Probable Claws

22

January 26, 2017

Thursday

“Wow.” Harry once again admired the work already completed for Nature First.

Lisa, excited, leaned toward Harry, sitting across from her desk.

“One of our biggest projects, which we haven’t made public yet. We need more work, really, and to see if we can convince those at Monticello and Montpelier to return those places to their natural state.”

“But they are. The work has been spectacular and accurate.” Harry loved both of those gifts to America.

“Sorry. I’m not being clear. The wildlife, the trees, shrubs, the obvious botanical archaeology, so to speak. We also want to encourage the return of the wildlife at the time.”

“Oh, Lisa, with all those visitors, most of them city people, how can you revitalize, say, bobcats? It will scare them to death.”

“Now see, I disagree.” She smiled as Pirate slept at her feet. “If we explain the life cycle of the animal, do not disturb their dens or nests, I think all can coexist. Obviously we will need to feed them. We wouldn’t want your pussycats to be lunch.”

“Lunch! Why I have Odin, a coyote, for a friend. I’m not afraid of anything. I have battled a giant spider!” Pewter immediately shot off her mouth, waking the puppy.

“Spider?” The Irish wolfhound blinked.

“You’re scared of that spider. Big as a teacup, that thing.” Tucker grimaced. “Don’t worry, Pirate, the spider’s not here.”

“I am not scared of the spider. Not scared of a bobcat!” The gray cat puffed up to twice her size, unpuffed she was a large lady, puffed she truly needed Jenny Craig.

“You go right ahead and infuriate a bobcat. I am not messing with our larger cousins,” Mrs. Murphy sensibly chimed in.

Lisa, hearing the commotion, cocked her head, looked down. “Are they always like this?”

Harry laughed. “Such strong opinions. Well, I don’t mean to take up your time. Thought I’d drop by.”

“You’re not taking up my time. Before you go, Kylie has been investigating the Kushner Building, which will be the Cloudcroft Building, for six months now. The minute word got out about a forty-story replacement she started research. Finding a skull is a godsend. TV coverage was extensive. The newspaper actually wrote about the history of the Kushner Building. Have you read today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch?”

“No,” Harry answered.

“Nature First took out a full-page ad suggesting city leadership include Nature First in all planning activities for buildings and parks. Of course, there is not one plan for a park.”

“Bet it cost a lot.”

“Four to five hundred dollars, maybe more.”

“Why now?”

“The skull,” Lisa replied with ill-concealed glee.

“I was there.” Harry then relayed why she was at the pit, the condition of the skull.

“Why didn’t you tell me!” Lisa nearly shouted. “Felipe! Raynell. Come into my office.”

The shouts upset Pirate. “What’s going on?”

“Human drama.” Pewter smirked.

Pirate put his head on his paws, keeping his eyes wide open.

Harry recounted her story.

“Do you think there’s more down there?” Raynell asked.

“I do. I doubt there would be a disembodied head. Of course, the police will be very careful. You almost need an archaeologist for something like this.”

“Toothbrushes,” Felipe added.

Lisa, a bit overenthusiastic, said with confidence, “If we can delay further construction for a while, cost Rankin and Cloudcroft millions because they’ll have to keep everyone on payroll, all those big companies will take us seriously. Listen to us before they dig.” Lisa gloated.

“You might be right but I wouldn’t want to test those waters,” Harry quietly replied.

“Why not?” Raynell wondered.

“There’s a dead man in that ground. Who knows why. If the authorities find out maybe it means those big companies played hardball then and they would now.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Raynell blurted out. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend. It’s just big companies are so powerful why bother to kill? Anyway, it’s just a skull.”

“For now.” Felipe folded his arms across his chest.

“Buy a Times-Dispatch,” Lisa counseled.

As Raynell turned to go back to her office, a small spider dashed across the floor. “Lisa, we need Orkin!”

“Why?”

“A spider.”

“Raynell, if I called Orkin every time I saw a spider or a stinkbug, I’d blow our budget.”

Raynell grimaced, did not reply, headed to her office as Lisa shook her head. “Really. Would blow the budget.”

“That would be interesting on the annual budget: spiders, stinkbugs, water bugs.” Harry looked down at her buddies. “Come on, freeloaders. See you, Lisa.”

The four left Nature First, walked down the hall to Over the Moon.

Harry pulled open the door. “How can you keep your floors clean with all the snow outside?”

Anne de Vault pointed to a mop leaning beside the door just a bit out of sight. “Woman power.”

“Keep you in shape but then you always are.” Harry walked up to the sales counter, cats and Tucker in tow.

Anne might once in her life have carried one extra pound but that would be it. Willowy or lean, depending on your vocabulary, would best describe her.

“You’re too kind. I have a wonderful book by Harold Evans, Do I Make Myself Clear? Put it on your pile?”

“Sure.” Harry could rarely resist a good book. “Have you seen the work at Nature First?”

Anne nodded. “Lisa Roudabush pops in every day to say hi, look at what’s new.”

Another customer, a woman in her twenties, knelt to pull a book off a shelf.

“I suggested that Lisa visit Sandy McAdams at Daedalus. He would have vintage books, some hand bound, to augment her research at his used bookstore. Not only can he find you anything, he remembers everything. Everything. Knocks me out.”

“He is a wonder,” Harry agreed. “So no new books on fashion or biography? I loved the one on LouLou de la Falaise. Boy that was expensive, too.”

“Big book. Anytime a book is oversize it’s more money, plus the paper was very high grade. Lisa sticks to environmental books, animal books. What you would expect. She’d never buy a fashion book. Most of what I sell or anyone sells today is cheap paper, by the way, thermographed. Awful, really, but cheap.” Anne returned to a favorite theme, cheapness of things.

“Doesn’t hold up.”

“Doesn’t hold up because Tucker chews it,” Pewter tattled.

“I don’t know if spiders poop, but I hope the teacup spider poops on you!” She bared her teeth.

“Will you two stop?” Harry glared, then returned to Anne. “They were noisy at Nature First.”

“Harry, they’re usually noisy. Forgot. Lisa loves books about dinosaurs. She’s like a kid.”

“Well, I recall she had some in her pile just after Christmas. I thought maybe I’d get her a book. I love to give books.”

Anne advised, “Even if someone receives a book about something different, not a special interest, I think it feeds their curiosity.”

“That’s a good idea. Let me get that book, paperback, about Von Humboldt. Susan will be intrigued.”

“Bottom left shelf.”

Harry, Tucker with her, found the book. The cats sat behind the counter.

“Did you ever see Jurassic Park?” Harry asked. “Given Gary’s collection of tiny rubber dinosaurs, Lisa’s interest, maybe we should watch it again.”

“No,” Anne emphatically said. “Those little raptor dinosaurs in the kitchen were horrible.”

“Made me want to keep the lights on,” Harry agreed.

“Not a bad idea.” Anne nodded. “Who knows what’s out there?”

“I know Gary came in here. He’d tell me what was new on the table.”

“Glad you dropped in.”

“Me, too.” Harry walked outside.