Page 105 of The Knitting Club at Wagtail Ridge

‘Hold her still for me, please.’ Anna ran her hand down Sky’s neck and along the top of her back. She stepped closer to Sky’s hindquarters and lifted her tail, then she pulled some rubber gloves out of her back pocket and put them on.

‘Hold her steady now, Shea. Come on, girl, let’s see what’s going wrong, shall we?’

Rose didn’t notice how hard her fingers were clenched on the top of the stable half-door until Mike gently laid his hand over hers. His warm strength beside her gave her courage.

‘She’s got the best care she could have,’ he said softly. ‘Just believe she can do it.’

Rose nodded, then winced as Anna began to insert her gloved hand into Sky’s birth canal. The alpaca started to move forward, but Shea kept a firm hold on her head, placing a hand on Sky’s nose to encourage her to stand still. Anna made a low, breathy sound as she moved to a slightly different position.

‘The head is turned,’ she said. ‘I have to straighten it, if I can.’

Rose held her breath. Anna grunted once, twice, with the effort, then stepped back with a sigh. As she did, the nose and then the head and neck of the cria appeared. Anna immediately cleared the mucus from its mouth, looking closely to see if it was breathing.

‘I can’t give her too much time to finish this,’ she said. She indicated to Shea to release Sky from the halter. ‘Come on, old girl, neither you nor your baby can afford for you to muck around.’

Rose’s heart sank. The chance of two live crias had always been very slim and the possibility of Sky not surviving had always been there, but never more real than right now. How she wished Bree was here.

In the stall, Sky lay down then almost immediately got to her feet again.

Anna caught Shea’s eye. ‘I think we need to intervene.’

Once again, Shea haltered Sky, whose head was drooping. The alpaca looked completely spent.

Anna examined the cria. ‘I think it’s badly positioned. If I can rotate it and change the angle of its shoulders, we might make it.’

Rose couldn’t bear to watch but she couldn’t look away. She couldn’t consider the thought that she might have to text Bree with more terrible news, while, out there somewhere, her granddaughter was helping Matt search for Vicki.

And then it happened. With Anna’s assistance, the cria slid from the birth canal and Anna laid it carefully on the bedding that covered the floor.

‘Pass me another towel.’

With the towel, Anna began to clean the baby. Was it breathing? Rose couldn’t see.

Then the dark wet shape in front of Anna moved. First just the tiniest motion and then its head lifted.

‘That’s it. Come on, little one,’ Anna crooned.

The shape moved again and Sky turned around to welcome the newcomer.

Rose’s heart clenched and the tears she had been holding back began to flow. Mike’s arms went around her and held her tightly. She leaned back into his chest and looked up to see his dark eyes were also glistening with tears.

CHAPTER

43

The two cars passed the sign announcing they were entering the national park. The roads gradually became narrower as they drove further into the park and higher into the mountains, eventually becoming a single gravel track. Matt cursed loudly as they were forced to slow down. Each time they passed a sign pointing to a campground, he hesitated, staring into the parking areas, searching for a familiar car.

‘We have to trust Brian,’ Bree said. ‘If anyone knows where Sally would go, today especially, it’s him.’

Matt nodded. The tension oozing out of him was like a dark cloud enveloping them. There were times Bree found it hard to even breathe. It would be so much worse for Matt.

‘If they’re not there, we’ll have to call the police,’ she said when she couldn’t stand the silence in the car any longer.

‘I know. I wanted to keep them out of this, for everyone’s sake. But she’s been gone for so long now. And it’s going to get dark soon.’

Ahead of them, Brian turned off onto an even smaller track, little more than two well-worn ruts.

‘If this gets much worse, we’ll need a four-wheel drive.’

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