Vet in a Spin by James Herriot

Author:James Herriot [Herriot, James]
Format: epub
Tags: Artemis Fowl, Animals
ISBN: 9780330443579
Published: 2009-12-26T16:00:00+00:00

- when he spoke again.

.....~b about Paul Cotter ell, wasn't it?"

..... 'o you mean?"

.....conjurebt you'd have heard," he said.

"He's dead."

"Dead!" I stared at him stupidly.

"How . . . what . . .?"

"Pound 'im this morn in'. He did away with 'is self."

I leaned with both hands on the desk.

"Do you mean . . . suicide?"

"Aye, that's what they say. Took a lot o' pills. It's all ower t'town' I found myself hunching over the day book, sightlessly scanning the list of calls while the farmer's voice seemed to come from far away.

"It's a bad job, right enough. He were a nice feller. Reckon everybody liked 'im."

Later that day I was passing Paul's lodgings when I saw his landlady, Mrs Clayton' in the doorway. I pulled up and got out of the car.

"Mrs Clayton," I said.

"I still can't believe this."

"Nor can I, Mr Herriot, it's terrible." Her face was pale, her eyes red.

"He was with me six years, you know he was like a son."

"But why on earth . . .?"

"Oh, it was rosin' his dog that did it. He just couldn't stand it."

A great wave of misery rose and engulfed me and she put her hand on my arm.

"Don't look like that, Mr Herriot. It wasn't your fault. Paul told me all about it and nobody could have saved Theo. People die of that, never mind dogs."

I nodded dumbly and she went on.

"But I'll tell you something in confidence, Mr Herriot. Paul wasn't able to stand things like you or me. It was the way he was made you see he suffered from depression."

"Depression! Paul...?"

"Oh yes, he's been under the doctor for a long time and takin' pills regular.

He all us put a brave face on, but he's had nervous trouble off and on for years."

"Nervous trouble . .. I'd never have dreamed. . ."

"No, nobody would, but that's how it was. He had an unhappy childhood from what I made out. Maybe that's why he was so fond of his dog. He got too attached to him, really."

"Yes . .. yes..."

She took out a screwed up handkerchief and blew her nose.

"Well, as I said, the poor lad had a rough time most of his life, but he was brave."

There didn't seem anything else to say. I drove away out of the town and the calm green hills offered a quiet contrast to the turmoil which can fill a man's mind. So much for Herriot as a judge of character. I couldn't have been more wrong, but Paul had fought his secret battle with a courage which had deceived everybody.

I reflected on the object lesson which I thought he had given me, but in fact it was a lesson of another kind and one which I have never forgotten; that there are countless people like Paul who are not what they seem.

:'3'::~ !

v~z zn a opzn Chapter Thirteen The shock of Paul Cotter ell's death stayed with me for a long time, and in fact I know I have never

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