Page 51 of Overdue for a Cowboy

“Okay, but how do we get it into the trailer?”

“Good question. Let me fix up its leg first, then we’ll see if we can get it up.”

“How do you suggest we do that? The thing looks like it weighs more than me.”

“I’m sure it does. It’s not that big, as far as llama’s go, but I’m sure it’s a good few hundred pounds. I’m gonna grab the first aid kit, and I’m sure I’ve got some rope we can use to make a makeshift bridle.”

Maisie stayed with the llama, petting its neck and head while Dodge scrambled up the ditch then returned a few minutes later with the first aid supplies and a length of rope. The llama must have decided it trusted him, because it let Dodge wash out and doctor the wounds on its leg.

It took some doing, but using the makeshift bridle, handfuls of hay from the sitting area bales in the bookmobile, and a lot of muscle, more from Dodge than from her, they managed to get the llama out of the ditch and secured in the trailer.

It took less than ten minutes to get back to Dodge’s ranch, and they both cracked up when they opened the back end of the trailer and saw the llama sitting in the middle of the seating area, munching the hay, and appearing to peruse the choice of books.

“How do we figure out where she belongs?” Maisie asked after they’d secured the llama into an empty stall in the barn andgiven her ample food and water. Once she was up, Dodge confirmed she was a female.

Dodge shook his head. “I’m not sure. Like I said, I don’t know anyone that raises or even has llamas around these parts. We can call around, but looking at how old she is, my gut tells me that she outlived her breeding years, and somebody probably dumped her to avoid having to continue to pay for her upkeep.”

Maisie gasped. “Dumped her?What do you mean? Like some garbage on the side of the road?”

He nodded. “It happens all the time. Horses especially get dumped or abandoned when their owners can’t afford to take care of them anymore. But I could be wrong about her.” The llama had her head sticking over the stall fence trying to sniff Dodge’s chest, and he was absently petting her as he spoke. “We can always take a picture of her and put up some ‘Lost Llama’ posters around town.”

“Good idea,” she said, taking out her phone and turning around to snap a few selfies of the three of them. Maisie cracked up as the llama appeared to pose and smile as she photo-bombed the shots.

Dodge laughed. “I meant a picture of the llama, not us. And I was joking anyway.”

“Oh. Whoops.” Maisie said, secretly thrilled to now have a picture of her and Dodge together, even if it did have a llama in the background. “Although, I still think that’s a good idea. Not putting posters around town but posting some pictures of her on social media. And maybe sending some photos to other vets in the area to see if anyone recognizes her.” She took another few pictures of the llama, getting Dodge’s profile in one more.

“That’s not a bad idea. I’ll have Duke ask around too. He knows every rancher and farmer in this county, and several in the next.”

Maisie reached out to nuzzle the animal’s head. “Until then, it looks like we’ve got ourselves a llama.”

Dodge groaned.

Maisie fluffed the tufts of hair on its forehead as she studied the llama’s face. “I think we should call her Phyllis.”

“Phyllis? Where’d you come up with that?”

“I think her wispy white hair kind of looks like my great-aunt Phyllis, who, I might add, is also well past her breeding years, although I’d deny it if you told her I said so.”

Dodge laughed. “She won’t hear it from me. I don’t even know your great aunt.”

“Phyllis is the younger of my grandmother’s two sisters and has a much sweeter disposition than her older sister.”

“I hope she does. I’m not sure everyone would consider it a compliment to have a llama named after them because they shared the same hairdo.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

That Saturday, Maisie had thought she was alone as she was bent over in the Quonset hut at the Lassiter Ranch sanding out one of the scratches on the exterior of the bookmobile when someone goosed her in the butt.

She let out a shriek and whipped around to find herself face-to-face with a mischievous llama.

After a few days of food, water, and plenty of attention from Maisie, Dodge, his brothers,andDuke, Phyllis had perked up and was actually quite affectionate and playful.

Brody Tate, Dodge’s vet, had checked out her leg and treated her with some antibiotics and a tetanus shot. He hadn’t recognized her from any of the farms or ranches he knew but confirmed that she was probably around twenty and had sadly agreed with Dodge’s theory of her being abandoned.

Even though Phyllis had already won over the hearts of Maisie and all the Lassiter men,andhad made friends with half the cows, Moose, and one of the goats on the ranch, Maisie had still posted pictures of the old llama on various social media sitesasking if anyone knew who she belonged to. She felt like she had to at least try to find the animal’s home, just in case someone was missing her.

“Excuse me,” Maisie told the llama, and noticed that Dodge was standing behind the llama and chuckling at her behavior.

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