Page 21 of The Knitting Club at Wagtail Ridge

From the screen, an alpaca looked out at her with big dark eyes partially obscured by hanks of long, wavy cream fleece.

It looked good. Bree started clicking around the site. It was exactly what she had asked for. The page offering alpaca walks had images of laughing children and smiling adults standing with the cute creatures she loved so much. That should attract some custom. She reviewed the instructions from her web designers. She would easily be able to upload photos of stock for sale. Or fleeces. There was a page for online yarn sales and one for news. She guessed pictures of her new alpaca babies would go there. And pictures of her show wins—when she had some. Most importantly, there was a form for those who wanted to book walks. That would be her first and hopefully easiest flow of income. She had a bit of money behind her, but not so much that she didn’t need to start bringing some more in. Soon. All she needed now was some alpacas.

She composed an email to tell the web designer to make the page live. As she hit send, she heard a convoy of vehicles coming up her driveway. Grinning like a wild thing, she headed outside.

The driver of the front vehicle raised a hand in greeting when he saw her. She waved back, directing him towards the stables. His car was towing a long silver horse float. A second car and float followed. The third vehicle towed a trailer, rather than an animal transport, while the final vehicle was another float.

Her alpacas were finally here! Or some of them were. Her hands still bore the scratches and blisters of the last three weeks’ hard work and some of her muscles still ached, but she had done it. With a bit of help from Jake, The Gums was ready for its new inhabitants.

‘Hi, Bree,’ Ash said when all four vehicles had parked.

‘Hi, Ash. How was the trip?’

‘Fine. Just fine. Your babies were all very well behaved.’

‘After living with you for so long, I would expect nothing less.’

She was so grateful to Ash and Mel for all their kindness. She’d paid for her animals to be boarded, but they had done so much more for her, teaching her and encouraging her. She wasn’t sure she would be standing here today if it weren’t for them. They had always been there for her, but once all her animals and the stuff in the trailer had been unloaded, she would be on her own.

‘This place looks perfect,’ Mel said as she joined them. ‘Your babies will be very happy here.’

‘I think we all will be.’ Bree gave Mel a hug.

‘Let’s get them unloaded, shall we?’ Ash retrieved some halters and lead ropes from the back of his car. ‘We’ll do the boys first.’

Bree opened the human-sized door at the front of the trailer. Three curious faces turned her way. ‘Hello, boys.’

A white nose brushed her face. ‘Yes, Pan. This is going to be your new home.’

A brown nose pushed the white one away. ‘I know, Digby. This is the first time you’ve been anywhere other than the place you were born. But it’ll be all right, you wait and see.’

Bree stepped into the trailer, past Pan and Digby, to look down on a second brown beast sitting quite comfortably on the matting floor.

‘Come on, lazy bones. Time to get up.’

The brown alpaca got slowly to his feet and nuzzled her hand.

‘Sorry, Freddie, no treats until everyone is safely settled.’ She slipped the halter over his neck. Behind her, Mel was doing the same to the two younger males.

‘Ready?’ Ash called from behind the trailer.

‘Yep.’

He opened the trailer doors. Bree led Freddie forward, giving him plenty of time to look at the step down from the trailer to the ground. He stared out at the unfamiliar surroundings.

‘Come on.’ Bree tugged gently on his halter and together they stepped down. She led him away while Mel handed Pan’s lead to Ash. The white alpaca and then the brown behaved like pros, walking neatly from the trailer with no fuss at all.

‘This way.’ Bree led the little convoy to a gate that opened on to a small, well-fenced yard. At the far end, a large stall was open if they wanted to use it.

‘You should be fine here, boys.’ Bree took the headstall off her charge and rubbed his face. ‘We’ll go and get the girls.’

It didn’t take long to unload the eight female alpacas from the other transports, three with nursing crias, and settle them. Bree cast a careful eye over them as they were led into their paddock. Beside her, Ash nodded.

‘They travelled well.’

Bree thought so too. These females were all pregnant, but the one she was most worried about hadn’t made this journey. Sky would be coming tomorrow, with the remaining members of Bree’s small herd.

‘I’ve got the vet booked to come out and give them all a good look-over,’ Bree said. ‘Especially Sky.’

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