Jasper had just settled into child’s pose when a small brown goat decided his back was the perfect napping spot. The goat curled up, closed its eyes, and fell asleep.
“Um,” Jasper said, “I think I’m stuck.”
“Don’t move,” Wren whispered, quickly pulling out her camera from the bag beside her and snapping some photos. “This is too adorable.”
Zephyr, attempting corpse pose with a ginger-colored baby ewe, found himself so relaxed by the mountain air and gentle afternoon sun that soon he was snoring as well, the baby goat nestled against his side.
Minerva, holding her own in tree pose, looked over at her sleeping husband, at Fred’s protective stance over Wren, and at Jasper pinned by his napping goat, and smiled. She’d been so nervous to leave Primrose Court for the holidays but she needn’t have fretted so much.
Her Yuletime vacation was turning out even better than she’d dared to imagine. This was exactly the kind of peaceful chaos she’d hoped for on this trip.
Now, if only the chaos they’d planned in the cheese caves would work out as well.
WORST QUESO SCENARIO
Geraldo led Bayard and Exandra through the fromagerie. When they reached the back, he opened a door that led down a stone staircase into the cheese caves. The temperature dropped precipitously, and the air filled with the earthy smell of aging cheese and damp stone.
“The conference room is here at the back,” Geraldo explained. “We use it sometimes for private tastings and business meetings. It’s very quiet, very secure.”
They wound through narrow passages lined with wooden crates, going deeper into the mountain. Finally, Geraldo stopped in front of a heavy wooden door. Through a small window, they could see a desk with a telephone on it.
“Here we are. It’s unlocked. The phone is hardwired directly to the main house. The call should come through any moment. Can I bring you anything while you wait? Water? Coffee?”
“No, thank you. I’m fine,” Exandra said. She wrung her hands and bit her lip, clearly anxious about this call.
“I’ll be fine as well.” Bayard waved off the offer. “This shouldn’t take too long.”
Geraldo nodded and turned to go. His footsteps echoed back up the passage as he left.
The space behind the door seemed a bit small to call it a conference room. It was windowless, carved directly into the rock. A wooden desk sat against one wall. There was nothing on the desk besides an old-fashioned rotary telephone. There was also a round table with four chairs. A filing cabinet. And along the walls, more wheels of cheese, each one marked with strange symbols and numbers.
“Well,” Bayard said, taking a seat. “I suppose that now we just wait for that call.”
They sat in uncomfortable silence. After a few moments, Bayard stood up to examine the cheese wheels. Exandra paced. Five more minutes passed. Then ten.
“How long does it take to place a call?” Exandra muttered.
“Maybe there’s a delay?—”
Suddenly a series of red lights began flashing in the corners of the room. And then they heard a spine-tingling scream.
“What the—?” Exandra moved toward the door.
It was locked.
“Bayard, the door won’t open!”
He tried it himself. She was right. Solid. Sealed tight. The scream repeated. The exact same scream.
“Is that even a human being?” Exandra cocked her head.
“I’m not sure… It’s coming from the speakers in the ceiling,” Bayard observed.
By the third time, the scream was not so much alarming as annoying.
“I wish there was a way to turn that off.” Exandra frowned.
“You know, I think it’s actually a goat,” Bayard posited. “You’ve heard of screaming goats?”
