.. a
coot, I think you said?"
"Yeah!" begged the ox. "Let him have me! I can work on this big farm!"
"Not a cotton-picking chance!" blurted the human. "I need a work-horse
to pull this wagon. If I had another animal, maybe a horse or a pony,
I'd gladly unload your crummy old worthless hide in a heartbeat! But
such beasts are sure to be expensive in these parts, especially to a
stranger like me. And all I have are these forty-eight diamonds, a bag
of square emeralds, and a couple of rubies to spare."
Lambert lit up and became more alert than he had ever been before.
Standing straight up and trying to look as businesslike as a wartfrog
can possibly look, he said, "That is the exact price I planned to ask
for a very pretty unicorn that I have recently acquired by perfectly
legitimate means."
"Are there any other kind?" asked the stranger with a sly wink.
"Of course not." He ran inside to the closet and grabbed the bag with
Jeanne-Marie inside. Coming back to his customer, he handed it over and
greedily grabbed the precious gemstones. "Thank you, oh thank you!" he
squealed gleefully. "And can I get that ox, too?"
"You can get me, all right," said the ox. "But I'm not sure you want
what comes with me." Stepping toward the wartfrog and ramming his face
against one of Lambert's tough tusks (which, consequently, broke off and
fell to the ground), he broke off what became obviously a papier mache
mask.
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