Page 78 of Silas's Sweetheart

“No, I’m sure he’s got a good reason. But we’ll head over and ask the first person we meet.”

The PAs all followed behind Hollis, and Ziggy tucked his arm into Bowie’s.

“You okay,” he whispered, slowing his pace.

The responding head bob didn’t look convincing.

“Are you sure?” Ziggy persisted, getting an itchy feeling at the base of his neck, his senses picking up something.

Bowie cast him a quick glance. “I just thought we’d be with Ka—the others. You know, as a group?”

Ziggy put two and two together at the near slip up and gave Bowie a sympathetic smile. “Ethan said we were all gonna catch up in the bunkhouse at lunchtime, then we were all going to the paddock to get a proper introduction to the horses Silas has on the ranch.”

What that meant, his snake hadn’t quite decided. They were unsure how to approach being close to the horses when Silas clearly loved them. They were willing to try…

“Bubba, come on darlin’, you gotta wiggle that cute backside outta there. You're makin’ me late, and Ethan will have my hide, never mind yours. I have a group to work with today,” said a man on his knees, his ass in the air. He seemed to be trying to coax out what sounded like a pig, judging from the loud squeaking noises and some grunting.

Ziggy’s lips quivered with how the guy spoke to the pig. It did not sound amused by his coaxing. The group came to a stop, all looking at each other. Ziggy contemplated if offering to help with whatever was going on was the right thing to do.

“Excuse me. Erm, can you tell us where we can find Cassidy?” Hollis asked as he stepped a little closer, minding where he was putting his boots. Hollis was quite fastidious and didn’t look quite comfortable.

In a fluid move, the man rose from where he was crouched, looking at the group. He tipped his cowboy hat and sky blue eyes twinkled. “I’m Cassidy. They call me Cass around these parts.”

“I’m Hollis,” he pointed to each one of them in turn, explaining who we were. “Bowie, Wilder, Monty, Frey, Isley, Lennon and that’s Ziggy.” They all raised a hand and offered him a smile.

“Nice to meetcha. I’m sorry, I’m runnin’ a little behind as Bubba is stuck. I’ve been tryin’ to coax him out from under the porch steps.”

“Bubba?” Frey asked, coming closer and crouching down in front of Ziggy to peer under the steps.

“A Kunekune pig I hand reared. He’s real clever, just not when it comes to judgin’ gaps, which gets him wedged under my cabin, more often than not.” Cassidy released a heartfelt sigh, and Ziggy’s lips twitched once more.

“I could shift and go help him, if he wouldn’t freak at my fox?” Frey sounded eager and got the reward of a smile from Cassidy, which transformed his whole face.

“Why, that’s mighty kind of you. Bubba’s not frightened of other animals.” Cassidy lowered his voice. “He’s got little pig syndrome.”

Bowie came forward, looking intrigued and Ziggy, knowing how literal his friend was, waited to see what he’d made of the comment. “What’s that?” he asked, sounding concerned.

“Why, he believes he’s bigger than all the other animals.”

“Is that bad?” Bowie sounded worried and Ziggy stepped closer, giving him a reassuring pat on the arm while Cassidy replied.

“Nope, he’s a small pig with a big attitude. The other animals don’t hold it against him ‘cause he don’t mean no harm.”

Frey stripped off his shirt and then a moment later, in his shifted form, peered up out of his jeans as he wiggled to climb out. Frey sniffed under the porch, then he made a small, cute vocal noise before he crawled under.

Ziggy would have offered to shift, but few animals liked snakes, and he was positive the little pig would be one of them. His snake could be a lot to handle.

There was some grunting and more squealing, then Bubba darted out between Cassidy’s legs, his little black body wiggling with what appeared to be excitement.

Cassity laughed, scooping Bubba up to kiss his dirty snout, and Ziggy pursed his lips at the thought of kissing a pig, even a cute one.

“How many times I gotta say, don’t go under the porch?”

The hairy snout rubbed Cassidy’s cheek as Bubba appeared to recount just how he got stuck. Then Bubba caught sight of them and his grunt-snorts got much louder, as if greeting them all.

As a group, they all giggled at the antics, and Ziggy got why the guy was beaming at the pig. He was adorable.

“He’s cute,” Bowie murmured. “Do you think he’d mind if I stroked him?”

---