The Devil Next Door

Chapter 4: House Call

The next day at work, John cannot keep his mind off of Imogen. She is different from other girls he has dated. She is kind and genuine, and she really seems to care about him. As he drives from farm to farm, he keeps looking over to his passenger seat and picturing Imogen's smile. He can still hear her laugh and her beautiful singing voice.

The current occupant of his passenger seat barks, effectively pulling him out of his memories. John laughs and scratches Wendy behind her ears.

"Let's see who's next on our list, girl," he says to her.

He pulls out his tablet and checks his list of patients for the day. He had been so distracted all day that he did not realize that he had just seen his last patient on the list. It is too early to clock out for the day, but just the thought of working on charts is boring. Wendy definitely is not ready to go back home.

An idea comes to him, and he pulls up Midnight's chart. He types the address from the file into his GPS. As a veterinarian, he feels obligated to check on the progress of his patient's wound, and he would like to see the cows that Imogen had talked about. If there is something he can do to help, he wants to do it, and if he gets to see Imogen while he is there, that will make the trip even more worthwhile.

The drive to Emerald Hills is beautiful. The autumn leaves seem to set the trees ablaze. Wendy enjoys the ride too. She keeps her nose up in the air the whole time, taking in all of the new scents.

There is no sign announcing the entrance to the town, but it is easy to figure out when he has found Emerald Hills. The road immediately changes from pavement to dirt, and the little houses he passes seem like they have been pulled straight from a movie set in colonial times. People dressed in equally colonial-looking green clothes stare at him as his Jeep crawls past. There are no street signs to guide him, and he also notices that there are no power lines either.

He stops to help two men shooing cows back through a broken fence. He parks his Jeep so that it blocks most of the road and tells Wendy to stay. She obeys, and he helps the men walk the cows back into the pasture. John notices right away that the cows look ill. They are completely covered with flies and the biggest grasshoppers John has ever seen. Their backs have not been treated with garlic oil. The only smell that fills the air is the odor of manure.

Once the cows are back where they belong, the farmer thanks the other man for his help.

"That hail storm last night couldn't have happened at a worse time. Thank you for your help, mo chara." he says.

The farmer gets right to work fixing the fence. He does not so much as look in John's direction. On the other hand, the second man eyes John cooly. His gaze makes the hairs on the back of John's neck stand up. One eye is a normal brown, but the other is gray and unseeing. He turns his hooked nose up at the veterinarian.

"What are you doing here?" he demands.

John extends his hand out in greeting and replies, "I'm John Lambert. Could you point me to the Tarrant farm? I'm the vet who treated their mare, and I wanted to see how she's doing."

"The horse is fine," the man snaps. "Now leave. You're trespassing."

John is surprised by his tone, and it begins to feel like something is not quite right.

"Are you Mr. Tarrant?" he asks.

"No. You've asked your questions, so now it's time for you to leave," the man spits.

"Okay, I will, but before I go won't you let me take a look at those cows? I think I know something that can help with the flies. It-"

"You are trespassing! Leave! You will not be asked again!" the man roars.