Whisker of Evil by Rita Mae Brown Page A

giggled.
    â€œDoes he ever rest?” Tazio asked Big Mim, as she watched Paul de Silva walk out into a paddock to check on a mare and foal.
    â€œMy beloved niece is a slave driver.” Tally said this without a scrap of self-consciousness.
    â€œWe’re here!”
all the dogs shouted as they raced around the lawn.
    â€œI am not a slave driver. Paul loves his work.” Big Mim turned to Tazio. “Would you be interested in designing a stable, or is that too small a commission?”
    â€œI’d love to work with you,” Tazio replied. “I need to study equine behavior, though. I’m not a horsewoman.”
    â€œWell, that’s fine.” Big Mim smiled.
    â€œI’ll walk you down to Paul. Why not start right now? I know some of what Mother wants, and Paul knows the rest.” Little Mim was anxious to escape her mother’s grasp.
    Brinkley happily tagged along with Tazio, his sun and moon.
    Herb winked at Harry, which meant he had something to tell her and would at the first opportunity. He wanted to tell her what Blair had said. Perhaps the old farm could be purchased from Blair.
    A few moments passed, then they heard one shot from behind the stables. The dogs started barking.
    â€œTucker, stay here,” Harry commanded.
    â€œI will, but I think you’re being mean.”
Tucker resigned herself.
    Little Mim and Tazio hurried up over the pastures and onto the lawn, Brinkley running alongside.
    â€œFair and Tavener, we need you!” Little Mim was flushed.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Big Mim stood up.
    Tazio breathlessly replied, “Paul shot a raccoon. He thinks it was rabid.”

15

    F air had taken charge of the carcass, immediately returning to his clinic, where he removed the head and packed it in a plastic container of dry ice to ship out to Richmond in the morning. Then he called the home of the state veterinarian, a man he liked, Dr. Bruce Akey, informing him the raccoon head would be arriving tomorrow afternoon.
    All that was needed was the head, since only brain tissue would be tested. But to satisfy himself, Fair pulled blood. As he hadn’t observed the raccoon, he wasn’t going to jump to conclusions. The animal could have been suffering from other maladies. Distemper can also produce strange behavior before the suffering creature dies. An animal becomes disoriented or, in the case of a wild animal, lethargic, no longer frightened of humans.
    Harry, latex gloves on, had been in the operating room with her ex. She hung up her lab coat while Fair was on the phone with Bruce.
    She walked into the office as he hung up. “Well, it will be all over Crozet by the morning that we have a rabies epidemic, whether we do or don’t.”
    â€œI know.” He glanced down at Tucker, whose metallic rabies tag was fastened to her rolled leather collar. “What do you think, Sugar?”
    â€œGlad I’ve got my vaccination.”
    â€œThink we could be seeing a surge in the disease?” Harry asked.
    â€œWe could. My experience is, rabies goes in cycles coming down from the north. Starts in Canada, moves into New York State, and about three years later it’s here.”
    â€œGuess there’s nothing the Canadian government can do about it with all that wildlife.”
    â€œAnd think how long our border is with Canada.” Fair stooped down to scratch Tucker’s ears. “Even if you put a ranger every hundred yards, the animals would still run through them. No, the only answer is a pill form of the vaccine.”
    â€œHow do you know wild animals will take their pills?”
    â€œIf we had access to a pill and could afford it, we could put out thousands and thousands of pills in the various foods.” He thought some more. “Corn; so many animals eat corn. And for the obligate carnivores I suppose we could grind up hamburger. It’s a start.”
    â€œYou always have good ideas.” She