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“I used to be fun?” Demetrius said, trying not to sound too wistful.
“Are you kidding? You were a laugh riot chuckle fest.”
“I feel like you’re making fun of me now,” Demetrius said. “And I’m sure my sense of humor will come back soon. You know who I’m married to.”
Oliver snickered. “Indeed I do.”
They stood and looked at the camel for a moment.
“Any ideas on how to handle this?” Oliver asked.
“A few, but none of them seem really viable.”
“Think a call to Cody might be in order?”
The thought of Cody brought to mind a few of the crazy antics they’d done to keep their business afloat. Demetrius smiled, then he laughed and nodded to himself.
“Um, you doing okay?” Oliver asked. “Or are you having some kind of psychotic break?”
“Nope. Not at all. I have an idea to get this camel out of here. We just need to know where to take it.”
“Well, half the solution is better than none, I guess. Want to give me a hint?”
“Not yet. I’m still working out the details in my head. But if you could go over and grab a bunch of lettuce from that other vegetable bed before the camel eats it, that would be great.”
“You want me to go over by the camel and grab some of the lettuce the camel is currently eating?”
“Yes.” Demetrius pulled his phone from his pocket. “I need to make a quick call.”
“Uh huh.” Oliver drew his phone from his own pocket. “Funny, I have a phone here myself, and I can make a call of my own while you go over there and put your fingers close to that camel’s mouth and take away the food he’s enjoying.”
“You wouldn’t be anywhere near the camel’s mouth—you know what, fine. Forget it. We’ll do it your way.” Demetrius stuffed his phone back in his pocket. As much as he hated to admit it, Oliver did have a point. Demetrius was, after all, the co-owner of Critter Catchers. He should be doing the up close and personal work with the critters they were hired to catch. “I was going to call Lucia and ask if the sheriff’s department knew of any organization or minizoo or something missing a camel.”
“Perfect.” Oliver tapped his phone. “I just happen to have Deputy Durant’s mobile number saved in my contacts.” He held the phone to his ear and smiled. “It’s ringing.” Then he flicked his fingers toward the camel and whispered, “Go go go.”
“You are definitely not getting paid for this,” Demetrius said and turned away to slowly cross the yard.
The camel chewed the lettuce and watched his approach with an inscrutable expression. Demetrius tried to recall if he’d ever heard of a camel biting someone. He’d definitely heard of them spitting, and he really didn’t want to get hit by a glob of camel spit. Though he supposed if that was the worst thing to happen to him today, he’d consider it a win.
“Easy camel. Good camel. Just keep chewing that lettuce over there and living your humpty-hump life, and I’m going to sneak around to this other garden bed and take a few lettuce snacks for the road.”
Demetrius pulled several heads of green leaf lettuce out by the roots and the camel shifted position to fully face him. He froze, heads of lettuce in both hands, and kept his eyes on the camel as he listened to Oliver talking with Lucia across the yard. With the camel staring right at him, or, rather, at the lettuces he now held in his hands, Demetrius felt frozen in place and Oliver sounded like he was about ten miles away instead of ten yards.
“It’s okay,” Demetrius said in a quiet, calm voice. “I just want to get you back where you belong. Nothing threatening going on here. Nothing to be concerned about.”
Moving slowly, Demetrius got back to Oliver’s side, and the camel stayed where it was, bending down to bite off the last lettuce in the raised bed next to it.
“Did you get in touch with Lucia?” Demetrius asked.
“No, she didn’t answer. I really think she’s blocked my number or something.”
“I heard you talking to someone.”
“I called Cody because I knew he was with her.”
“What did he say?”
“First of all, he wants to come here and see the camel.”
