Read Icecapade for Free Online Page B

Francis admitted.
    Noel sighed, but what was the use in giving vent to all the things he longed to say? Francis was…Francis.
    They climbed up the knoll, Daisy trotting ahead of them, her wagging tail dusting the snow as she ran.
    As they reached the top, the mother llama picked her way sure-footedly over to them, making a strange sound that mostly resembled a squashed moo.
    “All right, Mama. Help is on the way,” Francis reassured her.
    Noel walked over to the “crevice” and gazed down. He could make out what looked like a leggy ball of white fluff tucked about thirty feet down. Two things were immediately clear to him.
    That animal was not getting out of there on its own—and Francis was too wide to make it through the narrow fissure of an opening.
    That left…
    He glanced around. It was beginning to get crowded on the knoll between humans, dog and 54
    Icecapade
    the other llamas. Robert joined him, staring down at the cria.
    “How long is the rope you brought?”
    “Long enough. A hundred feet.”
    The small llama was faintly echoing the worried hum of its mother.
    “How the hell did that happen? I thought you said llamas were supposed to be smart?”
    “They are, but they’re curious, too, and that one’s probably only a few hours old. They’re usually born in the daylight.”
    “You seem to know a lot about llamas.”
    “They get through Francis’s fence a lot, so I’ve spent some time listening to him on the subject.”
    Francis was on his knees on the other side of the hole in the ground peering anxiously down.
    One hand steadied his glasses perched precariously on his nose. The mother llama peered down with him. A small echoing hum rose from the cria.
    “There must be a way I can get down there,”
    Francis fretted.
    “You’ve got to be kidding,” Robert said. He looked from Noel to Francis as though trying to determine the extent of the threat. “You’re dreaming.”
    It was blunt but honest. No way was portly Francis going to manage to wriggle through that opening. Robert could probably make it. Though Josh Lanyon
    55
    he was muscular, he was lean, and he seemed reasonably limber. But the obvious choice was Noel.
    Noel knelt, trying to get a better view of the shelf where the cria lay. Going down was probably not the problem. Or at least not as big a problem as climbing up would be. Either way, it was nothing he hadn’t done a million times—
    though, granted, not since his fall.
    “I’ll do it.”
    Francis look relieved. “No, no. I’ll do it, of course. I only brought you here to lend a hand. I’ll make the climb. It’s my little lost llama.”
    Noel happened to be watching Robert, so he saw him roll his eyes.
    “You’d probably better let me do it, Francis.”
    Noel rose, dusting the snow from his gloved hands. “I’ve got more experience at this kind of thing.”
    Robert made that sound that fell somewhere between a snort and a splutter. “Yes, any time a llama went missing you were always my first thought.”
    Noel tossed the coil of rope at him. “Make yourself useful and tie that around that tree trunk.”
    “Tree trunk? That’s optimistic.” Robert took the coiled rope and carried it to the lightning blasted stump of pine tree. He looped the rope around the trunk to anchor it, hauled on it hard to 56
    Icecapade
    test its resistance, and then walked back with the lengths looped around his arm. He moved toward Noel, but Noel waved him away.
    “It’s not for me. I’m going to use the tarp to make a sling and lift the calf up that way.”
    “Cria.”
    “Right. Anyway, it’ll be safer for both of us in case it freaks and starts struggling.”
    “Tie it around your waist climbing down at least. There’s no reason to take a chance when you don’t have to.”
    “And here I was thinking you’d enjoy watching me break my neck.”
    “Not in front of Francis.”
    Noel was busy tying one of the ends of rope around his waist. Robert was right. No need to take stupid