Chapter Five:
Shopping Trip
[Page 4]
Whiskers went willingly into our van, and we drove back to Safley's.
Ken was out, and Marge let us take our time. We looked at the small
female's parents and the two grandparents that were there. Kelly
was ready to buy her, but I still needed to think more.
I sat for a while by myself in the pen with the little one and
the young weanlings. They were restless and humming, perhaps because
they had recently been removed from their mothers. She was quiet,
watching me in a relaxed way. We made eye contact for several long,
hypnotic seconds, and I felt that I was seeing her soul in her dark
eyes. I liked her.
I roamed around, trying to find what my reluctance was. Was my
intuition trying to tell me something? The footbridge across the
creek beckoned, and I sat there, dangling my legs over the side.
Aha! Spending that much money was bothering me: even though we had
planned to do it, parting with thousands of dollars was not easy.
Once I realized it, I laughed. A little anxiety wasn't going to
stop me from buying this llama. I imagined how it would be to have
her in our herd, and it felt lovely. As I stretched and looked up,
a young llama was romping across the meadow, nice symbol of fecundity
and increase.
"Well, I'm finally ready,'' I murmured to myself, and went
to find Kelly.
Loading the struggling young one in the van was a job, but soon
we had both llamas settled. We tied Whiskers up, just in case he
decided to try breeding the new one.
Whiskers had been humming interrogatively, but once we loaded the
female, he was quiet. On the front seat, Cider was shaking with
curiosity.
The new female stood up for more of the trip than Whiskers did.
The only rough part of the drive was going through Eugene during
rush hour, having to zig and zag through unfamiliar streets on our
way to the freeway. The llamas tended to bump as we turned right
or left.
We stopped for dinner after dark. As we sat eating hamburgers in
a crowded fast food place, I watched the outlines of the llamas
as they moved around in the van. Whiskers bumped the back light
switch on, so it was easy to see the two new members of our family.
We arrived home late at night, in a drizzle. By flashlight we unloaded
the little one in with Posey. Posey came racing over making loud
clicking and snorting noises. Levi and Tumbleweed always responded
to Posey's clicking with their low-rider posture, but this young
female lifted her tail and stood up straight. She and Posey sniffed
each other.
"Posey, meet Lil Bit,'' I said.
I led the new one into the shed, and took her lead off. She noticed
the hay. Then I leaned against the juniper tree and watched while
the two females got acquainted. Posey followed the newcomer around,
sometimes clicking. Lil Bit didn't make any sounds.
Kelly led Whiskers into the males' field. Smelling noses and rears
was the main activity over there too. It was all very amicable.
We hadn't really known what to expect.
The rain increased, and we went inside.
The first llama I saw in the morning was Whiskers, looking in our
bedroom window. Tumbleweed and Levi soon wandered out from the barn,
large Levi lurking in a submissive pose behind Tumbleweed. Whiskers
strolled the perimeter of the field, gazing at the females. He looked
right at home.
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