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Betty cast a critical eye over the scene she’d paid the teenagers to set up. With strategic lighting and the fog coming from the dry-ice machine, the graveyard looked like a movie set.
“What’s the name of that singer?” she said. “Could only afford one glove. Sometimes he was black. Sometimes he was white.”
“Michael Jackson,” the twins said at the same time.
“Aye.” Betty nodded. “This looks like that video he did. The one with Vincent Price talking at the start of it.” She let out a dreamy sigh. “Now that was a sexy man.”
“Michael Jackson?” Claire asked.
“Don’t be daft. Vincent Price.” Kids these days didn’t know anything. “Have you got the sheep?”
Megan pointed toward the fence where five stolen sheep were tethered. The sheep didn’t care that they were out of their usual paddock, or that it was dark, or that they’d been dyed pastel shades for the event. No, all the sheep cared about was that the grass was nice and thick and there were plenty of flowers on the graves to munch on.
“Once we start shooting, we’ll let them go so they can wander in amongst the graves,” Betty said.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Megan said. “Sheep are pretty dumb. The chances of them staying where you want them are slim. And I don’t want to chase them down again. It took ages to catch them.” She looked at her twin. “I think they’re onto us. They see us coming and run. It’s like they know we’re going to dye them.”
Claire nodded. “We need to keep them tied up.”
“No.” Betty was adamant. “I need them to wander. It’s going tae add atmosphere.”
The young lassies didn’t look convinced, but this was her photo shoot, not theirs. And she knew what she was doing.
“Are you sure this is legal?” Claire said.
Betty cocked an eyebrow at her. “More legal than stealing Kitty Baxter’s sheep.”
“Borrowed. We borrowed them. You said you wanted sheep. How else were we supposed to get them?”
“We’re not getting paid enough for this,” Megan added. “If our brother finds out we’ve been dyeing sheep again, he’s going to lock us up in his cell. And this time, he won’t let us out.”
“We need to move to a town where we aren’t related to the only local cop,” Claire said.
“Amen sister,” Megan muttered.
“I’m here, I’m here,” Jean called out as she rushed into the graveyard. “Sorry I’m late. The Knit or Die meeting ran over time. Now, what am I taking photos of? Oh, look at the pretty sheep.”
Betty fought the urge to roll her eyes. Jean was a dippy as a bag of squirrels, but she owned a good camera.
“I’m waiting for my models,” Betty said. “You can aim your camera at my memorial statue. We’ll start taking photos there.”
“What models?” Jean pulled her camera out of her bag.
“I’m designing underwear. This is the photo shoot for my interweb shop.”
“Oh.” Jean looked around. “Does Kirsty know about your designs? This isn’t another one of your schemes to put her out of business, is it? I’m not allowed to get involved with those anymore. The doctor said my nerves can’t handle it. And even if I was involved, I wouldn’t be on your side. I owe my allegiance to Knit or Die and they’re run by Kirsty’s mother. Margaret would kick me out of the club if I helped you interfere with her daughter’s lingerie business. And I’m halfway through a blanket. On top of all that, is it even legal to have a fashion shoot in a graveyard?”
Betty held up a hand to stop her talking; otherwise, Jean would just keep going until she ran out of breath. “This isn’t illegal.” Mostly. “And it’s got nothing to do with Kirsty.” Mostly. “And nobody’s going tae kick you out of your knitting group.” Probably. “Now, I thought you wanted to practice taking professional photos. Are you here to do that, or no’?”
Jean nodded. “Okay. As long as you swear this isn’t some evil scheme.”
“Cross my heart.” Betty went through the motions.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the twins roll their eyes. At least they were smart enough not to believe a word that came out of her mouth. But then, Jean wasn’t known for her brains.
“Good.” Jean nodded.
Under Betty’s direction, the twins had strung up a curtain between two trees so that the men could go behind it to change.
