Raz peered over his shoulder. Libby and Plum had fallen back and were trailing by a good hundred yards or so.
“What the hell is that?” Zen Dougie called.
Raz whipped his head forward, then blinked. Moving like a giant looming organism, a bevy of butterflies came together. It was like something out of an Armageddon movie. And it was coming their way.
“It’s a butterfly tornado,” he called, sharing a panicked look with Doug.
The tiny-winged creatures moved together like they’d been sent to usher in the end of days. They covered the limbs of trees and rested on the wildflowers populating the grasses along the trail.
There was no way the butterfly-obsessed Plum could miss this.
He’d barely had a second to take it in when the mass of flying insects moved off the trail.
Thank God! Hopefully, they’d stay away from the path and out of Plum’s line of sight.
He started to cluck his tongue, ready to kick it into high gear when Beefcake and Ace hit the brakes. Stumbling forward, the donkeys came to a dead halt in the middle of the trail.
Raz waved away one of the lingering winged insects and stared at his burro. “What are you doing, Beefcake? We’re nearly at the creek. It’s time to blow past these butterflies and button-up this race.”
“Ace,” Doug called. “Hup-hup! Let’s go!”
But the beasts didn’t budge. They stared at the ground at a brown rock.
“What is that?” Raz asked, narrowing his gaze, then jumped when the strange stone hopped.
“It’s a toad!” Doug shrieked.
Raz stared at the warty thing, then tugged on Beefcake’s lead. “Come on, mate. It’s a toad. We’ll go around.”
But the animals were mesmerized. They barely moved a muscle when the toad opened his mouth and captured a butterfly.
Talk about grabbing lunch.
Raz cringed. “Go on and move it, Doug,” he said, delegating.
“No way.” Doug shot back. “If I move the toad off the trail, you’ll take off and pass me.”
Raz stared at the tiny warty roadblock. “Well, I’m not touching it.”
“I don’t want to touch it either,” Doug answered, recoiling at the sight of the creature.
Somebody had to do something.
Raz peered down the trail as a jolt of anxiety tore through his chest. Libby was gaining on them, and four other pack burro teams weren’t far behind her.
Zen Dougie might not be his only real competition.
And what the hell did that mean for their benchmark arrangement?
“We do it together. You hold half, and I’ll get the other half,” Raz suggested as the jolt of anxiety took hold. He had to win. Everything hinged on him earning the blue ribbon.
“Toads are pretty gross. It’s bumpy and bulgy-eyed. You don’t think it’ll give us warts or a rash?” Doug asked.
This wanker.
“How would I bloody know? I didn’t grow up here. There aren’t toads populating the streets of London.”
“Get out of the way!” Libby hollered.
And bloody hell, the butterfly tornado had returned, and Plum had zeroed in on it.
But it wasn’t the only hazard heading straight for them.
“Rockslide!” Libby cried.
Rockslide?
“There’s no time to waste. We’ve got to relocate this toad now!” he called.
Dougie picked up one side as he took the other. “We’ll toss it off the trail on three. One, two—”
Ace and Beefcake roared a chorus of angry shrieking hee-haws, stifling the countdown.
“You want to save the toad?” Raz asked his beast.
And bloody hell, both Ace and Beefcake nodded.
“We’re running with this toad,” Raz announced, precious seconds ticking away.
“Move over!” Libby cried as a torrent of butterflies and smattering of pebbles bombarded the trail. She and Plum raced down the side on the path, trampling wildflowers as they flew past the toad pit stop and rocketed toward the creek crossing.
“We have to go!” Raz called as a few larger rocks rumbled past their feet. He glanced behind them and didn’t see any giant boulders tumbling toward them—but he wasn’t about to stick around. Not just that, with Libby in the lead, he wasn’t in first place, and then there was the whole matter of stopping the Jennie from her wild butterfly chase.
With the men in the center holding an agitated amphibian and the burros on each side, they set off down the trail like a jackass amphibian escort service. With the toad in tow, Beefcake and Ace picked up the pace. Side by side with leads in one hand and a toad in the other, the men ran in sync, their feet hitting the ground in unison as bits of rock rolled down the trail. Thankfully, they’d hit a decent incline, and whatever rocks decided to tumble their way couldn’t follow them as they made the ascent.
With Libby in his sights and half a toad in his hand, a question turned over in his head.
How was he going to win? He hadn’t factored in toads and an apocalyptic-level butterfly invasion. And he’d never entertained the thought of Libby taking first place.
They hit the creek, moving steadily. “Let’s drop the toad off on the other side. They like water, right?” he asked.
“I think so.”
“Are you good with that, you giant ass?” he asked Beefcake. “We can’t run the rest of the race holding an amphibian.”
The animal whinnied. Was that a yes? He didn’t know. But there was no way he’d have a snowball’s chance in hell of catching up to Libby engaged in this kumbaya toad rescue with Zen Dougie.
They came to a stop, then gently set the toad onto the creek bank.
He and Doug looked on as the toad hopped over to another toad.
“Maybe he needed a lift to see his buddy,” Doug commented as their toad climbed onto the back of the other toad.
“Blimey, they’re screwing! Did we just facilitate a toad booty call?”
For a beat, the men said nothing, observing nature.
“We probably shouldn’t watch. It feels a bit intrusive,” Doug commented.
“He’s a real go-getter of a toad. I’ll give him that,” Raz said, shaking his head as the toad went to town. He met Doug’s eye, and the men broke out into laughter.
“This vortex makes creatures a little crazy,” Doug added when the sound of hooves pounding grew louder as the other burro racing teams neared the other side of the creek.
Shit!
What the hell was he doing, getting an eyeful of toad porn? He had to catch up to Libby and make sure she and Plum were safe.
Doug’s gaze flicked from the sex-crazed toads to the trail.
The bloke put it together as well.
Before you could say spontaneous toad sex, the men clucked their tongues and called out a series of hup-hups.
Sprinting, they hit the final stretch of the loop. Raz lengthened his stride, striving to pull ahead, but Doug matched his pace. The pair made the final turn, and the mountain greenery thinned out as they drew closer to town, and he caught sight of Libby and Plum. He couldn’t see any renegade butterfly tornados in their path, and the pair didn’t appear out of control. He nearly breathed a sigh of relief when a devastating realization hit.
There was no way he could catch up—no way he’d earn the blue ribbon. All he could do now was beat Doug and Ace.