Page 19 of Death By Llama
A bubbling rumble emanated from Jack, making me painfully aware that no one was out of the spit zone yet.
“Don’t you dare,” I muttered to him.Spitting on children was not a good look.
He flattened his ears against his head, but stopped making concerning noises.More people gathered to watch us as we headed back toward the Steamy’s booth.
“Is that the llama everyone is saying killed someone?”a middle-aged woman said to the younger woman beside her.
Gossip did spread like wildfire in a small town, but this was actually ridiculous.
Brandy and Dave joined my trek, flanking either side of me and Jack—for which I was grateful.I was starting to feel more than a little concerned about the festival-goers’ interest in my pet.
“How on earth did all these people hear about Jack possibly being involved?”I asked.I just heard it myself.
Brandy shook her head as if she was as bemused as I was.She cast a wary glance at a man who glared as they passed.The gathering was starting to feel more like an angry mob rather than curious onlookers.
“Dave, I think you and George Sprague should load up Jack right away and get him back to my place,” I said, not quite daring to look toward the crowd.
“Agreed,” Dave said, looking worried too.
That bothered me more than anything thus far.Dave wasn’t usually one to notice the vibes of the room.He was usually on his own private high, and not chemically induced.Dave liked to say he was high of life.He could call it what he wanted, but he never knew what was going on.If he was aware of the festival-goers irritation, then I wasn’t overthinking what was going on.
When we got back to the booth, I was relieved to see that Jimmy and George were already breaking up the booth.Even Dougie piled up items that needed to be loaded up on the truck.
“Is it true?”Dougie stopped breaking down the tent as soon as we approached.The other two men paused what they were doing to look toward us.
Brandy shot a regretful look toward Jimmy, then nodded.“Yeah, Peanut is gone.”
Aside from a slight frown and a lift of one eyebrow, Jimmy didn’t react.He returned to siphoning frying oil into a five gallon bucket.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Dougie said with a sigh.“He was a really decent guy.”
Behind him, George Sprague rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“I mean, sure, he was kind of a bristly sort,” Dougie added.“But overall, a good guy.”
The way he said that almost sounded as if he was trying to convince himself of that fact.Again, out of sight from Dougie and Jimmy, George Sprague shook his head and made a face.
Clearly, Steamy’s resident barfly didn’t think Peanut was such a great person.
I glanced over again at Jimmy to see if there was any more reaction from the older man, but he still remained focused on wrestling with gallons of grease.
“I was actually hoping that you and Dave could get Jack back to my place,” I said, speaking directly to George.
“What about the truck?”George asked.“We planned to make a trip to the pub to drop things off, then come back for your critter.”
“We can load this stuff up in my van,” Dougie offered.“I should have enough room.”
I wasn’t sure about the health department’s take on putting restaurant equipment into a plumbing van.I was pretty sure it wasn’t positive.Although at this point, I was more concerned with getting Jack back to my house.We could always spray everything down with disinfectant before returning it to the restaurant.
“That would be great,” I agreed.
Brandy grimaced beside me, her thoughts clearly going down the same route of plumbing tools and kitchen equipment in the same space.But I was truly more worried about the angry mob turning on my beloved pet.
From behind me, there was a loud bang, then swearing.We all turned to look at Brad, who was working alone to break down the Opulent Occasions booth.He tried to brace one of the arches that framed the front of their booth.And he appeared to be losing.
I wondered where Ashley was.A few more muttered curses echoed around us, then another loud bang.Wherever she was, Brad wasn’t happy about it.Or maybe Brad was just ticked off to be left with the entire job of breaking down the booth by himself.
Right now, I was more concerned with helping my llama make his escape unscathed.
