Beauty and The Beasley

Chapter 6

Bree's mouth hung open in horror as Bruno's van sped off, leaving her in the middle of a farmyard and a pig pen about 30km away. She had believed the worst thing she would have to endure was Ed screaming in her face every morning but watching an entire herd of pigs run around and splash in dirt made her miss the yelling.

"Kill me now!" She muttered in frustration.

She approached the farm house. It was large and brown, built in the middle of nowhere. When Bruno had said downtown, he had truly meant “the end of town”.

A good distance away was a path that lead into the forest and as Bree guessed, the mountains. There was a huge building not to far from the pen. It looked to be under construction and resembled a modern sort of circus tent but four times larger and wider.

What was Herb doing with all this?

"We run a pets chain not a zoo" Lizzy has said.

But it seemed like they also aimed to start their own circus. Bree sighed and put her bag down on a stack of hay then headed into the farmhouse. Just then, she heard a loud bark and jumped back in surprise. A black bloodhound suddenly came rushing toward her and she bolted out the door.

"Shoo! Bad dog, bad. . ." She immediately stopped yelling when she recognized the dog. "Allen?"

A middle aged man stepped outside at once. He was dressed in black pants and a brown shirt underneath plaid sleeves. A red kerchief hung around his neck and he had on a brown hat.

"Sawyer? What are you doing here?" Bree asked in surprise.

Sawyer was her neighbor. He lived on the first floor of Oakwood and hardly spoke to anyone. His dog, Allen, had a nasty habit of running around and leaving dog business on people's doorstep. How did she know? She had stepped in it once or twice.

"A pleasant evening, neighbor." Sawyer greeted with a tip of his hat. "I work here."

"You tend to swine?"

"I used to but i got pig flu now, so i gotta go get myself treated." He replied. He gave her a calculative glance. "I see Herb has found my replacement in no time. How generous of him! Bastard."

Sawyer whistled to Allen who was busy licking Bree's shoes and the dog came bounding toward him.

"Why does he have a pig pen and a circus building?" Bree asked.

Something definitely felt off.

Sawyer hesitated for a few moments before speaking. "I shouldn't say but it ain't legal. Strange fellas from Oklahoma state come in here once in a while but do well to know nothing of it cause it'll help ya when the federal police come knocking."

With that, he tipped his hat again, turned and disappeared into the back of the farmhouse, his bloodhound tailing him. A few minutes passed before Bree heard the clear sound of a car engine roaring to life. A black minivan drove out the back and into the road, spilling dust behind it as it picked up speed.

"Well, I guess now I have to pig it." Bree scoffed.

Lizzy had been thoughtful enough to give her a change of clothing as she could get dirty.

Could? Yeah right!

She changed into a black shirt, denim pinafores and heavy boots that were twice her size. She sat down on the hay and took off her necklace, opening the locket to stare at a picture of her and her mother.

"I will work twelve jobs if i have to just so you can get better, mum." She whispered. A streak of tear dropped down her cheek. She wiped it off then closed the locket and put the necklace in her bag.