Fox Tracks Read online

  Fox Tracks is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2012 by American Artist, Inc.

  Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Lee Gildea, Jr.

  All rights reserved.

  Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  BALLANTINE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  eISBN: 978-0-345-53298-5

  www.ballantinebooks.com

  Jacket design: Victoria Allen

  Jacket illustration: © Peter Malone

  v3.1_r1

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Cast of Characters

  Some Useful Terms

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  To the Reader

  Dedication

  Acknowledgments

  Other Books by This Author

  About the Author

  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 housepets. Occasionally, she finds humans lovable, too. Strong, healthy, vibrant at seventy-two, 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. He’s wonderful with hounds. In his early forties, he’s finding his way back to love with Lorraine Rasmussen.

  Gray Lorillard, a now-retired high-powered accountant is in his late sixties, and is in love with Sister Jane.

  Crawford Howard, a self-made man, moved to Virginia from Indiana. He’s egotistical, 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.

  Charlotte Norton is the young headmistress of Custis Hall, a prestigious prep school for young ladies.

  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. This fall is her first at Princeton. She’d rather stay at the kennels and work with hounds.

  Valentina Smith was the Curtis Hall class president last year. Blond, tall, lean, and drop-dead gorgeous, the kid is a natural politician. She and Tootie clash at times, but they are friends. She loves foxhunting, and her first year at Princeton.

  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. Every bit as brilliant as Tootie and Val, her life took a dramatically different course with an unplanned pregnancy.

  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 into him or her. She’s in her mid-forties, a mother, happily married to Bobby, and a dear, dear friend to Sister.

  Walter Lungrun, M.D., joint-master of foxhounds, has held this position for three years. 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, 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, used to run 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.

  Kasmir Barbhaiya is in his mid-forties, widowed, and a college classmate of High Vajay. He falls in love with Virginia while visiting High and Mandy. 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.

  Tariq Al MacMillan, a Coptic Christian from Egypt, teaches at Custis Hall. He’s in his mid-twenties, good-looking, and innovative in his Middle Eastern Studies class.

  Art DuCharme is always described as not living up to his potential. As he’s in his thirties, works in his father’s garage as well as having a delivery service, no one is holding their breath.

  Binky and Milly DuCharme are Art’s parents. They have come to terms with their son’s lack of ambition. Binky does not speak to his own brother, Alfred.

  Alfred DuCharme is widowed and the father of the very successful Margaret. He oversees the land of Old Paradise, the family estate, but the grand old house is in desperate need of repair which takes a lot of cash.

  Margaret DuCharme has more than made up for her cousin’s failures. She is an MD in Sports Medicine, well liked by all and a go-between for the brothers. She is not much in evidence in this volume.

  Donny Sweigart, a jack-of-all-trades, has a can-do attitude. He’s in his mid-thirties, an outdoorsman and rugged. He has been dating Sybil Bancroft Hawkes for over a year. While he can never match the Bancroft fortune, he wants to make more money for his own satisfaction and so Sybil doesn’t think he’s a dud.

  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 being brought here in 1650 by Robert de la Brooke of Maryland. Individual hounds had been shipped over earlier, 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. It 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 eye, 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.

  Asa is in his seventh season and is invaluable in teaching the younger hounds.

  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 the strike hound. Cora hates him.

  Dasher is also Diana and Dragon’s littermate. He lacks his brother’s brilliance, but he’s steady and smart. A hound’s name usually begins with the first letter of his mother’s name, so the D hounds are out of Delia.

  Giorgio is young and just about the perfect example of what a male American foxhound should be.

  THE HORSES

  Sister’s horses are Keepsake, a Thoroughbred/quarter-horse cross (written TB/QH by horsemen), an intelligent gelding of eight years; Lafayette, a gray TB, eleven now, fabulously athletic and talented, who wants to go; Rickyroo, a seven-year-old TB gelding who shows great promise; Aztec, a six-year-old gelding TB, also very athletic, with great stamina and a good mind; and Matador, a gray TB, six years old, sixteen hands, a former steeplechaser.

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

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

  Kilowatt is a superb jumper, bought for the huntsman by Kasmir Barbhaiya.

  Nonni, tried and true, takes care of the sheriff.

  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 and weighed, there’s more variation than the standard just cited. Target; his spouse, Charlene; and his Aunt Netty and 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 a wisp of a white tip, for 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 nor 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 feet and a half 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 small 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 HOUSEPETS

  Raleigh is a Doberman who likes to be with Sister.

  Rooster is a harrier, willed to Sister by an 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.

  SOME USEFUL TERMS

  Away. A fox has gone away when he has left the covert. Hounds are away when they have left the covert on the line of the fox.

  Brush. The fox’s tail.

  Burning scent. Scent so strong or hot that hounds pursue the line without hesitation.

  Bye day. A day not regularly on the fixture card.

  Cap. The fee nonmembers pay to hunt for that day’s sport.

  Carry a good head. When hounds run well together to a good scent, a scent spread wide enough for the whole pack to smell it.

  Carry a line. When hounds follow the scent. This is also called working a line.

  Cast. Hounds spread out in search of scent. They may cast themselves or be cast by the huntsman.

  Charlie. A term for a fox. A fox may also be called Reynard.

  Check. When hounds lose the scent and stop. The field must wait quietly while the hounds search for the scent.

  Colors. A distinguishing color, usually worn on the collar but sometimes on the facings of a coat, that identifies a hunt. Colors can be awarded only by the master and can be worn only in the field.

  Coop. A jump resembling a chicken coop.

  Couple straps. Two-strap hound collars connected by a swivel link. Some members of staff will carry these on the right rear of the saddle. Since the days of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt, hounds have been brought to the meets coupled. Hounds are always spoken of and counted in couples. Today, hounds walk or are driven to the meets. Rarely, if ever, are they coupled, but a whipper-in still carries couple straps should a hound need assistance.

  Covert. A patch of woods or bushes where a fox might hide. Pronounced cover.

  Cry. How one hound tells another what is happening. The sound will differ according to the various stages of the chase. It’s also called giving tongue and should occur when a hound is working a line.

  Cub hunting. The informal hunting of young foxes in the late summer and early fall, before formal hunting. The main purpose is to enter young hounds into the pack. Until recently only the most knowledgeable members were invited to cub hunt, since they would not interfere with young hounds.

  Dog fox. The male fox.

  Dog hound. The male hound.

  Double. A series of short sharp notes blown on the horn to alert all that a fox is afoot. The gone away series of notes is a form of doubling the horn.

  Draft. To acquire hounds from another hunt is to accept a draft.

  Draw. The plan by which a fox is hunted or searched for in a certain area, such as a covert.

  Draw over the fox. Hounds go through a covert where the fox is but cannot pick up his scent. The only creature who understands how this is possible is the fox.

  Drive. The desire to push the fox, to get up with the line. It’s a very desirable trait in hounds, so long as they remain obedient.

  Dually. A one-ton pickup truck with double wheels in back.

  Dwell. To hunt without getting forward. A hound who dwells is a bit of a putterer.

  Enter. Hounds are entered into the pack when they first hunt, usually during cubbing season.

  Field. The group of people riding to hounds, exclusive of the master and hunt staff.

  Fieldmaster. The person appointed by the master to control the field. Often it is the master him- or herself.

  Fixture. A card sent to all dues-paying members, stating when and where the hounds will meet. A fixture card properly received is an invitation to hunt. This means the card would be mailed or handed to a member by the master.

  Flea-bitten. A gray horse with spots or ticking which can be black or chestnut.

  Gone away. The call on the horn when the fox leaves the covert.

  Gone to ground. A fox who has ducked into his den or some other refuge has gone to ground.

  Good night. The traditional farewell to the master after the hunt, regardless of the time of day.

/>   Gyp. The female hound.

  Hilltopper. A rider who follows the hunt but does not jump. Hill-toppers are also called the second field. The jumpers are called the first flight.

  Hoick. The huntsman’s cheer to the hounds. It is derived from the Latin hic haec hoc, which means here.

  Hold hard. To stop immediately.

  Huntsman. The person in charge of the hounds, in the field and in the kennel.

  Kennelman. A hunt staff member who feeds the hounds and cleans the kennels. In wealthy hunts there may be a number of kennelmen. In hunts with a modest budget, the huntsman or even the master cleans the kennels and feeds the hounds.

  Lark. To jump fences unnecessarily when hounds aren’t running. Masters frown on this, since it is often an invitation to an accident.

  Lieu in. Norman term for go in.

  Lift. To take the hounds from a lost scent in the hopes of finding a better scent farther on.

  Line. The scent trail of the fox.

  Livery. The uniform worn by the professional members of the hunt staff. Usually it is scarlet, but blue, yellow, brown, and gray are also used. The recent dominance of scarlet has to do with people buying coats off the rack as opposed to having tailors cut them. (When anything is mass-produced, the choices usually dwindle, and such is the case with livery.)

  Mask. The fox’s head.

  Meet. The site where the day’s hunting begins.

  MFH. The master of foxhounds; the individual in charge of the hunt: hiring, firing, landowner relations, opening territory (in large hunts this is the job of the hunt secretary), developing the pack of hounds, and determining the first cast of each meet. As in any leadership position, the master is also the lightning rod for criticism. The master may hunt the hounds, although this is usually done by a professional huntsman, who is also responsible for the hounds in the field and at the kennels. A long relationship between a master and a huntsman allows the hunt to develop and grow.

  Nose. The scenting ability of a hound.

  Override. To press hounds too closely.