Chapter 9

CHAPTER

9

The blue circle on Bree’s computer went around and around and after what seemed like an eternity, the website loaded.

The Gums—Alpaca Stud and Visitor Centre .

Walk with our alpacas through the glorious hills of the Upper Hunter Valley.

Pure alpaca fleece and yarn for sale.

Huacaya and Suri stock for sale for breeding or show.

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.’

‘She’s doing fine,’ Ash said. ‘I scanned her yesterday and she still had the twins.’ It was clear that Ash didn’t view this as a good thing.

‘I’ll keep a close eye on her, don’t worry.’ The long journey could make Sky lose her twins, a result that was almost inevitable whatever they did. But Bree couldn’t ignore that tiny hope deep inside her that maybe this time she’d see twin crias born alive and healthy.

The next job was to unload the last trailer—food and tack to be stored in the shed—and it wasn’t long before the shed started looking pretty full, with hay and feed supplements and all the paraphernalia that went into good animal care. The last few boxes were carried to Bree’s house, where the spun yarn inside them would be stored on shelves in her office.

Ash and Mel took their leave. They would be back in the morning with the rest of Bree’s herd.

Bree fetched herself a mug of coffee and wandered back down to the stables. She checked that all her charges had feed and water. As she moved among them, she made sure that none had suffered any injuries on their journey. Satisfied at last that all was as it should be, she sat on an old drum to enjoy her drink and a feeling of satisfaction.

Hers was a small herd, but each alpaca was a champion—or bred to be one. And each animal was showing a full coat. After winter was past, they’d be shorn of their valuable fleeces, but for now, they were a group of very woolly animals. Just looking at them as they wandered around, exploring their new home, was enough to make Bree smile.

The phone in the pocket of her jacket vibrated. She pulled it out.

‘Hello, Mother.’

‘Hello, Brianna. How are you?’

‘Fine, thanks. Getting nicely settled into the new place. The first of the herd arrived today.’

‘Yes. I hope everything’s going well.’

Bree realised that her words had come as something of a surprise to her mother. She hadn’t known how far along with her new life Bree had moved. Maybe she would have, had she given it some thought. But Margaret obviously had something else on her mind.

‘What is it, Mother?’

‘It’s the McPhearson estate. You were looking after it. There’s a snag. It would be helpful if you could come back for a few days until we get it under control. Everyone else is too busy, and I know you can sort it all out in a day or two.’

‘No.’

‘What?’ The shock vibrated down the phone.

‘Mother, I can’t just go back to Sydney for a few days. I have animals to look after. I’m busy myself, setting up a whole new business.’

‘Well, yes, I know. But it’s not—’

‘Not what, Mother?’ Bree knew what her mother was going to say. Not a ‘proper’ business. Not real. Not important. Well, Bree wasn’t having any of that. She loved her mother and she didn’t want there to be tension between them, but she had to stand up for the life she’d chosen.

‘I just need a few days of your time, Bree. Surely you can give me that.’

‘I’m sorry, Mother. I can’t give you that. You had five years. Now I’m doing what I want with my life.’

There was silence at the other end of the line.

‘I’m sorry, Mother.’

‘I understand.’

Bree didn’t think she did. ‘I hope you and Father will come up and look at the place soon. One weekend. It’s starting to take shape.’

‘We will. When we have time.’

‘The alpacas will all be here tomorrow. I’m ready to start taking bookings for the walks, although I’ll give the alpacas time to settle before we take paying customers. I’ll have the website up and running later today. I’ll send you and Father the link.’

‘Yes. Do that.’

Bree’s happiness and enthusiasm faded. Her parents would never follow that link. They might or might not come to visit one day. Once. But if they were to see each other at all, she’d have to go to them.

‘Fine.’ She didn’t bother trying to keep the call going.

She sat watching the sun go down. Her animals settled for sleep, some inside the open stalls, others in the paddock. The night would be chilly, but the animals wouldn’t be bothered. She was starting to feel cold herself and was about to head inside the house when her phone rang again.

‘Hello, Bree. How did it go? Are they all there and settled in? It must feel marvellous.’

Nan’s enthusiasm poured down the phone, lifting Bree’s spirits immediately.

‘It all went smoothly, yes. The first lot are here and it does feel marvellous.’ At least, it did now.

‘Excellent. When can I come and visit?’

Bree was still talking to her grandmother as she walked back to the house, a smile on her face and a bounce in her step.

***

That bounce was still there next morning, when the second convoy of alpaca transports arrived at The Gums. Bree’s first thought was for pregnant Sky. When the alpaca calmly stepped down from the trailer, she looked around her with big dark eyes then followed Bree to a small paddock. Sky happily walked inside with the rest of the pregnant girls.

Ash and Mel didn’t hang around; they had animals to prepare for an upcoming event. Bree thanked them, hugged them and said goodbye.

She watched with careful eyes as the newcomers explored their surroundings. She was on her own now. The enormity of what she was doing hit her, taking her breath away. All of these creatures relied on her for their care. What was she thinking? Leaving everything and everyone she knew, a career that everyone thought was going to be brilliant, and coming to stand in this paddock, all alone except for the creatures whose lives lay in her hands.

In a puff, the fear vanished, replaced by joy and determination. She could do this. She would do this. Starting today! Right now, in fact.

She strode back to the house. In her office, she found a folder and spread the contents on her desk. This was the business plan she had drawn up months ago, when she’d started turning a dream into the reality that she now owned. Always one for scribbling on documents in her legal days, she took a pencil and began reviewing the plan. A note here. A small change there. A question or two that still needed answering. The work gave her a growing sense of purpose.

Her new things-to-do list had three entries on it when she heard an approaching car—the item on the very top of her list. She crossed it out and went to greet her visitor.

As the tall blonde woman got out of the car and walked towards her, Bree did her best not to stare at her face. The vet was a beautiful woman. Had once been beautiful. A large scar ran from near her right eye down her cheek to the corner of her mouth. Her chin was also scarred. When she smiled at Bree, the corner of her mouth nearest the scar twisted. Bree could barely imagine the sort of injury that would result in such heavy scarring. She shifted her gaze to the woman’s green eyes and saw understanding there. A wave of shame made her face flush. How horrible it must be for the poor woman, facing this every time she met someone new.

‘Hi.’ Bee held out her hand. ‘I’m Bree Johnston.’

‘Anna Prentiss.’ Her hand was strong and roughened by hard work. ‘And this is my assistant, Shea Mansfield.’ Anna indicated a young woman at the back of the vehicle, raising the tailgate to access the equipment inside. She looked to be still in her teens.

Shea looked around the back of the car. ‘Hi.’

‘Hi.’

‘So. Alpacas.’ Anna ran an eye over the animals in the nearby paddock. ‘Nice.’

‘Thanks. All the girls have been pregnancy tested, but I wanted you to have a look over them, just so we have a starting point. One is expecting twins.’

‘Ah.’ Anna raised a hand and gently rubbed the scar on her chin. ‘That’s not what we hope for.’

‘I know the odds, but I’ll look after her and see what happens.’

‘Well, I’ll do what I can to help. Shall we start with her?’

It took almost two hours to check the whole herd. Bree was impressed by Anna’s professionalism. Both she and Shea treated the animals calmly and gently, but still firmly enough to complete the pregnancy scans with a minimum of fuss or stress for the animals and their handlers. By the end of the afternoon, Bree knew she’d found the right vet for her herd. She also knew she had to get started on the second item on her list as soon as possible. And there was nothing wrong with right now.

‘Maybe you can help me with something else,’ she said to Anna and Shea as they were packing their gear away. ‘I need to hire someone to work here with me. Someone who can handle the alpacas, help with feeding and so forth. And when we start the walks, I’ll need at least one more person with me to help keep an eye on the customers and the animals. I can’t pay a lot just now, but hopefully the business will grow. Maybe someone just out of college who’s looking for some experience? Or needs a temporary job until they find something else? I don’t suppose either of you could suggest someone?’

Anna and Shea shook their heads. ‘There aren’t many jobs around here,’ Anna said. ‘When the kids finish college, they head for the city pretty much straight away. I was lucky enough that Shea wanted to stay here. I don’t know anyone else.’

‘Me neither,’ Shea added. ‘All my year have left.’

‘You could try putting an ad in the shop. And the post office,’ Anna added. ‘I’ll stay in touch,’ she continued as she shook Bree’s hand. ‘They all look to be in good shape, but keep a close eye on Sky. Call me if you have any concerns.’

‘Thanks. I will.’

Anna climbed behind the wheel. ‘By the way, welcome to the Ridge.’