by Abby Deuel
With the few items that she might peruse at home all loaded in the jeep, Mandy and Lyle made their way back to the clinic to get ready for the Halloween Hoedown. The sun had risen, shining warm rays over the sleeping town. These warm days would soon be replaced by cold, dark winter mornings. Mandy absolutely loved winter and couldn’t help getting excited about the wind-down to winter.
Chapter Fifteen
They arrived back to the RV and Mandy took a nice hot shower to get ready for the day ahead at the Hoedown while Lyle snoozed on the bed. Lyle was a highly intelligent, active Border collie who knew the morning routine of Mandy so well that she had figured out how long she could nap without missing anything. Being a small area, her spot on the bed was a perfect vantage point to monitor any activities inside or outside the RV.
Taking significantly less time in the shower with her new haircut, Mandy shocked Lyle when Mandy reappeared so soon after entering the bathroom. Lyle leapt out of bed and trotted toward the kitchen dinette, trying to score a second breakfast since the first had been so early.
“I see. You want another helping?” Mandy asked Lyle. Lyle nudged her bowl with her freckled snout. She had a perfect beauty mark on her face that made her look like a model dog. Mandy consented by giving Lyle a snack of kibble. Happy with her second breakfast, Lyle curled up under the dinette table while Mandy sipped her coffee. She was pleased with her new hairdo and excited to showcase it at the Halloween Hoedown.
She pulled out the list of possible suspects compiled so far. She added Dennis. The way he hid his wrist after she pointed out that the watch was missing concerned her. He couldn’t have known that she was investigating the murder. Being a visitor to town, he had no reason to hide anything from her. She was still perplexed by his secrecy. She still needed to look into Howie, the injured bull rider. There was also any unpaid debt of Buck’s. After talking to Fred, she also needed to explore the females of the community. Perhaps there was a love interest or a jealous husband even. Then there was the dart club to investigate. Her glasses slid clear to the end of her nose as she chewed on the pencil.
She had her work cut out for her today at the Hoedown.
To re-fuel for the festivities after waking up so early, Mandy ate an extra-large bowl of oatmeal. Although she knew there would be food there, she was also prepared to hit the ground running, trying to focus on the investigation. Once she finished her breakfast, she went outside with Lyle to check on the weather situation and let Lyle go potty.
“Sunny with a breeze,” Mandy said to herself. Almost understanding, Lyle flopped over with her belly up to catch some sun rays. With Fall upon Crestview, soon there would not be many sunny days. Lyle wanted to enjoy them.
While Lyle soaked up some vitamin D, Mandy went back inside to gather her belongings for the day. She would need her softball mitt, a hat, a light jacket, and some emergency gummy bears for energy. Planning to take Lyle along, she would need a way to tie her up somewhere during the softball game. She didn’t want any team to have an unfair advantage as Lyle was definitely the world’s best short stop. Though not perfect at getting the ball to a base to stop a runner, no ball would ever get past her. Lyle would go through any extreme to catch a thrown object. One time, someone had thrown a tire onto a silage stack while Lyle was watching. She saw the tire and ran after it, catching it in her mouth. Unfortunately, Lyle fractured a tooth in her upper jaw catching the tire. Mandy removed the tooth since the root had become exposed and painful. Despite one less tooth, there was nothing she wouldn’t try to catch. Mandy felt bad sometimes because she knew Lyle would much rather be herding sheep than playing fetch. Having never settled down, Mandy had yet to be able to provide sheep for her herding dog. Maybe that would change someday, if she could only solve this murder.
Since costumes were encouraged at the Hoedown, Mandy pulled out the special outfit she had made for Lyle. Mandy didn’t want to be in costume so she figured she could still show town spirit if Lyle took one for the team. Mandy fitted her little wings that were held on with a harness. The wings were an iridescent lace that mimicked an insect wing perfectly. The harness had black and gold stripes and the antennae completed the bee suit. Lyle’s extreme energy and attention to all things moving made a bee costume a suitable choice.
Mandy went into the clinic to make sure everything was squared away. Though Gillian would have done a thorough job last night and Mandy knew there were no animals in the hospital, she wanted to just do a walk through. Although Emma and Jimbo were current live-in residents, clinics were like living beings, even with no animals in it. There was any number of things that could go wrong or stop working, more than just a house. Over the years of working in so many different kinds of clinics, she had seen all kinds of mishaps. One time, she had known of a clinic that lost thousands of dollars because the fridge stopped working and all of the vaccines went off. All looked well here, though. She gave Emma a drink at the sink and freshened up their bowl of crunchies.
As she was checking the front desk, she saw the message light blinking. Everybody from town would be at the Hoedown today. Still, she thought she’d better check to see what the message was. She hit play and heard Dennis asking if he could meet with her sometime to discuss a few personal items of Anna’s that he’d like to take off her hands. She wrote down his number and put it on her desk of things to do when she returned to work the next day.
With the clinic, Jimbo, and Emma all squared away, Mandy and Lyle started their short walk to the town fairgrounds. Lyle was starting to learn the layout of town and she pranced along, curious about where they were going today. They had never turned down this road before. The trust between Lyle and Mandy was so intense that Lyle never showed fear of anything new. Mandy had led her all over the country, always making sure Lyle was comfortable and happy. In exchange, Mandy never had to feel like the new kid on the block anywhere she moved because her constant companion would always make her feel welcome on her first day at a new job.
Mandy pondered how people could live without an animal. They provide such unconditional love that rivals no other. In her whole adult life, she had been without an animal for a total period of six months. It was during a portion of her veterinary training and she had just lost a cat due to old age and hadn’t yet found a suitable new pet. Other than that, she had always had at least one pet, if not several. Sometimes they were not even pets. The hobby of wildlife rehabilitation had provided many transient animals in her life. Usually they came in groups during the breeding season. At one point, she had seven baby squirrels she was bottle feeding. It was almost easier to raise multiple animals of the same species because the likelihood of imprinting decreased, compared to a single orphaned animal. Only once had Mandy inadvertently imprinted an infant animal. The raccoon had come in late in the season and she had no others his age to raise the little guy with. She tried everything to teach the raccoon to be normal. She even wore a mask so he never saw her face. He ended up being released at a conservation area where he could be looked after by the rangers. He needed supplement feeding for a few years until he caught on to what kinds of food he could eat in the wild. The rangers let her know some years later that he had finally had raccoons of his own and was integrated into the population. His only vestige of the earlier imprinting was that he had a strange admiration with fuzzy slippers. He would take them if someone mistakenly left their slippers within reach of his mischievous little hands. It made sense that he had bonded with slippers since Mandy had worn a version of plush footwear during the rehab process. When he was starting to explore, he would follow her feet since that was all he could see he was little.
As they strolled down the street, Mandy was smiling thinking of that little raccoon. It was evident the whole town had come out for the festivities. People were milling about talking, while others were busily preparing booths and stands for the events. Everybody seemed so relaxed and happy. Taking a break from harvesting was a big deal for the townspeople. They had been working 17 hour
days to try to bring in as much as possible before the weather turned. Many of the men she saw looked like they were holding back a yawn from the exhaustion they carried. It was nice to see that, despite the pressing farming responsibilities, people were able to take time out for community morale.
Mandy smiled as Lyle sniffed along the road. Not typically reliant on sense of smell, Border collies more often used their keen eyesight and hearing to explore their surroundings. However, Mandy knew that there would be livestock at this event and she suspected that Lyle had picked up on that and was trying to find their whereabouts. Mandy, on the other hand, could smell lots of yummy food. The oatmeal was not as filling in the presence of street food.
As a treat for being such a good dog, Mandy decided the livestock tent was the first place they would go. She checked the little map tacked up at the center of the main yard to the fairgrounds.
Chapter Sixteen
“Hey, Mandy. Hi, Lyle. Pleasure to see you two. How’s the hair style feeling this morning?” asked Fred.
“I like that it is less maintenance. Thanks so much.” replied Mandy.
“Love the bee costume. Glad to see you are getting into the spirit. You guys look like you are on a mission. What do you want to go look at?”
“Well, I think Lyle would like to check out the sheep in the livestock area.” Lyle sat and perked her ears up in agreement.
“I certainly won’t be accompanying you for that. I have on my new cashmere sweater today and it is simply not compatible with livestock.” He preened his sweater by brushing off non-existent lint from his shoulder. The salmon color of the sweater matched his socks perfectly. Mandy figured it was important for a hair stylist to have fashion under control at all times. It was like a veterinarian having a stunningly healthy animal. Public image is free advertising.
“We understand. We will see you at the softball game. I hope you brought a change of clothes.”
“Sure did. I wouldn’t want to get any blemishes on this outfit. I have a cheer-leading outfit ready for later.”
Mandy laughed and they bid farewell for now. Lyle happily stayed close to Mandy as they made their way to the animals. The tent wasn’t huge but there were pigs, sheep, cattle, and a few goats. Mandy saw Jim by a few of his cattle. Though there were 4H kids here with their show cattle, adults were also there with some stock, networking and comparing farming tales. Some of the grain farms in the area ran a herd of cattle as well to diversify their assets. Most of the grain produced in Crestview was eventually fed to cattle somewhere in the country or used for human-grade products like corn syrup. The climate in the area and rich, black soil provided acres of land suitable for crops to feed the whole nation most years. Spirits were high this year because there had been no major droughts or flooding so the harvest was turning out to be bountiful.
Lyle and Mandy arrived at the sheep pens. There were neatly trimmed rams and ewes of a few different breeds, including Dorsets, Leicesters, and Romneys. Lyle’s eyes were focused intensely on a group of three sheep in a pen. She hunkered down and watched them through the lowest rung of the gates.
“That’s a good looking dog you have there. Does she work?” asked a man in a plaid flannel shirt with wool pants and a pair of well-worn gumboots. He was leaning over the fence behind the group of sheep and picking at his nails with a pocket knife.
“I’ve never had the time to work her. She has the instincts for sure. She is from a long line of tested sheep herders. She was just a pup when I got her from a big sheep station out west. She was raised on milk and sheep livers. She’s a definite throw back to the old school sheep dog.”
“She is a beauty, even with a bee costume on. I would love to work her some time with my sheep and see what she’s made of.”
“Well, I’m Dr. …” Mandy started.
“Bell, I know. I’m Luke. I run a few hundred sheep on the west side of town. I’m sure you’ll come out there sometime. I don’t tend to need a vet often. I know who to call if I do.”
They shook hands and Mandy thought perhaps that would make a great extra-curricular activity for Lyle. Mandy never thought about putting roots down anywhere before. However, this town certainly had a lot of pluses that were making her reconsider her steadfast rule of moving right along. She had always secretly imagined a place where Lyle could have just as much to get out of life as she could. Running her with sheep would be just another reason to settle down here. If only she could tie up the murder investigation. That was definitely a point in the negative column.
“I keep forgetting that I need not introduce myself in this town. Everybody already knows who I am. I would like to see your place sometime and also run Lyle with your sheep. She would enjoy that,” said Mandy.
“Sounds like a plan. No costumes allowed when we do that. I better get to my rounds. I am checking up on a few flocks here while the farmers have a look around. We all take turns since we are not really competing for anything here. It’s just a fun day for everyone,” said Luke.
“Nice to meet you. We are doing our own rounds. Lyle gets first pick on what we check out and she chose livestock, of course,”said Mandy.
Mandy made her way through the rest of the pens with Lyle by her side. They ended up through the other end of the tent and almost bumped into Larry and Gerry.
“Hi, Mandy. And how are you, little Lyle?” Gerry asked, leaning down to fix the antennae into position. They had fallen down and were pointing down under her chin instead of up on her head.
“Hi, officers. Everything OK?” asked Mandy.
“Yes, we are just here as a precautionary measure. Without the murder wrapped up, we need to be on our toes. Since the whole town attends today, we are looking for any suspicious activity, antennae out of place not included,” Larry said as he shifted his gun belt. “We’ve heard that you are sticking your nose into the investigation. I ask you for your own protection and for the interest of not impeding justice, to stop all efforts on finding the murderer.”
“I understand. I just keep happening upon people who tell me things. I don’t seek information,” Mandy said as she crossed her fingers behind her back. “I would like to know the ending though because this little town shouldn’t have a murderer at large.”
“We agree and we are working to tie the pieces together. Trust us,” said Larry, matter-of-factly.
“You have my word,” Mandy said with her fingers crossed in her pocket.
“Thanks. Now, are the citizens of Crestview showing you adequate hospitality?” asked Gerry.
“So far, so good. I am thinking about a snack. Any recommendations?” asked Mandy.
“Well, the apple fritters are pretty stand up. If you want something savory, the kebabs are filling. They are made from local beef marinated in a special recipe,” Gerry said.
“Hmm, I think I will start with the fritter and save the kebab for later.”
“We will see you around,” Gerry said, nodding his hat as they departed.
“Look forward to it,” Mandy said, making eye contact with Gerry.
Chapter Seventeen
“OK, Lyle let’s get a snack,” Mandy said to a very attentive Border collie. They made their way back to the snack stall area of the park. The smell of a variety of fair foods was wafting in the air, making it easy to find their way to the selection. The apple fritters must be a popular item because there was a bit of a line forming. Mandy took a spot and didn’t realize who was standing in front of her.
“Hi, Mandy. How is the day treating you?” asked Rhonda.
“I’m having a blast. How are the puppies doing?” inquired Mandy.
“Oh, they are doing quite well. She is such a great mom. I just love puppies. I am already getting great applications for forever homes for them. I have to make sure they go where they will be loved or I would just keep them all.”
“I bet it is hard to let them go,” said Mandy.
“I know we’ll always have another litter in the future and that makes it ea
sier. Love the bee suit,” said Rhonda.
“Thanks. Oh, we are next. What are you having?” asked Rhonda.
“An apple fritter, please,” said Mandy.
“Make that two. Put that away,” Rhonda said, pushing Mandy’s hand with a five dollar bill in it out of the radar of the cashier. “This is just a small thank you for helping deliver those puppies, darling.”
“Why, thank you. That is very sweet,” said Mandy.
They retrieved their steaming hot, sugar-dusted fritters at the next window in the stall. Together they sat at a picnic table surrounded by the rest of the food stalls. Mandy’s glasses slid down her nose and she couldn’t push them up with a free hand until they sat down. Lyle received a few bites of fritter in exchange for sitting nicely under the table.
“Any more news on the murder?” asked Mandy.
“Well, they were able to find some shoeprints that were a rather large shoe. Apparently, they believe it was a man’s boot, size 13 narrow. Although Tom is a doctor, they had him help out with the crime scene analysis as well. Small towns breed multi-taskers.”
