“SLOW DOWN!” she pleads. “PLEASE!”
I consider her request as we approach a fork in the path. To the left, we go deeper into the woods. To the right, Perfect Pines. Logic suggests the tree farm is where we’ll find Everett and Gabe, protection—the other, axe murdering llama eaters.
I veer right, maintaining speed.
“Oh, thank god,” Melody gasps as the familiar sight of the farm appears ahead. “My vagina may never recover.”
Her anatomical concerns are noted, but secondary to our immediate survival. I charge ahead as Perfect Pines comes into view, with last-minute Christmas tree shoppers who leap out of our path.
“RUNAWAY LLAMA!” someone calls.
“TREE THIEVES!” Melody shouts, still clinging to my neck. “SOMEONE GET EVERETT!”
Then I see him, Everett.
He’s just ahead.
I charge towards him as Melody is screaming, “I’M GOING TO DIE STRADDLING A LLAMA!” but I can’t stop—my legs won’t cooperate.
30
Melody
“EVERETT!” I shriek, my voice cracking as Oxford thunders toward him at a speed that no domesticated animal should be capable of.
“OXFORD, STOP!” I scream again, but the llama seems possessed, charging straight for Everett like a fluffy missile.
People scatter in all directions, parents grabbing children, everyone diving out of our path. I hear Charlie’s distinctive voice somewhere to my left, but I can’t turn my head without risking being thrown off.
Everett’s head whips up, his eyes widening as he takes in the spectacle of me clinging desperately to Oxford’s back. He drops the tree he’s holding and braces himself, arms outstretched.
WHY ARE HIS ARMS OUTSTRETCHED?
We’re only yards away, and at the speed we’re going, Oxford will plow right through him. I lean upwards, my mouth closeto Oxford’s ear, and instead of screaming, I whisper soothing words, “It’s okay. We’re okay, Oxford. You can stop. Stop.”
Oxford stops so suddenly, it’s like he’s hit an invisible wall. One moment we’re charging forward, the next we’re not moving at all. Physics, however, has other plans for me.
I continue my forward trajectory, launched from Oxford’s back with alarming speed. My arms and legs fly out instinctively as I scream and soar through the air, like one of those flying squirrels. For one horrifying moment, I’m airborne, then I crash into Everett’s solid chest. My arms and legs wrap around him like a koala.
My heart pounds against his as he staggers back two steps from the impact but somehow remains upright, his arms securely around me.
“I got you,” he murmurs.
“Tree thieves!” I gasp, still clinging to him with every ounce of strength I have left. “Back there—four men—cutting trees—they chased us!”
Everett’s arms tighten around me. “Are you hurt? Did they touch you?” His hands move over me, checking for injuries while still supporting my weight.
I shake my head. “I think my reproductive system is permanently rearranged. But Oxford saved me. I recorded them. On my phone.” I pull back just enough to look into his eyes. “Until Marcus called, and they heard us. They had snowmobiles. Go now. Get them.”
I slide down Everett’s body, my legs feeling like jelly as they touch the ground. My hands grip his forearms to steady myself as Gabe and Finn come running up.
“What happened?” Gabe demands, his eyes scanning me for injuries.
“Tree thieves,” Everett says before I can answer. “She caught them in the act, and they chased her.”
“They had axes,” I add. “Four men on snowmobiles. Oxford and I filmed them, but then Marcus called, and they heard us.”
Gabe’s expression darkens, his jaw clenching. “Where?”