Llama Drama by Rose Impey Page A

again.”
    â€œDon’t worry, my dear,” replied Papa Llama. “Lewie will keep his eye on her.”
    At the very thought of Lewie, Mama Llama relaxed. It was such a welcome change not to have to worry about Lewie any more. Far from it, both Mama and Papa Llama were now pinning their hopes on him being awarded the other top prize:
Best Guard Llama
. This was an achievement not even
The Terminator
had managed. This and
Best Llama in Show
were the two prizes the farmer had never won. So he was very keen to snatch both from under the nose of his arch-rival, Farmer Hardman. This year, with Lewie, Farmer Palmer had begun to believe that he might at least manage to win
Best Guard Llama
.
    Leo, Lamar and Latisha would have brayed with laughter at the very thought. But it wasn’t so far-fetched. The prize involved obedience and agility tests that would demonstrate how well the Guard Llama could manage his flock. Surely, after all the performing that the sheep and lambs had done under Lewie’s supervision, they were fit enough, and skilled enough, to see off any competition. Lewie badly wanted to win the prize, mostly to show Farmer Palmer that he’d made the right choice in him. But Lewie knew better than to get his hopes up. As he often told his flock: “There’s no substitute for hard work and constant practice.”
    So, in preparation, Lewie had worked out strict training programmes for both the sheep and the lambs. Sadly, things weren’t exactly going to plan and Lewie partly blamed himself.
    When he’d first met his flock he’d been surprised by the way they always copied each other. They repeated what all the others said as if they hadn’t an individual thought in their heads – apart from Ginger. But then Ginger was different in every way. As well as being bigger than all the other sheep, Ginger had opinions – lots of them – and she wasn’t afraid to express them. But the rest were just regular sheep. It was in their nature to follow and copy one another, to be … well …
sheep-like
.

    Then Lewie had decided to stage a big variety show, and everything changed. When they performed, the sheep and the lambs showed that they were individuals after all. They had completely different talents and personalities, which was the very problem now.
    As they practised the obedience tasks, most of the sheep suddenly had their own ideas and were determined to be heard.
    â€œNo, no, no. This is the bit where we turn
right
,” said Ginger bossily.
    â€œI think you’ll find it was
left
,” argued Sheila.
    â€œIt was straight on,
actually
,” shouted Shula.
    â€œI think we should do a reverse turn here,” suggested Shona.
    â€œI’ve got a better idea,” volunteered Shirley as she demonstrated a series of sidesteps and shimmies. “Rubbish!” snapped Shelley. “I’m not doing that.”
    It was as if the sheep had forgotten how to work as a team, how to be obedient. Lewie shook his head and wished his sheep could be more … well …
sheep-like.
    Things weren’t much better with the lambs, either. Although Shep, Shoo, Shane, Sheba, Shah and Bertie were still happy to do exactly as Lewie told them, their problem was trying
too
hard. And controlling their nerves. Just the thought of the County Fair had the lambs’ legs turning to jelly.
    With lots of encouragement from Lewie, the lambs managed to complete most of their routines, until it came to their famous
Lamb Pyramid
. This relied on perfect timing and balance, and the lambs had always been able to perform it well.
    But suddenly, now, each time Shoo scrambled up to complete the pyramid, Bertie, who was on the bottom, got a case of the wobbles. Then the whole pyramid collapsed and disappeared into a giggling, woolly heap.
    â€œWhoops-a-daisy!” squealed Shoo.
    â€œSomebody’s sitting on my tail!” squeaked Shep.
    â€œGet off my