doing at your place?â
Gail shook her head. âNot a one. You know the green, Art, and the buildings around it. Thereâs the restaurant, the general store, and the Historical Society. Maybe the church. If he was looking for some human contact, those were his choices. He probably wouldnât go to the restaurantâtoo busy, too many people. He might have tried the church, if he was looking for a safe place to stay. I didnât see what direction he came fromâhe just showed up behind me. And I donât mean he was sneaking in like a thiefâhe was just quiet about it. Thatâs all I know.â
âI guess I can ask him when I talk to him.â Art stood up. âWell, Iâd better get back to business. Iâll let you know if I learn anything else. But heâs free to go wherever he likes.â
Seth stood up, too. âIâll see you out, Art.â The two men went out the kitchen door.
When Meg hadnât heard a car start up after a few minutes, she looked out the kitchen window to see the men apparently engaged in conversationâwith an alpaca. Not Luluâthis one had darker fur. It looked surprisingly intelligent, as if it was closely following the menâs conversation. Meg turned to Gail, still seated at the table. âHave you met our new neighbors?â
âNo. Who are they?â
âMore like, what are they? Come see.â
Gail came over and joined Meg at the window, then burst out laughing. âIs that an alpaca? That, I never expected to see in Granford. Whatâs it doing here?â
âWe have new human neighbors a mile or two away. Apparently their fences need some attention. This is the second one weâve seen. They seem friendly enough. How do you know itâs an alpaca? I didnât.â
âThe kids watch nature shows. Besides, theyâre cute.â Gail looked at her watch again. âShoot, Iâve got to go. Maybe Art can drop me back home. You think those two big, strong men can persuade the alpaca to get out of the way so he can move his car?â
âYou can ask.â
Gail turned and gave Meg a quick hug. âThanks for helping me out. I feel so stupid about the way I handled poor Aaron, and Iâm going to tell him so. Talk later!â
Gail hurried out the back door, and as Meg looked on she approached Art, apparently asking for a ride. The alpaca responded to Gailâs arrival with interest. Meg watched with amusement as the three of them tried to persuade the animal to move out of the driveway, but it took a whileâit looked like the alpaca was having too much fun playing with the humans. Finally they succeeded, and Seth stood watch over it as Art and Gail left in Artâs car. Then Seth pulled out hisphone and made a call, presumably to the owner of the alpaca. She decided she might as well join him.
âYou know, this is better than television,â she said as she approached. âShe looks so intelligent, almost like she was actually following your conversation. It is a she?â
âSo says the owner. Sheâll be right over. This one is Phoebe.â
Meg turned to greet the alpaca. âPleased to meet you, Phoebe. So you found a new hole in the fence?â
âThatâs what Patty thinks. Maybe I can help her out with fixing it. These quick patches donât seem to be doing the job.â
âMay I remind you that you have about seventy-three other things on your plate? Fixing the neighborsâ fence shouldnât leap to the top of the list.â
âIâm just trying to be a good neighbor. You remember what Robert Frost said, donât you?â
âYou mean, âgood fences make good neighborsâ?â She sighed. âI probably canât stop you anyway. And Iâd feel terrible if something happened to any of the alpacas. You want company while you wait?â
âNo. Thereâs no sense in two of us getting cold.