“Well, we don’t know that yet.”
“Honey, if this gets worse, no one will be able to go to a lecture, a restaurant, get a haircut. This is only the beginning. Our governor will have to be clear about essential and nonessential and that will change. This really is only the beginning.”
“I hope you’re wrong.”
“So do I,” he agreed.
“Oh, forgot, Carter said another painting was stolen in Lexington but it wasn’t a Munnings.”
“Ah. Bet it is still worth a lot.” He rose, took his dish to the sink and hers as well. “What was that James Cagney movie? Never Steal Anything Small?”
“Anything James Cagney was in was terrific. Did you know he started as a dancer?”
“Didn’t. He did move with a kind of grace, though, didn’t he? Well, honey, you’d better call Betty. The sooner this goes out, the better.”
“You’re right.” Sister walked to the library, as it was easier to use the landline in there.
Betty, who had heard the governor’s address, agreed this was the right thing to do and she’d get on it.
No sooner had Sister hung up the phone than it rang again.
“Mrs. Arnold.”
“Yes.”
“This is Jordan Standish. I didn’t have a cell number for you so I called this number. I hope that’s okay.”
“It is. I’m not much for using my cell. It’s a surprise to hear your voice.”
“Uh, well, I called to thank you for talking to Mr. Barbhaiya. He has dropped the charges and he said you suggested that.”
“He gives me too much credit, but I do hope this works out. I am happy to show you hunting, but as it turns out we’ve all been grounded.”
“Yes. Me, too. I’ve dropped my campaign until this is over. Well, I haven’t dropped it, but no rallies or meetings. The other reason I called you is you asked me about those crimes.”
“I did.”
“I don’t have an answer but I had a thought. Now that people will be wearing masks, at least some of them, it will be easier to steal, I think.”
“I would never have thought of that. Thank you for considering my question. I hope we meet in better circumstances when this ends.”
“Yes, Ma’am. A lot will change.”
“You’re right. Keep well.”
“You, too. Goodbye.”
She hung up the phone and thought, “Will wonders never cease?”
“Done?” Gray called from the kitchen.
“Yes. You’ll never guess who I just spoke with.” She walked back into the kitchen to tell him about Jordan Standish.
“He’s right. Our state law forbids wearing a mask at a rally, gatherings. They can’t enforce it now, can they?”
“I guess not. This is all overwhelming.”
“It is. Will there be an increase in crime?” Gray breathed out. “Well, if we have to keep away from one another, if businesses are closed, I doubt it, but a well-thought-out crime, maybe.”
“What about mass violence?”
“Whenever people are frightened or angry or both, that is always a possibility.”
“Animals are smarter than people that way.” Sister believed that.
“Of course.” Golly preened.
CHAPTER 32
March 11, 2020 Wednesday
Late afternoon.
How quickly the day flew by. After Carter’s call then her calling Walter and the unexpected call from Jordan Standish, Sister walked down to the kennels to give Weevil and Tootie the news. Although young, neither one protested. For one thing, no one knew enough about the virus itself and the media had to stir the pot. Never pass up the opportunity to make money off a crisis. The political version of that was never let a crisis go to waste. The finger-pointing was in full swing.
She turned to the Richmond Times-Dispatch for sobriety, where she found it. No screaming, no predications of mass death, simply what the governor’s speech meant for Virginia and what was known about the virus. After reading, feeling more clear, she picked up the phone and began calling Betty, Aunt Daniella…another surprise, for she took it all in stride…Yvonne, Sam, Kasmir and Alida, Freddie Thomas. That took her to noon. Betty sent out the email but Sister felt next she needed to speak to every landowner and those calls carried her to tea time.
Golly, in her special bed on the counter, a place much resented by the dogs, lifted her head as Sister boiled water.
“Golly, it’s one thing after another.”
“It would be easier if you didn’t have two dogs.”
“Golly, shut up,” Rooster grumbled from his three-hundred-dollar bed with sides and a removable fleece interior.
Sister spoiled them in every respect, except they had to learn manners when puppies.
Raleigh, not bothering to lift his head, remarked to Rooster, “Rooster, no one could take a cat seriously. Pay her no mind.”
The water boiled while Golly did, too. As Sister poured the water over a Yorkshire Gold teabag, Golly vaulted from her luxurious bed, raced over to Rooster, smacked the harrier on the nose, immediately leaping back up to her bed.
“I’ll get you,” Rooster threatened.
Golly did not deign to reply but purred loudly, so Sister rubbed her head.
Sitting down at the kitchen table, Sister drank the strong English tea, which snapped her right back. “All right you all, I’m back at it.”
Once in the library she pulled out the last volume of Sir Alfred Munnings three-volume autobiography. No sooner had she opened the book than she shut it.
Walking over to the graceful desk in the corner she picked up the phone, dialed the 859 area code followed by O.J.’s number.
“Sugar, I meant to call you this morning after I heard the news, but all this coronavirus stuff has taken up the day,” Sister said as she heard O.J.’s distinctive voice.
“Actually, O.J., I meant to call you because I heard the Andre Pater painting of Catherine Clay-Neal had been stolen.”
“You have good connections. Will be on the six o’clock news.”
“Oh.” A silence followed this. “Carter Nicewonder told me.”
“Well, there you have it. Good connections. Is there a woman with some means to whom he hasn’t tried to sell jewelry?”
“Probably not.” Sister laughed. “Some of it is beautiful.”
“Is.”
“Is everyone at the museum okay?”
“Yes. Catherine and I were coming back from a hunt. She wanted to stop for a moment, we walked in, no girls. They must have heard our voices because they started screaming from the closet. Locked in. Two men with face masks. Guns. No one was hurt. Once released we all walked through the museum, which is when we found Catherine’s painting gone. She’s distressed. Who wouldn’t be?”
“Sidesaddle.” Sister had seen photographs of the large, stunning painting. “Well, O.J., this is the first painting that isn’t a Munnings. Are you all right?”
“I’m upset for her and for the museum. They have a fine security system but this happened in the broad daylight. All those two had to do was walk inside.”
“You would think this would stop. The longer it goes on, the more vulnerable the thieves are, or the mastermind.”
“You would think. So far no dead driver has been found. Of course, the girls never saw the vehicle, but they made off. Zip. Just like that.”
“Well, let’s keep in touch. We can still walk out hounds, we’ll be six feet from one another and in the open. I think this is extreme but Walter says, given our lack of preparation and it’s such a different type of bug, we have to do this. I guess six feet apart is better than six feet under.”