The Tell-Tale Horse

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Marion Maggiolo and Wendy Saunders helped enormously by fighting their way through a first draft, correcting mistakes and making good suggestions.

For the record, the information regarding Horse Country’s security system is false for obvious reasons. The John Barton Payne massive trophy, owned by the Warrenton Horse Show, is housed there because Marion’s security system is second only to the bank’s. The bank did not have a large enough space to house this incredible bowl, ladle, and tray, known affectionately as “Big John.”

The Warrenton Horse Show, an outdoor show held at summer’s end, is a delightful spectacle, well run and worth a visit.

For those of you not able to make the trip to Warrenton, you can visit Horse Country at www.HorseCountryLife.com. The phone is 1-800-882-4868. You always meet people you know there even if you’ve never met them before.

Special thanks to Danielle Durkin, my former editor, and good luck writing her own novels.

Man does not live by bread alone but this woman does when she’s writing. Were it not for Mrs. Ryan Schilling and her soda bread, Mrs. Robert Satterfield and her banana bread, Mrs. William Stevenson III and her corn bread, I’d perish. Emily, Sue, and Lynn, respectively, are also members of Oak Ridge Hunt Club. Sue leads first flight and is bold as brass. Emily is training as a whipper-in and helps me in the kennels, and Lynn is our hunt secretary, a task I wouldn’t wish on a dog and she performs it with aplomb.

I note here the passing of my glorious, huge, old Plott hound, Punch. He was eighteen, had all his faculties, but age caught up with him May 1, 2007. Born to hunt bear, he did so without my contrivance. When he finally realized we hunt foxes around here, he declined smaller game and took up hunting thunderstorms. This had to be seen to be believed. He was a dear friend and I will miss him. Even my cats miss him, which is a testimony to his personality.

On another note, four hunt books equal one year. I have not clearly stated this before but thought perhaps I should. Each book represents a season: spring, summer, fall, winter. If I didn’t do this, Sister would be one hundred before you know it. Yes, she has to grow older, as do I, but let’s not rush it.