Knightsville

By Brenda Hamilton

Knightsville is a fictional town in a mountain valley of south-central British Columbia, Canada. The town has developed along the shores of a beautiful mountain lake. The local economy depends on tourism and forestry. Some of the main characters, Jeanne, Nora and Dr. Bobby work at the local veterinary hospital. Many of the pet characters and stories are loosely based on actual patients that Brenda looked after during her years of practicing veterinary medicine. Of course, the names have been changed to protect the innocent. Interactions between the different characters of the population of Knightsville help to draw the story line along. I think you will learn to love some of them, and perhaps want to avoid others. Enjoy getting to know them all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brenda Hamilton
• Release date: Sep 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301729807

Brenda Hamilton

Brenda grew up near Oxford Mills, Ontario. After high school she went to Guelph University and graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College in 1977. She moved to the Rainy River District where she ran her large animal practice until the year 2000. Since then, her arthritis and fibromyalgia which had bothered her for years, has finally convinced Brenda to retire. After moving to Oliver with her husband, she has began to write down some of the many story ideas she has had in her head for yearsHope you enjoy reading these tales.

Book preview

Book 1 of the Knightsville mystery Series

Knightsville

Brenda Hamilton

Copywrite 2013 Brenda Hamilton

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Table of Contents

Prologue

Mid-story

Story end

About the author

Sample of future book - One Tough Summer

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my dad, Willis Samuel David Hamilton. Dad was the most respected, and respectful man that I have ever known. He taught me about morals, responsibility, and family values. He also made me understand that I could be and would be whoever I wished to be. I pray that I have given my daughters half of what he taught me.

STORY CHARACTERS

HUMAN

Dr. Harold Knight owner of Knightsville Veterinary Hospital

Mrs. Cynthia Knight, mother of both Dr. Harold and William

William Knight younger brother of Dr. Harold and owner of Knightsville sawmill

Melisa Knight William’s wife, daughter of Jim and Dorothy Longfellow

Jeanne North receptionist at Knightsville Veterinary Hospital, and commentator

Dick Kirby works at Veterinary Hospital

Nora Stone veterinary technician

Dr. Roberta (Bobby) Stirling veterinarian at Hospital

Jim Donnelly owner of local newspaper

Myles Donnelly Jim’s dad, blind since bush accident few years ago

Mrs. Agatha Black, librarian, and Susie’s mother

Susie Black Agatha’s daughter and owner of local book store

Carl, owner of Lakeview Cafe with partner Larry

Larry, interior designer, partner of Larry’s in the cafe and married to Larry

Wendy O’Sullivan, runs the town’s answering service out of her home

Richard O’Sullivan (Rich), Wendy’s husband, works at the mill

Freddy lives with Myles as helper, and is also studying to become a nurse. He is Nora’s cousin

Chief Able, Nora’s grandfather and chief of the local First Nation’s Band

Tobias, Mrs. Black’s chauffeur

Harvey Able, manager at Isole Peaks resort,

Alex Tromblay, stranger in town

Olivia Stirling, Dr. Bobby’s mother

Don Smilie, Search and Rescue officer, handler of Frazer

Father Steven, Anglican Priest

ANIMALS

Khat, Jeanne North’s cat

Andy, Myles’ guide dog

Oscar, Mrs. Knight’s small poodle

Frazer, search and rescue dog- handler Don Smilie, Mastiff cross

Prologue

Well Khat, what a year that was. We moved here to Knightsville for peace and quiet. Ha!

The last few months, it seemed like hardly a day went by without some kind of drama, and it usually involved that one family. Oh you know who I’m thinking about, don’t you Khat? They are sure difficult to get along with! Well yes, you are right, not the whole family. Some have become very good friends, haven’t they, Khat?

For that matter, we have a lot of friends here in Kightsville now. I guess that is partly due to all of that drama, isn’t it? The town sure pulled together when they needed to, didn’t they Khat?

Yes, I am glad you and I moved here. It’s definitely home now!

You know Khat, my dear, even though you are a cat, you listen real well.

1

It all started on a typical day at the Knightsville Veterinary Hospital. ‘Thank heavens we're mid-way through the Friday afternoon clinic hours.’ The waiting room was packed, dogs, cats, and owners all talking at once. The last patient had gone into the exam room almost half an hour ago. It was Myles Donnelly and his guide dog Andy. Myles and Andy had been a team for almost a year, and thanks to Andy, Myles had regained more and more of his independence.

Andy is an unlikely looking guide dog. He is a mix of spaniel and black lab and in the winter months looks a bit like a small long- haired black bear. Because of the heat, last summer Myles had Andy's hair cut short- and suddenly he looked like a real Labrador, except for that little white spot on the tip of his tail. Andy is supposed to be a lead dog, but sometimes he has the tendency to herd Myles. On the whole, though, the two of them work well together.

The Veterinary Hospital is laid out in a long narrow rectangle. The reception area covers the full front width of the building with my work station situated behind a long counter. The front of the room, facing main street, Lakeview Drive, and the lake shore is all windows. It brightens the office some days when the clouds sock in the valley. Other days the sun's glare isn’t so great. To the right of the front counter, a long hallway extends to the rear of the building. All the rest of the rooms are along this hallway.

The first room is Dr. Harold Knight's office. He is the only veterinary in town and owner of the clinic. Next come two exam rooms, and then a treatment/prep. room, which if needed, can be used for another examination room. Adjacent to that are the surgery, and then the kennel area. This is divided into a medical and a post-op/recovery section.

Behind these rooms are the laundry and a freight door opening onto the back alley.

I’m quite familiar with this lay-out, as it is where I spend my work days. I truly do enjoy helping the pets of the town and their owners.

The doctor, staff, not to mention, the clients and their pets are never in a good mood by late Friday afternoon, but the atmosphere in front of me had started to get out of hand. They were all getting a tad impatient with their wait. I'll have to go and see what's taking so long. I got up from my computer and headed down the hall to the lab, hoping Nora Stone was there.

Nora is the hospital’s veterinary technician. She grew up on the First Nations Reservation on the outskirts of the town. After graduating from high school, she’d gone off to the college at Kelowna and graduated near the top of her class. Lately, almost on a daily basis, she had been asking me why she came back to Knightsville to work. As a child she had never had much to do with Dr. Harold, and since joining the clinic staff, her opinion of the man himself had deteriorated.

Nora stands about five foot ten, kind of tall for a girl, and at times I think she is self-conscious of her height. Her hair is black, cut short and shaped to her head. She always keeps herself in good shape; in fact, I think she must jog every day.

‘Oh, here you are Nora. Any idea why Andy’s appointment is taking so long?’

‘Yes, …… and no, I had to come back here for a few minutes. Honestly, I don’t think I can take those two much longer.’ Obviously Dr. Harold and Dick were on a roll.

‘What did they say today?’ We had worked together for almost a year by then and I really liked the young woman.

The door to the exam room opened and I heard Dr. Harold Knight saying ‘do whatever you think is RIGHT, Myles, remember though, my mother and I will support you if you want to take legal action, if not, well you know how busy this practice is getting these days.’ I only had time to glance towards Nora and see her grimace, when Dick hurried up. ‘Doc H will want to know why you haven’t gotten Myles’s bill ready.’

Dick Kirby was the general go-for in the clinic. He didn’t seem to have any medical background, but had worked with Harold for almost 15 years. Folks said he grew up in town, and that his mother was in one of the long term care homes. To me, he didn’t seem to know anything other than what Harold taught him, in fact he mimicked everything Harold said and thought.

I went back to the front of the clinic, and picked up Andy’s file from the rack. When I glanced inside I saw that he was to be billed for a double appointment. ‘Well Andy, what was the problem today? Will you need to book a follow up, or have the three of you figured things out?’ I don’t think I even glanced up at Myles, as I hurried to complete the invoicing on the computer. When I did, I stopped typing, and gave Myles my full attention. ‘What’s the matter? You look horrible, is there something serious with Andy?’

There couldn’t be anything really seriously wrong, could there? Since Harold hated talking with the owners, (well if truth was told, he couldn’t talk with anyone;) part of my job was to take complete histories of each pet during the pre-exam chat, as Harold called it. This had not been in my job description when I responded to the ad stating they were looking for a front desk person, but well, things change.

Over the years that I had worked there, almost two, to be exact, my prior experience with the normal ailments of dogs and cats had lead to this rather unorthodox screening method. I had actually practiced veterinary medicine for twenty years, but the long hours and stress of a solo practice had gotten to me. As a result I had rather unique qualifications for a receptionist. Very few people in town knew of my former occupation, just that I felt comfortable with their pets, and I wanted to keep it that way.

Since Dr. Harold never had any luck trying to show empathy with either owner or the suffering pet, he had found that I could manage to get most of the important symptoms and concerns down in the chart, long before he ever saw the patient. My differential diagnoses tended to keep Harold to the more practical ones. Doc Knight hated the examination room, but loved working in the surgery. The only thing he liked better than ordering an exploratory surgery, was calling for a complete lab work up.

When I first started working at the clinic, I remember asking the vet tech, who was there at the time, why there were so many lab tests ordered? She told me that Harold ran his clinic on the rule that one was to do ‘what would generate the most revenue.’ That was the first of many times I wondered why I worked there.

Every time I had those kinds of thoughts, I tried to remember my little house on the logging road just out of town. It has a creek running through it and a view of mountains and a small section of the shore line skirting the lake. Nowhere else had I found such a place that I could afford with the savings in my bank account. Everything I wanted in a place to live, and at a price I could afford. All I had needed to find was a job to cover my living expenses, and I'd be OK. With my background, I had checked in first at Knight’s Veterinary Clinic and was immediately hired. So, Jeanne, I always tried to remind myself, enough of this moping around; you love this town, so learn to live with Harold, period.

Myles raised his head, and looked directly at me across the counter. ‘No, Andy’s fine. Jeanne, I don’t care what he put on the file, I’m not paying one penny for having to listen to the last half hour of Harold.’ He turned to allow Andy to head toward the door. With his hand on the handle, he turned back, to ask for a favor, ‘could you meet me for coffee when the clinic closes? Please?’ Standing there with his shoulders slumped, and head down, what could I say?

‘Meet you at Larry’s when I am done here, OK? Don’t know how long this is going to take, but I’m too tired to cook tonight anyway, what about supper at the cafe?’

‘Great, thanks Jeanne.’

The last four or five appointments went fairly normally, with the exception of a couple of anxiety pee spots, and half a dozen fresh hair balls to catch under the waiting room chairs. While I was balancing the cash box in one of the empty exam rooms and Dick was sweeping and mopping the floors, Nora slipped into the room. ‘Finally! This day is almost over!’ I sighed.

‘Yeah’ replied Nora, ‘none too soon, as far as I’m concerned.’ ‘He crossed the line this afternoon. I don’t think I can stand much more’ Nora grumbled.

Just then the phone rang, and knowing Dick wouldn’t answer it, I ran to the front so I would be able to make whatever appointment needed to be booked. I looked back and caught Nora’s eye, ‘Look Nora, let’s talk later, OK?’

‘Yeah, sure.’

‘Call me this evening, OK? Promise?’ I had to insist.

‘Knightsville Veterinary Hospital, Jeanne speaking.’

‘Great, this is Doctor Bobby, could you tell Doctor Knight, that I’ve been held up here in the city, but will definitely be in by Sunday evening, and to expect me at the hospital Monday at eight.’

‘Of course Doctor, may I enquire if I should clear Doc Harold’s schedule for the morning?’

‘No way, I’ll be ready to start work. Looking forward to meeting the rest of the staff, bye.’

Well that was interesting. Harold hadn’t even hinted about having hired a second practitioner, although Nora and I had been begging him to consider it for months. Even though expanding the staff would cost Harold, I was pretty sure he could have the Knights' accountants confirm that he’d more than cover all extra expenses of another vet. What stopped me short was the fact that Bobby was a woman. I just couldn’t comprehend Harold hiring a female. I'd listened often enough to his tirades about women becoming priests, lawyers or physicians, to know what he thought about them practicing his own profession. This should be interesting.

I hurried to finish the cash, but took time to stick my head into the lab where Nora was wrapping up the express postage envelope containing all the lab samples being sent out on the courier service which was always expected about that time each afternoon. ‘Hey Nora, I promised to meet Myles at the cafe when I’m done here, but I'll be home later after our supper, OK?’ All Nora had time to do, before Dick hollered that the courier was there, was to grudgingly nod her head.

Taking the bank night deposit bag with me to Dr. Harold’s desk, I handed it to him and then hesitatingly said, ‘Harold, there was a call for you just a couple of minutes ago.’

‘Oh for Pete's sake Jeanne, haven’t I told you that I have dinner with Mother every Friday evening, and under no conditions are you to allow an emergency call for that time?’

Oh it's going to be that sermon tonight is it? I wondered how I was expected to magically stop pet emergencies on any given evening or even a particular time.

‘No, Doctor, it was Dr. Stirling on the phone.’ Dead silence, and then one of Harold's sly I know something you don’t know smiles.

‘Gather the staff here in my office Dick, would you?’ One would think there were twenty of us, and even though Harold’s dinner engagement was for a stylish eight sharp, the rest of us liked to eat a lot earlier. ‘Will Dr. Stirling be here Monday, Jeanne?’

‘Yes, doctor.’

‘Good. Well, now that he has confirmed his arrival for Monday, I can share my plans for the clinic.’

‘Starting Monday, Dr. Stirling will be handling all the appointments. I will personally perform the surgeries and keep myself available for second opinions if he needs me. You can book medical appointments all day, starting Tuesday. I don’t intend to be at the hospital before ten, and want to be gone by four, do you understand Jeanne?’ I nod, looking around at the stunned faces of both Dick and Nora. So even Dick didn’t know about this.

Harold continued, ‘I had our lawyers be sure