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Bec shook her head. “Not since last week. They said they should be back next week or the week after.”
“Can they help us?” Lily asked. “I’d like to get this situation sorted out sooner rather than later. When I saw Ashton the other day …” she trailed off.“I can’t figure out if he knows or not,” she finished.
“Why wouldn’t he just come and get Henry if he knows?” Bec asked. “It makes me think he doesn’t know or he’d have done something about it by now.”
“Maybe he just wants us to suffer,” Lily said with a wry grin. “If that’s his plan, it’s working.”
“Oh, come on, hiding Henry isn’t that bad, is it?”
“Bec, I’m jumping at shadows,” Lily protested. “I keep running into Ashton, and every time I do, I nearly have a heart attack. I just want to live my life in peace without worrying that I’m going to spill the beans about our big smelly secret.”
“Poor Henry,” Bec grinned. “He can’t help it.”
“No, but we can,” Lily said. “Ashton did remind me that stealing an animal is a crime, so I’m not sure how lenient he would be if he found out. I just want Henry gone.”
“He’ll go,” Bec replied. “My friends have assured me they have a safe place for him.”
“If they ever come home,” Lily said pointedly.
“They will, and then you’ll wonder what you were ever worried about. And you can feel good because you saved Henry from a terrible fate.”
“Maybe not,” Lily replied.
“What do you mean?” Bec asked.
“Well, Ashton told me that boars aren’t usually used for meat. So all Henry has to do is spend his days making babies.”
Bec’s mouth dropped open in surprise. “What? You mean … he didn’t need saving?”
“It seems that way.”
“I find that hard to believe. Are you sure Ashton wasn’t just making up a story?”
“Why would he do that? He has no reason to lie.”
Bec fell silent. “At least Henry isn’t making babies that will get turned into sausages,” she said at last. “We disrupted the process.”
“Ever the hopeful hero,” Lily grinned.
“No one wants to think their efforts at doing something meaningful are in vain.”
“So, does this mean that we can confess to Ashton and send Henry home?”
Bec looked at her in horror. “Of course not! Do you want to go to jail? Besides, if Henry isn’t making babies, they can’t get turned into meat, can they?”
“Bec’s birth control for pigs,” Lily snickered.
Bec looked offended. “You can laugh all you want, but I’m making a difference, one pig at a time.”
“Sure. I’ll believe you, though many wouldn’t.”
Bec opened her mouth to answer, but a movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. A sick look came over her face and her skin paled. Alarmed, Lily turned to see what had caught her attention.
“Henry!” they both exclaimed at once.
The big pig was making his way through Winifred’s front yard, stopping to dig in the flowerbed for a moment. Frozen in horror, the women watched as he tossed a pansy plant into the air. It landed on his head, its bright yellow blooms draped around his ears.
Bec and Lily jumped to their feet and sprinted toward Winifred’s yard, waving their arms and yelling.
