The Tell-Tale Horse

CAST OF CHARACTERS

THE HUMANS

Jane Arnold, Sister, is Master of Foxhounds of the Jefferson Hunt Club in central Virginia. She loves her hounds, her horses, and her house pets. Occasionally, she finds humans lovable too. Strong, healthy, vibrant at seventy-three, she’s proof of the benefits of the outdoor life.

Shaker Crown is the huntsman. He’s acquired the discipline of holding his tongue and his temper most times, and he’s wonderful with hounds. In his early forties, he’s finding his way back to love.

Crawford Howard, a self-made man, moved to Virginia from Indiana. He’s egotistical and ambitious and thinks he knows more than he does about foxhunting. But he’s also generous, intelligent, and fond of young people. His great disappointment is not being a father but he never speaks of this, especially to his wife.

Marty Howard loves her husband. They’ve had their ups and downs but they understand each other. She is accustomed to sweeping up after him, but she does this less than in the past. He’s got to learn sometime. She’s a better rider than her husband, which spurs him on.

Charlotte Norton is the young headmistress of Custis Hall, a prestigious prep school for young ladies. Dedicated to education, she’s cool in a crisis.

Anne Harris, Tootie, is one of the brightest students Charlotte Norton has ever known. Taciturn, observant, yet capable of delivering a stinging barb, this senior shines with promise. She’s beautiful, petite, African-American, and a strong rider.

Valentina Smith is the class president. Blonde, tall, lean, and drop-dead gorgeous, the kid is a natural politician. She and Tootie clash at times but they are good friends. Val loves foxhunting.

Felicity Porter seems overshadowed by Tootie and Val but she is highly intelligent and has a sturdy self-regard. She’s the kind of person who is quietly competent. She too is a good rider.

Pamela Rene seems burdened by being African-American, whereas for Tootie it’s a given. Pamela can’t stand Val and feels tremendously competitive with Tootie, whom she accuses of being an Oreo cookie. Her family substituted money for love, which makes Pamela poor. Underneath it all she’s basically a good person, but that can be hard to appreciate.

Betty Franklin is the long-serving honorary whipper-in at JHC. Her judgment, way with hounds, knowledge of territory, and ability to ride make her a standout. Many is the huntsman who would kill to have Betty Franklin whip in to him or her. She’s in her midforties, a mother, happily married to Bobby Franklin, and a dear, dear friend to Sister.

Walter Lungrun, M.D., joint master of foxhounds, has held this position for a year. He’s learning all he can. He adores Sister, and the feeling is mutual. Their only complaint is there’s so much work to do they rarely have time for a good talk. Walter is in his late thirties. He is the result of an affair that Raymond Arnold, Sr., Jane’s husband, Ray, had with Walter’s mother. Mr. Lungrun never knew—or pretended he didn’t—and Sister didn’t know until a year ago.

Edward Bancroft, in his seventies, head of the Bancroft family, formerly ran a large corporation founded by his family in the mid-nineteenth century. His wife, Tedi, is one of Sister’s oldest friends. Tedi rides splendid Thoroughbreds and is always impeccably turned out, as is her surviving daughter, Sybil Fawkes, who is in her second year as an honorary whipper-in. The Bancrofts are true givers in terms of money, time, and genuine caring.

Ben Sidell has been sheriff of the county for three years. Since he was hired from Ohio, he sometimes needs help in the labyrinthine ways of the South. He relies on Sister’s knowledge and discretion.

Ilona Aldridge Merriman, in her fifties, rides well, lives well, but isn’t truly happy. Sometimes she can get fussy and act like the fashion police. She has a secret from her college days that is not revealed in this book.

Ramsey Merriman, Ilona’s husband, coasts along. He’s pleasant, with enough money to be spoiled. He’s also a skirt chaser, which he tries to hide from his wife.

Venita Cabel Harper, or Cabel, together with her husband, Clayton, developed and built in the early eighties an aftermarket electronic business installing cell phones and high-end radio systems in cars. Today they can install GPS systems and even tracking devices. As Ilona’s best friend, she knows her secret.

Clayton Harper, brilliant in business, has turned out to be a dud at the rest of life. He drinks like a fish, sleeps with any woman he can lay his hands on, and basically just tries to keep peace with Cabel.

Lakshmi Vajay, called High, dynamic and handsome, originally hails from a province in India at the base of the Himalayas. He made his fortune in Mumbai and then left for Virginia. He enjoys the occasional discreet affair.

Madhur Vajay, Mandy, is gorgeous in her middle years, a devoted mother at the stage where she is beginning to feel an inner power separate from her remarkable beauty. Unlike Ilona and Cabel, she’s unaware of High’s occasional forays.

Kasmir Barbhaiya is in his midforties, widowed, and a college classmate of High’s. He falls in love with Virginia while visiting the Vajays. Eventually he will fall in love again, guided by his deceased wife’s spirit, but not in this book. He has made over a billion dollars in pharmaceuticals but would give it all up if he could bring his wife back. He keeps this to himself and is fantastically generous.

Gray Lorillard is retired from a prestigious Washington, D.C., accounting firm. He is Sam’s older brother, and he currently dates Sister Jane.

Marion Maggiolo owns Horse Country. She’s a vital member of the horse and foxhunting community. She’s known for her good works, her vision, and her marvelous sly humor.

Garvey Stokes owns Aluminum Manufacturing. He’s a decent rider and hunts when he can.

Lorraine Rasmussen dates Shaker Crown. She’s in her late thirties, quite attractive, and learning to ride.

THE AMERICAN FOXHOUNDS

Sister and Shaker have carefully bred a balanced pack. The American foxhound blends English, French, and Irish blood, the first identifiable pack having been brought here in 1650 by Robert de la Brooke of Maryland. Individual hounds were shipped over before that date, but Brooke brought an entire pack. In 1785, General Lafayette sent his mentor and hero, George Washington, a pack of French hounds whose voices were said to sound like the bells of Moscow.

Whatever the strain, the American foxhound is highly intelligent and beautifully built, with strong sloping shoulders, powerful hips and thighs, and a nice tight foot. The whole aspect of the hound in motion is one of grace and power in the effortless covering of ground. The American hound is racier than the English hound and stands perhaps two feet at the shoulder, although size is not nearly as important as nose, drive, cry, and biddability. The American hound is sensitive and extremely loving and has eyes that range from softest brown to gold to sky-blue. While one doesn’t often see the sky-blue, there is a line that contains it. The hound lives to please its master and to chase foxes.

Cora is the strike hound, which means she often finds the scent first. She’s the dominant female in the pack and is in her sixth season.

Diana is the anchor hound, and she’s in her fourth season. All the other hounds trust her, and if they need direction she’ll give it.

Dragon is her littermate. He possesses tremendous drive and a fabulous nose, but he’s arrogant. He wants to be strike hound. Cora hates him.

Dasher is also Diana and Dragon’s litter mate. He lacks his brother’s brilliance, but he’s steady and smart.

Asa is in his seventh season and is invaluable in teaching the younger hounds, which are the second A litter and the P litter. A hound’s name usually begins with the first letter of his mother’s name, so the D hounds are out of Delia.

THE HORSES

Sister’s horses are Keepsake, a Thoroughbred/quarter-horse cross (written TB/QH by horsemen). He’s an intelligent gelding of eight years.

Lafayette, a gray TB, is eleven now, fabulously athletic, talented, and eager to go.

Rickyroo is a seven-year-old TB gelding who shows great promise.

Aztec is a six-year-old gelding TB who is learning the ropes. He’s also very athletic, with great stamina. He has a good mind.

Shaker’s horses come from the steeplechase circuit, so they are TBs. Showboat, Hojo, and Gunpowder can all jump the moon, as you might expect.

Betty’s two horses are Outlaw, a tough QH who has seen everything and can do it all, and Magellan, a TB given to her by club social director Sorrel Buruss. Magellan is a bigger and rangier horse than Betty was accustomed to riding, but she’s now used to him.

Matador, a gray TB, six years old, sixteen hands, is a former steeplechaser. Sister buys him.

Sybil Bancroft Fawkes owns two TBs, Postman and Bombardier, a fellow with great good sense.

THE FOXES

The reds can reach a height of sixteen inches and a length of forty-one inches, and they can weigh up to fifteen pounds. Obviously, since these are wild animals who do not willingly come forth to be measured, there’s more variation than the standard just cited. Target; his spouse, Charlene; his Aunt Netty and his Uncle Yancy are the reds. They can be haughty. A red fox has a white tip on its luxurious brush, except for Aunt Netty, who has only a wisp of white tip; her brush is tatty.

The grays may reach fifteen inches in height and forty-four inches in length and may weigh up to fourteen pounds. The common wisdom is that grays are smaller than reds, but there are some big ones out there. Sometimes people call them slab-sided grays, because they can be reddish. They do not have a white tip on their tail, but they may have a black one, as well as a black-tipped mane. Some grays are so dark as to be black.

The grays are Comet, Inky, and Georgia. Their dens are a bit more modest than those of the red foxes, who like to announce their abodes with a prominent pile of dirt and bones outside. Perhaps not all grays are modest or all reds full of themselves, but as a rule of thumb it’s so.

THE BIRDS

Athena is a great horned owl. This type of owl can stand two and a half feet in height with a wingspread of four feet and can weigh up to five pounds.

Bitsy is a screech owl. She is eight and a half inches high with a twenty-inch wingspread. She weighs a whopping six ounces and she’s reddish brown. Her considerable lungs make up for her stature.

St. Just, a crow, is a foot and a half in height, his wingspread is a surprising three feet, and he weighs one pound.

THE HOUSE PETS

Raleigh is a Doberman who likes to be with Sister.

Rooster is a harrier and was willed to Sister by her old lover, Peter Wheeler.

Golliwog, or Golly, is a large calico cat and would hate being included with the dogs as a pet. She is the Queen of All She Surveys.