The Hunt Ball

by Rita Mae Brown

  Still running straight, the fox fired across the pasture, dipped under an old fence line, and shot into Beveridge Hundred, where he made for an old granary, built of stone. He waited a moment, shook himself, then placidly slipped into his den.

  Hounds raced to the granary but were too large to squeeze under the ragged edge of the old wooden door, the once-bright blue faded to a chalky baby blue.

  “Let me in!” Dragon howled.

  The fox paid no mind to the uproar outside the door.

  Shaker chose not to open the door. He knew the fox had to be in his den, but he didn’t know if any farm equipment was still in the granary. If so, his hounds could get torn by tines in their excitement or smack into old tools, which would fall on them.

  Hound welfare came first for Shaker.

  The rain accelerated from a fine mist to a light drizzle.

  “Boss?” he asked Sister after he’d blown “gone to ground.”

  “Time to pick them up, I think.”

  Walter, back in the field, pulled the collar of his coat up, as did others. The rawness of the weather cut to the bone.

  Within fifteen minutes all returned to the trailers. Despite the drizzle increasing in tempo, the tailgate was crowded.

  As he put on his Barbour coat in the dressing room of his trailer, Crawford swore. “I will get that son of a bitch huntsman. Who the hell does he think he is? Who is paying his salary? I put more money into this than anyone!” Marty had sense enough not to argue with him.

  Anselma Wideman returned in her truck. She’d seen them off.

  “Sister, why don’t you all come into the house?”

  “Thank you, but as you can see, the food’s about demolished. Thank you, though.”

  “Well, if you’re worried about the mud, don’t be. I’ve got one of those big standing bootjacks. They can pull off their boots and walk around in their socks.”

  Sister smiled. “Grab something before it’s all gone.”

  “I just might do that.” The pretty forty-year-old cut the motor, slid into her Barbour jacket. As she stepped outside she clapped an oilskin hat on her head. “You must be cold.”

  Sister walked next to her toward the tailgate. “You get used to it. Where’s Harvey today? I was hoping we’d see him to thank him. It’s wonderful to be back here. So many memories. All of them happy. It’s a beautiful, beautiful place and you all are doing so much to bring it back to life.”

  “We have Beveridge Hundred as our example.”

  “The Cullhains never give up.” Sister motioned toward the family that had owned Beveridge Hundred for centuries, in flush times and lean. As farming grew tougher and tougher their little profits dwindled, but they struggled to keep the place together, not selling off any land.

  “This area is full of remarkable people, people who don’t bend to hardship,” Anselma said admiringly, her black eyes soft and warm.

  “Well, Anselma, all God’s chillun’ got problems. It’s what you do with them.”

  “True enough.”

  “Where is Harvey, by the way?”

  “I forgot that, didn’t I? He’s in Baltimore. Family business, so he killed two birds with one stone.”

  “I saw truck tracks back to St. John’s. Thought maybe he drove back for inspiration.”

  “He may have. There are so many outbuildings at Little Dalby I’m working my way outward. Eventually I’ll get to St. John’s myself.”

  “Well, this place is being reborn.”

  “You know, Sister, I am, too.”

  “Every day.” Sister smiled.

  “Beg pardon?”

  “Every day. One is reborn with the sun. And today that fox gave us such a run, I feel like I’m thirty.”

  They laughed and on reaching the tailgate joined the others.

  It wasn’t until three days later, Tuesday, that Sister recalled her conversation with Anselma and realized she’d fumbled the ball.

  C H A P T E R 2 3

  “Balls.” Bill leaned back in the leather club chair, putting his feet on the leather hassock. “He’s so full of it.”

  Amy shrugged, “That’s what he said.”

  “He’s always crying poor. It’s a professional hazard.” Bill would have none of it. “There’s money in the budget for centrifuges. For Christ’s sake, Amy, every school budget has a layer of fat in it. Think of it as high cholesterol.” He glanced down at his own expanding belly, the corners of his mouth turned down. “When did you see him, anyway?”

  “I stopped by his office at eight-thirty. Before my first class.”

  “I’m sure he was toiling away.” Bill’s voice dripped sarcasm.

  “He was.”

  Alpha Rawnsley opened the door to the teachers’ lounge, inhaling the seasoned oak crackling in the fireplace. “Solace!” She closed the door behind her, took in Amy’s face. “Perhaps not.”

  “Oh, Alpha, I’m just mad at Knute, that’s all. He says there isn’t money in the budget to replace the four centrifuges that broke.”

  “Crying poor.” Bill nestled farther into the comfortable old chair, made so by decades of teacher bottoms.

  “He can be strict,” Alpha wryly replied as she poured herself a sherry from the decanter.

  As each of them had taught their last class of the day, they repaired to the lounge. It was their version of stopping by the bar to have one with the boys before going home. The difference was the Custis Hall faculty thought of it as collegiality.

  “Anal,” Bill said.

  “That may be so, but Custis Hall remains in the black. You have to give him and Charlotte credit for that. And once the alumnae fund reaches its target, they’ll both relax.”

  “If I have to wait that long for four centrifuges, I’d better leave.” Amy decided a spot of sherry would do her a world of good, too.

  Outside the paned, leaded-glass windows a few snowflakes announced more to come.

  Alpha smiled. “To the first snow.” She handed Bill a sherry.

  They toasted the true beginning of winter.

  “You know what else he’s obsessing about?”

  “Amy, he has a laundry list.” Bill giggled, which made the two women laugh.

  “Professor Kennedy’s bill. He must have droned on and on for a good twenty minutes about all the time she was here because she charges by the hour. He anticipates her report, which, his words, ‘Will be a pulp novel larger than the Cedars of Lebanon.’ He’s not exactly sliding into the holiday mood.”

  “Wonder why he called it a novel?” Alpha, ever the English teacher, queried.

  Amy shrugged but Bill piped up, “She’ll make it up.”

  “Bill!” Alpha was surprised. “She hardly seemed like that kind of person, and do you think she would have the recommendation she does or her position at Brown if she were a fraud?”

  “I don’t know.” Bill drained his sherry glass. “I just don’t see how anyone can authenticate an iron lock or a pair of dancing pumps. I suppose you can come close, but I know from my work that you wind up with what was most popular. For instance, let’s say I’m doing a production of The Lion in Winter. Twelfth century and it happened to be a period of clean, quite beautiful designs, especially for women’s clothing. But what do I see? Stained-glass windows. A pretty painting in a Book of Hours. There’s not a scrap of fabric left. Besides, I’m seeing idealized representations of royalty and nobles. I don’t think it’s that easy to authenticate certain objects or clothes. It’s always an approximation.”

  “Carbon dating.” Amy poured another round for Bill and herself. Alpha waved her off.

  “Sure. That will really put Knute over the edge. Do you know how expensive that is? Look, we’re doing this to pacify a segment of our student body. It’s window dressing.”

  “I don’t think so.” Alpha disagreed without being disagreeable. “Once the administration committed to this, it realized that nothing has been done with those items since the day they were given to Custis Hall. No one knows the
ir value. It may be important for insurance.”

  “Sell off one old ribbon and I’d have my centrifuges,” Amy griped.

  Bill laughed, “I can see it now, science teacher sentenced to fifteen years for theft of valuable ribbon.”

  The three laughed.

  Alpha lowered her voice slightly. “This is when we need Al Perez. He could jolly Knute along.”

  Amy struggled, then replied, “I try not to miss him, but I do.”

  Diplomatically Alpha said, “You were closer to him than we were. He had his faults. Don’t we all? However, he worked very hard for Custis Hall and we’re close to our alumnae fund goal because of him.”

  “Fifteen million dollars.” Bill inhaled. “That sounds like so much money until you realize that two decades ago Stanford University launched a drive to raise one billion dollars in alumnae contributions. Now the other first-flight,” he used the hunting term, “universities have followed suit.”

  “Pity poor University of Missouri.” Alpha kept up with educational news. “Kenneth Lay, a graduate, promised beaucoup dollars. They based their budget on that and, well, we know the rest of that story. I can’t imagine doing that to people or to one’s alma mater. He doesn’t seem to have a smidgen of shame.”

  “Never steal anything small,” Bill replied. “Remember that movie with James Cagney? Wasn’t that the title?”

  Amy glared at Bill. “How would I know?”

  “That’s right, Amy. I forgot. You were still in swaddling clothes.” Bill let out an uproarious laugh and Alpha couldn’t help but laugh with him.

  “Bill, you went ugly early.” Amy smiled for a change.

  “Guess I did.” He finished his sherry. “My wife has promised something new and exciting with the turkey leftovers. My curiosity is rising.”

  “Along with your appetite.” Alpha listened to the grandfather clock ticking in the corner. “Snowing a bit harder now. Bill, think you’ll foxhunt tomorrow?”

  “It’s from Beasley Hall. Crawford will have the road plowed out. We’ll go unless it’s a blizzard. I didn’t check the weather this morning. What’s the call?”

  “Light snow. Not much accumulation, maybe one or two inches. Enough for the highway department to clear the roads,” Alpha said.

  “With what we pay in state taxes the highway department could do a better job of snowplowing.” Amy folded her arms across her chest.

  “Budget. See. We come back to Knute. Same drama, different theater.” Bill enjoyed his wordplay.

  “This is a rich state,” Amy said.

  “It’s a well-managed state,” Alpha said, amending Amy’s response. “We aren’t rich compared to New York or California. We’re better managed, and because of that, our taxes are lower.”

  “We don’t have people pouring in across the border using state services and not paying for them.” Bill had strong thoughts about that issue.

  “True,” Alpha simply replied.

  “It always comes back to money, doesn’t it? I don’t see why we can’t afford more snowplows and I don’t see why I can’t have four centrifuges.”

  “If the state buys more snowplows it’s wasteful. Contract out the labor, allow those men who already have the equipment to make some money. The state doesn’t have to maintain the equipment, put the gas in the engines, or buy the bulldozer initially. It’s a better system. It’s up to the contractor to factor in those things when he bids.” Alpha believed passionately in reducing the number of people employed by the state government or any level of government. Let the private sector do it.

  “So what do you want me to do? Go write a bid and turn it in to Knute?”

  “Try an angora sweater that fits, uh, that shows off your assets.” Bill felt wonderful, the sherry warming him.

  “Works on you, not Knute.” Amy knew her compatriots.

  Alpha remarked lightly, “You can’t blame a man for looking.”

  “Alpha, you’d be surprised.” A sour note crept into Bill’s voice. “If our society becomes any more politically correct the only people who will teach, run for office, you name it, will be robots. God help anyone with blood in his or her veins.”

  “You’ve got a point there, Bill. I’m glad I’m getting older.” She spoke to Amy, “Bill and I will soon retire. You and your generation are going to bear the brunt of this. And you’re also going to endure a wicked recession, so my advice, dear, forget the centrifuges for now. Be as helpful as you can and the best teacher you can be. When the pink slips fly, your name won’t be on one. Because by the time this economy hits the skids, Knute will be even more powerful.”

  “Hear, hear.” Bill raised his glass and Amy poured him another round.

  He was a big man and could absorb it.

  “We haven’t really talked about this, but Al’s murder is certainly going to affect the school. If the person who did it isn’t caught soon, parents will get nervous and so will alumnae. Our recession could start before the nation’s,” Alpha shrewdly noted.

  “They’ll catch him,” Amy confidently said.

  “Who knows?” Bill’s blue eyes were doubtful. “Murder is a very easy crime to commit. Steal something large, they’ll track you down sooner or later. Again, Kenneth Lay. But murder? It makes for good movies, but in real life people get away with it every day.”

  “That’s cynical.” Amy wanted Al’s murderer caught even if she did cling to her resentment of the way in which the affair ended.

  “Going to be more than two inches if it keeps coming down like this. What is there about the first snow? Pristine. Beautiful.” Alpha changed the subject. “I’ll bid you two adieu. I want to get home before the roads are a slushy mess.”

  “Sun’s setting, too. It’ll ice up pretty fast. I guess I’ll find out what my dearest has conjured up with the leftovers.”

  Amy waited alone in the lounge for a few minutes as she watched Alpha and Bill, walking together in the snow. She loved this old lounge. It was where she began her flirtation with Al that turned into something much more. For the first time since his death, the tears came. Lost loves, always emotionally potent, are even more so when death removes all possibility of resolution. Poor thing didn’t even know she needed resolution until this grief overtook her.

  C H A P T E R 2 4

  A light snow, a thin white curtain, continued to fall when the Jefferson hounds cast from Beasley Hall on November 29. Three inches had accumulated overnight as the snowfall abated, then picked up again, but the main roads were easily passable. Crawford plowed the tertiary road to the huge stone pillars announcing the entrance to his estate. The massive, expensive bronze boars atop the pillars had snow on their tusks, in their hackles, which added to their ferocious appearance.

  The only dicey part for those braving the weather was the one mile of secondary road before turning off to Crawford’s road. Everybody crawled along and arrived to park in front of the hunter stables. Fifteen sturdy souls arose in darkness for the morning’s hunt. True foxhunters, they knew today was the kind of day when one could ride on the chase of the season.

  And they weren’t far wrong, because the hounds cast promptly at nine and by ten minutes after the hour, Asa, wise in his seventh season, caught a whiff of fresh rabbit blood. He flanked the pack, put his nose down, and tracked the scent droplets in the snow to a small covert folded into the land.

  “He’s in the covert!” Asa called out and the other hounds honored him.

  A big red dog fox, hearing the music, bolted out the other end of the small covert.

  Betty, on Magellan, who danced about, saw him shoot northeast so the light wind would be at his tail. No fool, this fellow.

  “Tally ho!” Betty called out.

  Sister slipped and slid as they cantered down the slope. Going up the slight rise proved easy enough, and by the time they crested it, she and the small field could see the beautiful sight of a red fox against white snow in the distance running flat out, the whole pack as one behind him.

 
The snowflakes stung as they hit Sister’s face, caught in her eyelashes. The cold awakened everyone but most especially the horses, who loved days like today. Snow flew off hooves; some large clumps smacked people’s chests like hard snowballs.

  A black coop, half white on the bottom now, loomed ahead. Shaker soared over it on Gunpowder, white as the snow himself. Sister and Rickyroo popped over but as successive riders took it, the footing grew ever more treacherous. The last four horses over rode straight to the base and popped way up and over.

  Against the snow, everyone could see the red figure diminishing up ahead. The snow impeded him but it slowed the hounds, too. As they were heavier, they sank down into it.

  A zigzag fence was ahead and the riders took their own line coming back together on the other side of the lovely old snake fencing. The fox sped over the next large field, dashed into a thick woods. His perfect paw prints announced his progress to human eyes because he was harder to see once in the woods. He ducked into underbrush.

  Dragon and Trident, fast, nudged ahead of Cora. Both boys closed on the fox. Dragon lunged for him, jaws snapping, and the red jumped up in the air, turned a ninety-degree angle, and again ducked under thick brush that proved tough going for Dragon and Trident, but they persevered.

  A crystal-clear deep creek lay ahead, the banks steep, filled with ice, too. He launched into the creek, swimming downstream, scrambling out on the other side. He gained two minutes on his pursuers with this tactic because they all crashed into the creek, then had to pick up his scent on the other side, which took a few moments since they clambered out higher up than he did.

  Sister gave Rickyroo a hard squeeze. He soared over the creek, landing cleanly on the other side. He didn’t like the reflections from ice but he was learning—he was seven—that the old girl on his back was trustworthy. She didn’t ask him to do anything stupid.

  A mass of boulders, jumbled together like a giant’s discarded building blocks, marked the edge of the heavy woods. The fox dove into his den at the base of the smooth gray rock.

  The hounds dug at the rock. Shaker praised them. As he swung his right leg over he glanced down, noticing to his right fresh bear tracks. He put his right foot back in the stirrup. He blew “gone to ground” very briefly from the saddle, then turned the pack in the opposite direction of the tracks.