Free Yarn Over Murder (A Knitting Mystery) by Maggie Sefton

everything Curt told me. Curt had another call coming in, so he couldn’t talk more.”
    “How horrible,” Kelly said, staring out into the yarn room colors. “Andrea seemed so vibrant and alive. How could she suddenly be dead . . . ? It doesn’t make sense.”
    “A lot of things in life don’t make sense, Kelly,” Mimi said, wistfully. “Let me know if you learn anything. You may get a chance to talk to Jayleen later.” Mimi’s cell phone started ringing. “Oh, I have to take this. It’s the vendor I’ve been trying to reach. I’m placing an order with a new supplier.”
    “Talk to you later, Mimi.”
    Kelly watched Mimi walk through the workroom into the office and storage space behind. Mimi had given her an idea, and Kelly headed back to the café. Noticing some customers still standing on the café balcony staring westward, she shut down her laptop and loaded it into her over-the-shoulder briefcase. She looked around for Jennifer and saw her loading two soup and salad selections onto her tray. Early lunchtime had already started.
    She walked over to her friend and spoke softly. “Don’t tell anyone but Pete. Mimi just heard that Andrea Holt, Jayleen’s alpaca rancher friend in Poudre Canyon, was found dead at her ranch. No other details yet.”
    Jennifer looked shocked. “Whoa, I think I met her a few times at the café. Didn’t she come in here to sell Mimi alpaca wool?”
    Kelly nodded. “Yeah. And we all took six of Jayleen’s alpacas to her place up the Poudre on Saturday. Who knows what’s happening with them now. I’m going to drive over to Curt’s ranch and talk with them to see if they’ve learned anything else. I wish we could help. Who’s going to feed those animals now?”
    Jennifer frowned. “I know you want to help, Kelly. But you guys can’t go into Poudre Canyon. I don’t care how many alpacas are there. Police and firefighters closed the road.”
    “I know.” Kelly sighed. “That was wishful thinking. I wonder how long the canyon road will be closed. They were able to stop the fire.”
    “For now. Who knows what will happen? Look at it now, coming across Soldier Canyon. New spots are popping out all over. Remember the police chief on TV last night saying there was no hope of containment. The wildfire was spreading in every possible direction.
    “It’s a good thing more Hot Shots are on their way. They should be on the ground tomorrow. Thanks to that wind, this wildfire has gotten way out of control. We’ve never seen anything this bad around here. We’ve seen it near Denver—like when the Haymarket Fire happened, but not here. Listen, I’ve gotta take care of customers. Catch me up later on anything you learn, okay?”
    “Will do,” Kelly promised, then headed toward the café’s back door. Noticing Cassie wiping off a table, Kelly gave her a wave as she left.
    •   •   •
    Turning her car onto Curt’s long ranch driveway, Kelly detected the increased smell of smoke in the air. East of town, at Lambspun, it wasn’t as noticeable as in the western part of Fort Connor. Burt’s ranch was southwest of town, far enough away from the Bellevue Canyon and Buckhorn Canyon areas where the risk of fire was higher. Only the far edges of Burt’s ranch bordered the lower Buckhorn area.
    The fact that the smoke smell was evident here meant only one thing: The wildfire had spread closer and was moving southwest.
    Kelly thought she spotted her alpacas in the midst of Jayleen’s herd as she got closer to the ranch yard. As she pulled her car to a stop, she saw Jayleen walk out of the corral and head her way.
    “Lord, Kelly, what brings you out here through this God-awful heat?” Jayleen asked as she strode up, her tee shirt damp and already clinging to her skin.
    Kelly slammed her car door. “Two things, actually. First, I had to see that fire over on Soldier Canyon for myself.”
    Jayleen wagged her head. “Lordy, Lordy, that was a frightful thing to see.