by Abby Deuel
Contents
Title Page
Front Matter
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-one
About the author
Acknowledgements
Mandy Bell Series
Back cover
POINTER CLUB CADAVER
Book Three
A Mandy Bell DVM Mystery Series
By Abby Deuel
Copyright © 2015 by Abigail Deuel
All Rights Reserved.
Paperback Published by Createspace.com
Kindle version Published by Amazon.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Deuel, Abby
Pointer Club Cadaver
(Book 3 Mandy Bell DVM Mystery Series)
ASIN B019BSOHE6
Dedication
I would like to dedicate this book to Vivian McGeehon for giving me the tough love that is often required in this world. This quote says it all.
“An acquaintance merely enjoys your company, a fair-weather companion flatters when all is well, a true friend has your best interests at heart and the pluck to tell you what you need to hear.”
E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly
Chapter 1
Winter-time in Crestview was something that Mandy had been looking forward to, especially now that she had bought her own sheep farm outside of town. She had not planned on seeing the start of winter from a hospital bed, recovering from a brush with death. She could not have known that the last murderer in Crestview would try to poison her just as she was solving the case. Luckily, the entire town stepped up to make sure that Mandy had nothing to worry about while she recuperated in the hospital.
During her down time, Mandy had reflected on the last few months in the supposedly quiet, Mid-western town. It all began when she inherited a veterinary clinic and A-frame home from her recently deceased friend, Anna. She had intended to sell the clinic without even becoming familiar with it, its employees, or the town. The clinic’s headstrong assistant, Gillian, had other plans, resuming business as usual. On the first morning, Gillian had booked appointments as if Mandy had no choice in the matter, forcing Mandy to be more receptive to the possibilities of Crestview.
In the process of keeping the clinic viable until she had reached a decision, Mandy had become entwined in the town. While becoming involved in solving two murders, she had met a plethora of wonderful people. Not only was she challenged by some tricky medical cases, but she had raised a bobcat, almost died from poisoning, and now bought a sheep pasture-based farm that she knew little to nothing about. Mandy had always secretly hoped she would find somewhere to settle down and now that she had, she was ready to plunge in head first, providing her body could keep up with the pace as she regained strength.
It was now time to see how her new farm purchase would change her life. Her belongings, or what was left of them since her RV burned in a fire, had been moved to the farmhouse. Apart from some new clothes, Mandy didn’t actually need anything since the house had come fully furnished. The style of furnishings was not exactly to her taste, except, of course, the gorgeous antiques, including two Victorian-style couches. The turn-of-the-century farmhouse lent itself to vintage style. Most people might ban the dogs from using the furniture. Mandy believed that pieces that had already lasted over a hundred years had no reason to be spared from more usage. She didn’t believe in protecting things for a rainy day, opting instead to use them daily. Though there were some quintessential farmhouse pieces, there was a distinct lack of a woman’s touch. Slowly but surely, Mandy could re-decorate the house to suit her.
In the few days she had been released from the hospital, she had only started the nesting process since she was to avoid strenuous activities. She wanted to save her strength for the important aspects of the farm, like tending to the sheep themselves. Thankfully, Derek, the previous owner of the sheep farm, had not anticipated his early demise; he had left everything fully functioning, ready for someone to start where he left off.
He had stored enough winter feed and bedding for any type of winter the Midwest might produce. Predictions were already coming in that this winter would rival that of the worst on record in 1978 so Mandy was concerned about staying ahead of the elements for her new four-legged children. Derek had run his farm efficiently, a reflection of his love for the lifestyle and his livestock. Due to the financial troubles the sheep farm was in, the bank had allowed Mandy to buy it quickly and at a reasonable price, not giving her much time to consider how this would change her life as she knew it.
Mandy went from living in a 320 square-foot RV to a large farmhouse with acreage, chickens, and sheep in a span of two weeks. During the week that Mandy had spent recovering in the hospital, she had been reading as much on pasture-based sheep farming as Sonya, the librarian, could get her hands on. Although Mandy had been well-versed in vet school about different health concerns of sheep, managing her own farm was an entirely novel world. Instead of leaning over a fence to discuss the weather with a farmer, she was now the one to be concerned about rain patterns, snow, and whatever else Mother nature might throw at her.
The doctor had been very specific at discharge that she was to ease herself back into her fast-paced lifestyle. Knowing that she would be a terrible patient, Doc Tom insisted that a roster of people stop by to help Mandy on a regular basis to ensure that she was following her orders. Mandy knew that doing only light duties would be nearly impossible to achieve while running a veterinary clinic full-time and now a farm. She was grateful for everyone's help. It was also further evidence that she had chosen the right town to call home. She had finally found a place where people lived by old-school values.
Gillian, the clinic receptionist, had stepped up as much as she could to spare Mandy from fretting over clinic matters. Despite the nice rest, it was time for Mandy to face the music and push her body to do more work each day or she would never be in shape for winter farming. She would have to use her judgment to know how much that could be each day.
Even with the week to read as much as possible on sheep farming, Mandy knew this would be a crash course in sheep farming, learning the finer points via trial and error, although lately more error than trial. Yesterday, she had attempted to drive the tractor to practice placing bales of straw in feeders. She figured she couldn't get into
too much trouble since she would be sitting down driving a piece of machinery.
Mandy had underestimated the level of difficulty of a seemingly simple task. She had succeeded in placing the bale, neglecting to realize that she took out a whole row of fence on her way to the feeding area. Thankfully, there had been no escapees since they were not in the adjacent paddock. Today, she would have her first lesson in fencing, a little ahead of the schedule she had planned for farming 101. One thing she was learning about the farm is that she did not determine the agenda for the day; it was determined by observing her surroundings to see which issue was most pressing. This morning would be no exception, as there was snow in the forecast for the week, a fence to mend, and animals to secure. She hoped that someday the priority list would have more influence from the weather than from her mistakes as a new farmer.
Chapter 2
Mandy dressed warmly, knowing that the imminent snow was already changing the temperature of the wind. Though a hilly farm, the topography protected some areas from wind while creating a wind tunnel in others. Unfortunately, the section of fence to be mended was in one of the natural wind tunnels. While Mandy had always loved winter, sitting by a fire with a warming cup of hot chocolate, owning a farm with animals changed her entire outlook for winter. She felt both excitement and nervousness with each passing day.
She knew that there were a number of projects that she needed to complete to make doing chores in the snow both possible and safe. Mandy had been told by several townspeople that blizzards could occur in this area, making just walking from the house to the barn a safety hazard. She knew that Derek had things set up in the event of a white-out; but she was unable to decipher his system so would have to make her own arrangements in the event of a severe storm.
Lyle, Mandy’s Border collie, and Anna Beatrice, her new Great Pyrenees puppy, were running circles around the house as Mandy readied herself for her day of chores. The puppy had been an unexpected addition when Derek’s dog, Maggie, passed away from the same poison that had been used to murder him. Mandy tried to save Maggie but the poison had already absorbed into her bloodstream beyond the point of detoxification. The bright side was that Maggie was pregnant with one puppy, who Mandy did manage to save. Many long nights bottle-feeding the orphaned puppy with Lyle by her side guaranteed the Pyrenees’s place in the impending farm deal. Perhaps Mandy would one day rise to her new role as farm owner by leaving Lyle and Anna outside at night to guard the flock. For now, she had herself convinced that Lyle was too old and Anna was too young so they both slept on the bed with her. They had far too much energy this morning so Mandy let them out to play while she finished getting ready.
Mandy fixed herself a steaming bowl of oatmeal as fuel for her busy morning ahead. She ate slowly, taking time to review the images with instructions that she had found on a fencing website. She had researched on-line to determine how to fix one section without compromising the integrity of the remainder of the fence. She had not had the opportunity to use a fencing tool before so she brought one in the night before to familiarize herself with the form and function of the foreign device. It seemed like a rather archaic tool at first glance. Upon closer examination, each curve, indentation, and protrusion had a specific purpose. Mandy longed for the day when she would use this tool as if it was an extension of her hand. For now, that day was a long time in the future.
The fence she would be mending had a closely woven mesh pattern that extended four feet up. Then there was a strand of barbed wire above that and a strand of electric fence above that. The part she had ruined with the tractor involved all three types of fencing so she would need to figure out how to repair the bend in the fence and re-attach the wires to the wooden posts. It seemed all fairly straight-forward until she started reading more about how an electric fence worked. She intimidated herself with too much information and decided to give it a try outside rather than reading any more.
Fencing would have to wait a few minutes. Through the kitchen window, Mandy could see that Lyle and Anna Beatrice had taken it upon themselves to cover their bodies from head to toe in mud and were now shivering in the cold wind. Mandy had accepted sheep living outside; a dog living outside in cold mud was a completely new concept to her. She let them inside to the mud room so she could give them a bath in the tub by the back of the house.
“Just because we live in a farmhouse now does not mean that we have to turn this house into a barn! You guys need a jolly good bath and then you can warm up while I try to fix the fence,” Mandy explained to the all-too-proud muddy mutts, who wiggling their front and back ends with such visible pride that they looked like they were in ice skates on a freshly smoothed rink.
Despite Lyle’s short coat, it seemed to attract mud at an alarming level. Mandy kept rinsing and scrubbing until the water ran clear. She then towel-dried Lyle in an attempt to get some of the water out of the undercoat. She let Lyle free in the bathroom while she tackled Anna Beatrice, who was perhaps even muddier, if that were possible. Poor Anna had not had many baths since she was just a pup. The new experience made her shiver until she realized that the water was warm enough to fend off the chill she had gotten from running in the wintry air outside. Her puppy fluff was starting to be replaced by her permanent adult fur, which was coming in long and white. Her mom, Maggie, had been a small Pyrenees and it looked like she would follow in the same footsteps. Mandy was happy to have a slightly smaller version of the giant breed since Anna would likely spend time inside the house.
Anna wiggled in the tub, helping make the job of scrubbing the mud out of her curly fur easier. It was as if she understood the task at hand and was eager to please. The water finally ran clear in the tub so Mandy squeezed as much water out of Anna’s coat as possible and towel dried the remainder. Mandy put the two wet children in the kitchen with heaters and blankets so they could warm up while she resumed her mission of fixing the broken fence.
Mandy put her winter layers back on, replacing the damp garments with fresh, dry ones. Giving two long-haired dogs a bath was impossible to do without distributing moisture all over the surrounding area and one's self. Mandy let the dogs into the kitchen, giving each a new chew toy to play with so they could settle in for quiet time while she embarked on the start of a hopefully long fencing career.
Chapter 3
Conveniently, all of the tools she had read about plus some mending wire were all in one tool bag in the barn. Mandy examined each tool in her hands, practicing with the bits of wire in the bottom of the bag. She was feeling better about the task at hand. She decided to start with what she perceived to be the easiest of the three types of wire, the electric one. She had turned off the main power supply at the barn and tested the wires leading to the broken section. She was satisfied that she would be safe to work with it. The wire itself had been bent out of position but not snapped.
“That must be why they call it high tensile wire," Mandy chuckled to herself. She tried to bend the wire back into place, finding that it had taken on a life of its own. She opted instead to cut the damaged section and replace it with a splice of new wire. She used the special splicing method she had read about. Once the splice was made, she re-tightened the wire strainer to test the spliced section. It held up under pressure.
“Success!” Mandy shouted, looking around her to see if anyone was there to celebrate her achievement. There were a few sheep nearby, sitting in a patch of morning sunshine, chewing their cud away from the mud. They were watching her but made no attempt to give her the attaboy she was seeking. Instead, one of them stood up, stretched, and peed.
“That’s fine. I get it. You’ll be happy when there is no one jumping the fence at night to hurt you because the electric fence works,” said Mandy, regretting it almost as quickly as she said it. She knew that these animals were mourning the death of the only person that they had ever known. It would take time for them to bond with her and trust her. They still ran from her as if she was in some way threatening. She, ove
r anyone, should know, having witnessed grief in animals daily. She had even prescribed antidepressants a time or two for a patient suffering from grief after the loss of a beloved owner. Some animals simply refused to eat and drink, overcome with a sense of loss of routine.
“Let’s try for the barbed wire next. I’m a little intimidated by the mesh fence. If I don’t get it right, one of you sneaky lambs might try to get separated from the flock. We need to keep you all safe and happy,” said Mandy to the onlooking sheep.
She donned her giant fencing gloves. Derek had much larger hands than hers and yet she had large hands for a woman. She would have to obtain a smaller pair if fencing became a regular activity which it likely would since her tractor driving skills were unlikely to improve overnight.
She did much the same with the barbed wire as she did with the electric high tensile wire, taking care to keep the barbs free from impaling her working hands. It seemed to work and resulted in a fix that satisfied her. That left only the mesh fence to mend, which she figured she could tackle now that she had successfully mended the other two wires.
Her plan was to remove the damaged section back to the junctions of intact wire and then replace the horizontal wires first, followed by the vertical sections. She worked slowly and methodically, getting into the mindset she used when performing an intricate surgery. In the end, the section did not look perfect. It would serve its purpose, though.
The weather was beginning to rear its ugly head, making Mandy happy that she had completed the fence repair. She packed up all of her tools to head inside for some hot coffee. On the way, she flipped the switch on the electric fence. Her handiwork stood up to its final test: the electricity current continued throughout the whole fence.
Feeling uplifted and also worn out, Mandy went inside to find Lyle and Anna snuggled up in a sea of white fluff. The new chew toys hadn’t occupied them long. They had pulled the cushions from the bench in the kitchen area and removed every last bit of stuffing until they had made a nest of polyester fluff in which to take their nap. The evidence of destruction was strewn clear around the entire kitchen. Stuffing has a way of multiplying far beyond what one would think would be contained in two small kitchen seat cushions.
