Minette Walters - Fox Evil

The Lion, the Fox, and the Ass

The Lion, the Fox, and the Assentered into an agreement to assist each other in the chase. Having secured alarge booty, the Lion on their return from the forest asked the Ass to allothis due portion to each of the three partners in the treaty. The Ass carefullydivided the spoils into three equal shares and modestly requested the twoothers to make the first choice. The Lion, bursting into a great rage, devouredthe Ass. Then he requested the Fox to do him the favor of making the division.The Fox accumulated all that they had killed into one large heap and left tohimself the smallest possible morsel. The Lion said, "Who has taught you,my excellent fellow, the art of division? You are perfect to a fraction."He replied, "I learned it from the Ass, by witnessing his fate."Happy is the man who learns from the misfortunes of others. Aesop

fox evil , "a disease in which the hair falls off"(1842 Johnson Farmer's Encycl.), alopecia Oxford EnglishDictionary, 2002

alopecia areata baldness occuring in patches on thescalp, possibly caused by a nervous disturbance. (Gr.alopekia,fox-mange, a bald spot, alopekoeides, fox-likealopex,fox) Chambers English Dictionary

*1*
JUNE 2001

The fox slipped quietly through thenight in search of food, with only the occasional flash of his white-tippedbrush flagging his presence. The scent of a badger set his nose quivering, andhe skirted the piece of track where the territorial marker had been laid. Ashy, nervous creature, he had more sense than to cross the path of a voraciousfighter with powerful jaws and poisonous teeth.

He had no such fear of the smell ofburning tobacco. It spoke to him of bread and milk for himself, and pieces ofchicken for his vixen and her cubseasier plunder than a nighttime'swearisome hunting for voles and field mice. Ever suspicious, he stood forseveral minutes, watching and listening for alien movement. There was none.Whoever was smoking was as quiet and still as he. Finally, in trustfulresponse to the Pavlovian stimulus, he crept toward the familiar smell, unawarethat a rolled cigarette was different from the pipe he was used to.

The illegal trap, a maiming device ofmetal teeth, sprang shut on his delicate foreleg with the biting power of ahuge badger, tearing the flesh and snapping the bone. He screamed in pain andanger, lashing at the empty night in search of his imagined adversary. For allhis supposed cunning, he hadn't been clever enough to recognize that themotionless figure beside a tree bore no resemblance to the patient old man whoregularly fed him.

The woodland burst with sound inresponse to his terror. Birds fluttered on their perches, nocturnal rodentsscurried into hiding. Another foxperhaps his vixenbarked analarm from across the field. As the figure turned toward him, drawing a hammerfrom his coat pocket, the shaved tracks in the mane of hair must have suggesteda bigger, stronger foe than the fox could cope with, because he ceased hisscreaming and dropped in whimpering humility to his belly. But there was nomercy in the deliberate crushing of his little pointed muzzle before the trapwas forced open and, still alive, his brush was sliced from his body with acut-throat razor.

His tormentor spat his cigarette tothe ground and mashed it under his heel before tucking the brush in his pocketand seizing the animal by its scruff. He slipped as quietly through the treesas the fox had done earlier, coming to a halt at the edge of the woods andmelting into the shadow of an oak. Fifty feet away, across the ha-ha ditch, theold man was on his feet on the terrace, staring toward the treeline, a shotgunleveled at shoulder height toward his unseen watcher. The backwash from thelights inside his open French windows showed his face grim with anger. He knewthe cry of an animal in pain, knew that its abrupt cessation meant thecreature's jaw had been smashed. He should have done. This wasn't the firsttime a broken body had been tossed at his feet.

He never saw the whirl of theblack-sleeved, black-gloved arm as it lobbed the dying fox toward him, but hecaught the streaks of white as the tumbling paws flashed in the lamplight. Withmurder in his heart he aimed below them and fired both barrels.

Dorset Echo , Saturday, 25 August 2001
TRAVELER INVASION

THE ROLLING DOWNLAND of Dorset'sRidgeway has become home to the largest illegal caravan park in the country'shistory. Police estimate that some 200 mobile homes and over 500 gypsies andtravelers have gathered at scenic Barton Edge for an August Bank Holiday rave.

From the windows of Bella Preston'spsychedelic bus, the soon-to-be-designated World Heritage site of Dorset'sJurassic coastline unfolds in all its glory. To the left, the majestic cliffsof Ringstead Bay, to the right the stunning crag of Portland Bill, ahead thedazzling blue of the English Channel.

"This is the best view anywherein England," says Bella, 35, cuddling her three daughters. "The kidslove it. We always try to spend our summers here." Bella, a single motherfrom Essex, who describes herself as a "social worker," was one ofthe first to arrive. "The rave was proposed when we were at Stonehengefor the solstice in June. Word spread quickly, but we hadn't expected somany."

Dorset police were alerted when anabnormal number of traveler-style vehicles entered the county yesterdaymorning. Roadblocks were set up along the routes leading to Barton Edge in anattempt to stop the invasion. The result was a series of jams, some five mileslong, that angered locals and bona fide tourists who were caught in the net.With the travelers' vehicles unable to turn around in the confined space ofthe narrow Dorset lanes, the decision was taken to allow the gathering tohappen.

Farmer Will Harris, 58, whose fieldshave been taken over by the illegal encampment, is angered by police and localauthority impotence to act. "I've been told I'll be arrested if I provokethese people," he fumed. "They're destroying my fences and crops, butif I complain and someone gets hurt then it's my fault. Is that justice?"

Sally Macey, 48, Traveler LiaisonOfficer for the local authority, said last night that the travelers had beenserved with a formal notice to quit. She agreed that the serving of notices wasa game. "Travelers operate on the basis that seven days is the usuallength of stay," she said. "They tend to move on just before the ordercomes into effect. In the meantime we ask them to refrain from intimidatory behaviorand to ensure that their rubbish is disposed of in nominated sites."

This cut no ice with Mr. Harris whopointed to the sacks of litter dumped at the entrance to his farm. "Thiswill be all over the place tomorrow when the foxes get at these bags. Who'sgoing to pay for the cleanup? It cost a farmer 10,000 to clear his landin Devon after an encampment half this size."

Bella Preston expressed sympathy."If I lived here I wouldn't like it either. Last time we held a rave ofthis size, 2000 teens came from the local towns to join in. I'm sure it willhappen again. The music goes on all night and it's pretty loud."

A police spokesman agreed. "Weare warning local people that the noise nuisance will last throughout theweekend. Unfortunately there is little we can do in these situations. Ourpriority is to avoid unnecessary confrontation." He confirmed that aninflux of youngsters from Bournemouth and Weymouth was likely. "A freeopen-air rave is a big draw. Police will be on hand, but we expect the event topass off peacefully."

Mr. Harris is less optimistic."If it doesn't, my farm will be in the middle of a war zone," hesaid. "There aren't enough policemen in Dorset to shift this lot. They'llhave to bring in the army."