Yarn Over Murder (A Knitting Mystery) (2 page)

Since she couldn’t remember his name, she decided this was a good time to find out more about this guy. “Thanks so much,” Kelly said as the man walked down the ramp. “What’s your name? Jayleen has lots of friends.” She held out her hand. “I’m Kelly Flynn.”

“Dennis. Dennis Holt,” he said, giving Kelly’s hand a quick shake.

Deep blue eyes, she noticed. And a firm handshake. Rough hands. Outdoor hands. Steve’s hands used to be rougher, before he started working down in Denver. “Do you have alpacas, too? On your ranch in the Poudre?”

“Only a few. Used to have more when my wife and I were still married. But she’s got most of them now.” He glanced over his shoulder toward the brunette woman and man loading a second alpaca into their horse trailer. The woman was stroking the head of a skittish younger caramel brown alpaca.

Kelly didn’t know the woman or the man with her. But Dennis Holt’s comment aroused her curiosity. “Is her ranch up the Poudre? Is that where Jayleen wants us to take the alpacas?”

“Yep.” He nodded his head. “Andrea’s got a big pasture. There’s plenty of room. I can only add a couple to my little herd since I have less pasture at my place. But I’m right near the water.” He gave Kelly a smile.

Nice smile. It softened his bearded features and he no longer looked shaggy and scary. Amazing how a simple smile could accomplish that, Kelly thought. “Boy, are you lucky. I love going up into the canyon and just sitting on a rock beside the Poudre.”

Dennis grinned. “You got that right, Kelly. Let me load another alpaca, then you folks can head out of here. Oh, you could check inside the house and see what else needs to be taken out. Some of Jayleen’s friends are helping to load up stuff.”

“Sure thing.” Kelly followed Dennis across the ranch yard, then stopped when Greg and Lisa pulled in front of her in the green truck.

“Hey, let’s meet up outside of Landport,” Greg said, leaning out the truck window. “One of the fast-foods on North College. Grab something to eat and get gas before we head up the Poudre. Sound okay?”

“Yeah. I’ll tell Steve. Drive safely,” Kelly said as she waved them off. The horse trailer rattled and shook, moving side to side a bit, she noticed uneasily.
Oh, boy.

She looked around, searching for Steve, then spotted him dumping a box into the back of Marty’s faded blue pickup. He looked up and beckoned.

“Hey, I saw that guy loading alpacas into our trailer, so let’s start putting stuff in my truck. We’re trying to empty out Jayleen’s file cabinet, just in case.”

“Thanks, buddy, I think we’re gonna head off,” Marty said, looking around. “Have you seen Megan?”

“Yeah, she’s inside.” Steve coughed, long and deep.

“Whoa, you need to get out of here,” Kelly said. “Let me grab some boxes inside and start loading. This stuff is getting thick.”

“Yeah, it is. We need to grab what we can and head out. Did Greg talk to you, Marty?”

Marty nodded, then waved to Megan. “Yeah, we’re meeting at the fast-food plaza on North College,” he said, then waved. “Hey, Megan! Let’s get going now!”

“See you down below,” Kelly called over her shoulder as she and Steve headed for the ranch house.

Just then, Curt started walking their way. “You two better get on that road. Get those animals to Andrea’s,” he said as he approached. “We moved your alpacas first, Kelly. My daughter and son-in-law both brought trailers, and they took four of yours. I’m carrying the last two with me. We’re gonna put them all in that front corral at my ranch along with Jayleen’s animals. My sister hauled off two of them, and Jayleen will take the two that are left.”

Kelly spotted Curt’s truck and peered at the rear ends of two alpacas showing in the back. “Looks like you’re carrying my smoke gray and the cinnamon brown.”

“Yep. I’m gonna fence off a separate pasture for all of them.”

“Let us know when you get to your ranch, Curt,” Marty called through the truck window as he and Megan started down the driveway.

Curt waved and nodded in reply as the truck spit gravel.

“We were going to get more of Jayleen’s things from the house,” Steve said.

Curt’s face was smeared with dirt and soot like Steve’s. He reached out and clamped his hand on Steve’s shoulder. “You’ve already done more than your share, Steve. Jayleen and I couldn’t have gotten those animals loaded as fast as we did without you. Now, you and Kelly get the hell out of here.”

Kelly glanced over at Jayleen, who was leading a younger alpaca up the ramp of her truck trailer. “How’s she doing, Curt?”

“Okay, once we got to the ranch. It was the not knowing that was killing her.” He wiped his sweat-drenched shirt-sleeve across his forehead. “Once she saw the animals were still okay, she came back to herself. Saving the animals was all that she cared about. Those are her babies.”

Steve stared at the ranch house. “Damn. I’d hate to see this place burn. But I swear if it does, I’m going to rebuild it for her.”

Curt gave a crooked smile. “Now, don’t you go worrying about that, Steve. Right now, you two have got to get out of here safely. Police will start evacuating people real soon.”

“You’re sure you’ve got enough trailers for the animals?” Kelly craned her neck. Jayleen was loading another alpaca.

“Yeah, thanks to Dennis. He brought his trailer and that was nine trailers loaded. We’ll worry about the ones up at the Wool Market later. I already talked to Burt and he and Mimi are gonna keep the kids with them at Estes Park overnight at a motel. And they’ll be on duty tomorrow until Jayleen and I can get up there. Bless their hearts.”

“You’re going to have a long drive back to your ranch,” Steve said, shaking his head. “With Stove Prairie Road closed by the fire, you’ll be going all the way back into Fort Connor then south then west again to get back to the lower Buckhorn Valley.”

“Yeah, it’ll be a long ride, for sure. My daughter’s already there with the rest of the grandkids, finding places for the animals. Bringing in Jayleen’s things. It’s going to be a busy night, so I sure am glad Burt and Mimi are taking care of things in Estes Park.”

The sound of another car pulling up into the ranch yard caught Kelly’s attention, and she turned to see Connie Carson from the Lambspun knitting shop jump out of her small black sedan and stride across the ranch yard. She looked like she was headed toward Jayleen’s alpaca rancher friend, Andrea, who was opening the door to her navy blue truck, clearly getting ready to drive away. Her male friend stood on the other side of the truck and was staring wide-eyed at Connie.

“
YOU!
I knew he was with you! You
bitch
!” Connie yelled, face red, arm outstretched as she pointed at Andrea. She reached out and pushed Andrea.

Clearly caught off guard, Andrea stumbled backward a little, but quickly caught herself. She stepped toward Connie, shoving her hand out. “Back off! Get away from me!”

“What the hell? That’s Connie!” Steve stared, incredulous.

“Good Lord. That’s the last thing we need,” Curt said and hurried toward Connie and Andrea, who were both yelling at each other.

“You get away from me!” Andrea warned, pointing her own finger at Connie. “Back off! We’re trying to help Jayleen. Go have your nervous breakdown somewhere else.”

At that, Connie stiffened and let loose another expletive, then charged toward Andrea again. But this time, Curt grabbed Connie around the waist and pulled her away from Andrea before Connie could get to her. Kelly noticed that Andrea stood her ground and didn’t move. The man with her stood beside the trailer and watched wide-eyed.

“That must be Connie’s husband,” Steve said. “Did you know that they broke up?”

“No, I mean, not officially. Connie’s always made it sound like they fought a lot but always made up. So, this is news to me.” She shook her head. “Man, this is a bad way to discover your spouse is out with another woman.”

Jayleen climbed over the corral fence and raced over to where Curt held a struggling, furious Connie, who was still shouting accusations at Andrea.

“We were getting back together! Then you interfered! You bitch! You have no right!”

“Connie, calm down,” Curt said, keeping her trapped in his embrace.

“It’s
her
fault! Jim and I were getting together . . .”

“Shut up, Connie!”
the man yelled suddenly, his face red. “That’s a lie and you know it! We haven’t been together for six months!”

Connie looked stunned for a moment, then yelled back. “No! No!”

Jayleen stepped between Connie and Andrea then. “You two better get going,” she said over her shoulder to Andrea, then turned to comfort Connie.

Andrea and Jim got into the navy blue truck and revved the engine, then drove slowly down the gravel driveway. Once again Kelly watched a horse trailer sway behind a truck. Slower this time, since two alpacas were aboard.

Connie suddenly burst into tears and buried her face in Jayleen’s shirt. Jayleen patted Connie on the back as Curt released her. A personal tragedy or melodrama, in the midst of all this chaos and impending disaster.

“I think we’d better do the same,” Steve advised, pointing to his truck. “Cops are going to start clearing folks out, if they haven’t already. Roads will be clogged.”

Kelly and Steve swiftly walked past Connie and Jayleen. Kelly did reach out and give Jayleen’s arm a squeeze. Like one of Mother Mimi’s reassuring gestures.

“Call us when you get to your ranch,” Steve called to Curt as he and Kelly climbed into the red truck. Curt gave them both a thumbs-up as Steve revved the big engine.

“Traffic will be a nightmare,” Kelly predicted as they started down the gravel driveway, slowly.

“Ohh, yeah.”

Later Saturday afternoon

Steve
turned his truck into the crowded fast-food plaza located in northern Fort Connor. Greg, Lisa, Megan, and Marty were already parked beside one of the familiar fast-food restaurants located in the plaza. Kelly climbed out of the truck the moment it pulled to a stop.

“Whoa! I never thought we’d get off that road,” she complained, leaning over toward the ground in a big stretch. “Traffic is really slow going with all the cars and trucks on the canyon road.”

“Bumper to bumper for an hour,” Megan said as she leaned against the faded blue pickup and sipped from a soda can. “Everyone is evacuating the canyon now.”

A steady stream of traffic was turning from the road that led into north Fort Connor from Landport, the small town that sat on Fort Connor’s northwestern edge. A main highway ran through the town, branching off for Bellevue Canyon, then continuing farther northwest to the Cache La Poudre Canyon.

“Man, every firefighter in northern Colorado must be here,” Steve said as he stretched his arms over his head. “I even saw National Guard guys in Jack’s Supply parking lot.”

“Yeah, my cousin is in the National Guard unit here, and I betcha they’re called in soon. The Armory’s over on West LaPorte Avenue,” Marty said, a slice of pizza in one hand and a soda in the other.

“The fried chicken is good,” Lisa said, motioning to a familiar logo. “Greg’s getting a whole bucket, so there’ll be plenty.”

Kelly’s stomach rumbled. “Yum. Fried chicken does sound good. I may snitch some.”

“Why don’t I just buy us some,” Steve suggested. “Who knows how long it will take us to get these animals taken care of at that ranch up Poudre Canyon. Andrea said it was a few miles before Poudre Park, on the right. Yellow ranch house set behind the corrals. What do you want to drink, Kelly?”

“Iced coffee would be great. Fried chicken sounds good. Looks like Greg is enjoying it.” She pointed to Greg as he approached, holding a large plastic bucket of fried chicken with one hand while he munched on a chicken leg he held in the other.

Steve grinned. “That’s a recommendation. Why don’t you catch them up on the soap opera that started before we drove off,” he said, then headed for the red and white building down fast-food row.

“Ooh, that does look good,” Lisa said, taking a crispy brown chicken breast from the bucket. “Thanks, hon.” She gave Greg a kiss. He had already polished off the chicken leg and was devouring a large crispy piece.

“What soap opera was that?” Megan asked, lifting a slice of pizza from the carton that lay open on the truck.

“Oh, brother, I can’t believe it,” Kelly said, brushing hair away from her forehead. There was less smoke down here in town, but the acrid smell was still in the air. “Connie from the shop came driving up Jayleen’s driveway, jumped out of her car, then started screaming at Andrea Holt, Jayleen’s rancher friend. Calling her names and yelling and even shoving her. Andrea caught herself before she fell over. But Connie was spitting fire. Accused Andrea of stealing her husband. That was the guy with Andrea.”

“Whoa!” Marty said, before diving into another pizza slice.

“No way!” Megan looked up, wide-eyed.

“Oh, yeah. Connie’s got a temper,” Lisa said.

“How do you know?” Greg asked, momentarily distracted from the half-eaten chicken breast in his hand.

“I’ve heard her on the phone arguing with her husband. Yelling at him sometimes. She’s always done it outside, pacing around the parking lot near the golf course. But she gets really riled up. She and he have been in counseling a couple of times over the years. Things will get quieter, and Connie will say how good things are. Then, they explode again.” Lisa wagged her head. “I’ve suggested some individual counseling to her several times, but Connie never wants to go. She always says, ‘It’ll be all right.’ Or, ‘We’ll get back together.’ Something like that. Then, a few months later, it starts all over again.” Lisa returned to the crispy chicken.

The steady stream of traffic hadn’t let up or slowed down, Kelly noticed. People were evacuating not only themselves and whatever belongings they could carry, but also their pets and livestock. Trucks dragging trailers with horses, alpacas, and all sorts of livestock rolled by. All of them were also loaded with luggage, bags, appliances. Pets poked their heads out of car windows next to children and adults. The evacuation of Bellevue Canyon residents was in full swing.

“Well, it sounds like this time they’ve split for good,” Kelly observed, leaning against Steve’s truck.

“What makes you say that?” Megan asked.

“Well, her husband—”

“Jim. Jim Carson,” Lisa interjected between bites.

“Husband Jim yelled at Connie to ‘shut up’ when Connie was shouting that she and he were getting back together and was accusing Andrea of getting in the way and interfering. Anyway, Jim yelled that he and Connie hadn’t been together for six months.”

“Uh-oh,” Greg observed.

“Not good,” Marty added.

“Poor Connie,” Megan said, looking concerned. “What’d she say after that?”

“She kind of lost it.”

“Sounds like she already did.”

“Well, she started yelling and getting even redder in the face. And she would have gone after Andrea again if Curt hadn’t grabbed her. Then she broke down in tears on Jayleen’s chest as Andrea and Jim drove off.”

“Oh, brother. She really does need to see someone,” Lisa said, tossing the chicken bone into a trash bag.

“Kind of sounds like she’s been deluding herself about their relationship,” Greg opined sagely, then started on another crispy piece of chicken.

“Very astute. The doctor is in.” Kelly teased with a grin.

Greg gave a nonchalant shrug. “I’ve been sleeping with a psych major. It’s rubbed off.”

Lisa rolled her eyes and smiled, as Megan giggled. Marty, on the other hand, looked over at Greg with concern.

“Is it contagious? Don’t stand too close, Megan.”

Kelly joined her friends’ laughter as she looked over at the congested flow of traffic. “Man, I sure hope it’s easier to get up the Poudre Canyon. This is a mess.”

“It should be. I was talking with a guy in the pizza place and he says Larimer County is taking in evacuees’ livestock and animals at the county’s new exhibition building, the Ranch,” Marty said. “So a lot of this traffic will be headed out to the interstate and south of town.”

“You hope.” Greg glanced over. “I was talking to a couple while I was getting the chicken and they said that the Red Cross has set up a place for Bellevue Canyon evacuees in the Landport middle school gym. And that’s right back up this road.” He jerked his thumb toward the main road that ran past the fast-food plaza.

“At least we can take the bypass around Landport this time,” Lisa suggested.

“Man, the Red Cross is setting up a shelter. The National Guard is probably gathering in the Armory. This is starting to look like a real disaster.”

“Don’t say it, Marty,” Megan said, squeezing her eyes shut. “I don’t even want to think it.”

Kelly didn’t say a word, but it was clear: This was already a disaster. With their forests dry as kindling and pine bark beetles damaged, and with dead trees mixed in between the green, it was a disaster ready to happen. A strong breeze suddenly blew her hair across her face.
Oh, no. The wind
. That was the worst thing that could happen.

“Uh, oh,” Marty said, glancing around. “Wind’s picking up. That’s bad news.”

“Crap!” Greg swore, looking up.

Kelly watched the branches of the tall cottonwoods nearby sway in the strong breeze. “Now that fire’s going to spread even faster.”

“Oh, Lord,” Lisa said, gathering the trash bag and napkins so they didn’t blow away. “Please don’t let that fire spread to the Poudre Canyon.”

Kelly’s gut clenched.
Please, no
.
She looked up and saw Steve hurrying their way, a bucket of fried chicken under one arm, drinks in his other hand.

“Hey, guys, we gotta get these animals up the Poudre now. Some guys inside told me they’d just heard on their shortwave radio that the wind has whipped up the wildfire in Bellevue Canyon worse. It’s already climbed one ridge and is roaring toward another. Not enough people to stop it, even with all the firefighters from all over northern Colorado. It’s out of control.” He handed off the drink tray to Kelly.

“We need tanker planes to dump water,” Megan said.

“Let’s go, hon,” Marty said, grabbing the pizza box.

“You ready?” Greg asked Lisa as he pulled out his keys.

“Gotta make a pit stop first,” Lisa said. “I’ll be quick.” She hurried back toward the fast-food restaurant.

“Hey, me, too,” Megan said, following.

Not a bad idea, Kelly thought. “Make that a threesome,” she said, and took off after her friends. She had a feeling it was going to be a long ride into Poudre Canyon.

•   •   •

Kelly
glanced out the truck window up at the hazy sky. Smoke from the wildfire in Bellevue Canyon obscured the sun, blowing over from the ridges into Poudre Canyon. There was only one mountain ridge that separated the two canyons. The higher ridge provided one of the walls for the canyon the Cache La Poudre River cut through the mountain millions of years ago. Now, thick gray clouds of smoke and orange haze showed behind the south wall of Poudre Canyon.

“I wish that wind would die down,” Kelly said, watching the tops of lodge pole pines sway. “Maybe the firefighters can get a handle on it.”

“That’s not likely,” Steve said, steering the truck around a curve. The Poudre River rushed along beside the road. “With only one air tanker available, and the fire spreading as fast as it is, it’s gonna get worse. No doubt about it.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. Fire spreading over the ridge into Poudre Canyon. So far, the wind’s blowing the fire in the opposite direction. But the wind shifts so fast.” She peered up into the sky behind the canyon’s tall, steep walls.

“At least they’re going to call in the national firefighting units. With luck the Hot Shots could start arriving tomorrow night. Or Monday. We need more manpower. This wildfire has gotten too big already for us to handle.

“And air tankers.
Damn!
How come we only have one on call around here?”

Steve shrugged. “That’s all we’ve ever needed.”

He was right, Kelly thought, staring out at the familiar and beloved scenery of Poudre Canyon, high rock walls in one place, gently climbing ridges in another. She peered at a house perched on a rocky hillside.

The Cache La Poudre Canyon was part of the Roosevelt National Forest, and the river itself had been declared a National Wilderness River. Consequently, there weren’t as many private homes dotting this canyon compared to other mountain canyons. The few tiny communities of houses and individual homes that appeared infrequently had been built by landowners years ago and were “grandfathered in,” as was said in the West.

“We should be seeing Andrea’s place pretty soon,” she said, scanning the right side of the road.

“Yeah, we should. Yellow ranch house.” Steve glanced into the rearview mirror. “Everybody’s stayed together. That will help when we unload. Then we can unclog Andrea’s driveway in case others are bringing their livestock.”

Kelly peered ahead at a structure behind trees. “That looks yellow to me.” She pointed out the truck window toward the ranch house farther ahead. “This must be it.”

“I think you’re right,” Steve said, slowing down and flipping on his turn signal. He turned onto the dirt road that led to the ranch house up ahead.

“There’s Andrea and Jim. And that looks like Dennis. Curt told me Dennis had brought his trailer to help out.” Kelly squinted in the dust that rose as the truck rumbled along. “Looks like they’ve off-loaded their alpacas. Can’t see the animals from here.”

“They’re in that corral to the left of the ranch house.” Steve pointed, then turned the truck to the left as Dennis started directing him to park.

Kelly climbed out of the truck as soon as Steve turned off the ignition. Once again they’d been sitting in backed-up traffic for half an hour until they could get onto the bypass that went around Landport and to the highway that led into Poudre Canyon. Kelly stretched her arms over her head as Steve climbed out of the truck.

“Man, my tailbone is sore from sitting in the truck so long,” she complained as Lisa and Greg pulled into a space beside the corral fence. Megan and Marty were right behind.

Now that she was closer and had a better view, Kelly was able to spot a few of Jayleen’s alpacas. They clustered together, as alpacas are wont to do, finding solace and protection in their nearness to one another. Their big eyes were even larger than usual, and they were obviously confused about their hasty and rough ride to a strange place. And they were not alone. At the other end of the pasture a larger group of alpacas gathered, watching the newcomers. Andrea’s herd, no doubt, Kelly observed.

Andrea Holt strode over to Steve and Kelly. “Hey, guys, you’ve been great to do this,” she said with a wide smile. “You can use that gate over here. That way they’ll get right in with their buddies.”

“You got it,” Steve said, then beckoned Kelly. “You stay with the trailer while I get them into the corral. The less people jostling them, the better. These guys have been through a lot already.”

“You’ve got that right,” Andrea said, hands on hips, surveying the corral. “They’ll calm down pretty soon, I hope. All that smoke and confusion and fear. Animals can smell fear.” Then she turned and strode over to where Dennis was directing Marty where to park.

Greg and Lisa were already out of the truck. Kelly walked around to the back of the trailer where Steve was unlocking the back gate.

“How’d that fried chicken hold out?” she called to Lisa.

“Greg finished it all,” Lisa replied.

“Hey, tell the truth. You ate a third of it,” Greg protested as he stretched his back. “Man, you’re gonna have to give me a back rub when we get home.”

“Yeah, then you give me one.”

Kelly held the back gate open as Steve brought one alpaca slowly down the trailer ramp. She waved to Marty and Megan farther down the driveway. They, like their friends, were stretching, clearly tired of sitting for long hours, especially bouncing over rough roads while hauling a trailer filled with animals. She looked over her shoulder. Dennis Holt stood near the corral gate, obviously waiting for Steve and the others to bring the alpacas they had hauled.