratch his head. She rubbed her fingertips over the llama’s forehead, and it made a funny little humming sound.

“Did you hear that?” Maisie asked, her eyes going wide. “It sounded like it hummed.”

“That’s what they do. They make a lot of different sounds.” He was talking to her, but his concentration was on the animal’s leg. He’d pulled a tool from the bag and was using it to carefully snip through barbed wire then pull it away.

“It doesn’t bother me, but is someone going to get mad at you for cutting their fence?” she asked.

“It’s our fence.” He gestured to the pasture behind him. “This is all our property. Some of our fencing got messed up with that last big storm. That’s why I was up here the day I found your car in the ditch. I’d been checking for any places where the fence was downed. Then I saw you, and just hadn’t made it back up here yet.” He frowned at the llama’s leg. “Damn, I’ve got most of it, but there’s a couple of barbs embedded in its leg.”

“Can you pull them out?”

“Yeah, but it’s gonna hurt. Meandthe llama.”

Maisie smiled then winced as she watched him take a multi-tool from his belt, choose the needle nose pliers, and close them around one of the barbs. “It’s okay,” she cooed to the llama.

Dodge pulled gently and the first barb released from the llama’s flesh. The second must have been set deeper because it took more effort to pull out, and the llama jerked and let out a grunt of distress.

“It’s okay,” Dodge said, rubbing at the uninjured part of the animal’s flank. “I got it. You’re free.” He stood and kicked the rest of the fencing away.

“Its leg is still bleeding,” Maisie said.

“I’ve got a first aid kit in the truck. I can wash it out with some peroxide then treat it with antibiotic ointment. That should help. But I’m worried it’s dehydrated and could be starving.” He pointed to the patchy dirt around him. “You can see it’s eaten all the grass it could reach.”

“What should we do? We have to help it.” A few days earlier, she’d been cursing this animal and questioning its very existence, but now all she wanted to do was find a way to help it. “Is there someone we can call? Are there ambulances for animals?”

Dodge huffed out a laugh. “I’m pulling the closest thing there is to an animal ambulance. If we can get it in the trailer, we can take it back to the ranch. Then I can call Brody Tate to come take a look at it. He’s from over in Creedence,” he said, naming the next town over to Woodland Hills. “But he’s a great guy and has been our vet for years.”

“Okay. Good. But I feel like we should call someone—like its owner. Who do you think it belongs to?”

He shrugged. “I have no idea. If it were a cow, I could check its brand. I don’t recall anyone around here having llamas. But it’s on my property, so we’ll take care of it.”

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