Free Kee Patterbee - Hannah Starvling 03 - The Priest Who Ate a Poison Petit Fore by Kee Patterbee Page B

off.”
    Hannah lifted the animal’s face up and looked into its eyes. “Oh, how did such a sweet girl get out on the side of the road?”
    “No houses in that area, so someone might have abandoned her,” Will suggested.
    Magdalen grimaced. “That’s horrible.”
    Will agreed. “Yeah, it is, but it does happen.” He glanced the dog over. “She needs a name.”
    Hym crossed his arms and looked the dog over. “If she names her, she’ll keep her.”
    Both Hym and Will looked over to Hannah and Magdalen as they fussed over the puppy. Hannah stuck her face into rub noses with the beast.
    Will laughed. “Little late for that.”
    Hym let out a frustrated breath. “Alright, fine. A name. How about Mudpuppy?”
    Hannah glanced up at the fiancé. “Mudpuppy. Mudbug. What is your thing with mud?”
    “He’s always done that. Mudpie was our turtle. Mudbaby was our rabbit.”
    “No cat?”
    “Mudcat.”
    “A cat named Mudcat?”
    Magdalen confirmed.
    Hym threw out his arms in a ‘what’ gesture. “I found the turtle in mud. The rabbit's fur looked like mud.”
    Hannah gave a quizzical look. “The cat?”
    “By that time, it was a theme.”
    “I’m not calling her Mudpuppy,” Hannah insisted. “She needs a name that suits her.”
    Hym rolled his eyes.
    Will pointed to the back of the dog. “She got that brown hazelnut shaped mark on her back. How about that?”
    “Hazelnut,” Hannah said aloud, testing out the name.
    To everyone’s surprise, the dog gave a short, half-uttered woof sound.
    “We have a winner,” Will stated. “I’ll scrounge something up for her to eat. You can take her to the vet in the morning and get her checked out. Everyone seems to like Dr. Kanamit. He's just up the road a bit. He can see if she’s been micro chipped. I’ll give him a call.”
    “We are going to take good care of the baby,” Hannah said, once again eliciting licks from the canine.
    “Great,” Hym said in a near unenthused voice. “I don’t suppose you have a collar and leash lying around.”
    “Nope, but the backyard’s fenced, so take her out there. I’ll get things started in the kitchen.”
    Taking the opportunity presented, Will made Hannah and Hym a dinner consisting of food samples for the wedding. He made extras to treat Hazelnut. As they tasted each bit, all extolled the virtues of his work while they talked over wedding plans. During the conversation and tasting, Hannah’s phone rang. She stepped from the table to answer. After listening for a moment, she nodded and hung up before retaking her place and giving her signature move.
    “Something up?” Hym asked with an uncertain tone.
    “That was Susan. Brother Wessel died.”
    Everyone paused in their eating and looked to Hannah.
    “Who’s that?” Will inquired.
    “The Reverend’s assistant,” Hym answered.
    “And a nurse as well,” said Hannah. She paused before adding, “He went into cardiac arrest.”” She shook her head. “It makes no sense. He doesn’t fit the pattern.”
    “What pattern?” Will again questioned.
    “Older with a terminal disease.”
    Hym reached out and took up his drink of iced tea. Hannah noticed the pensive look as he swirled the glass in his hand. “We don’t know that yet. He may have been terminal as well.”
    Hannah agreed, though with some reluctance. “Well, an autopsy report would tell, but we don’t have a way to get hold of that either.”
    “No real reason to ask for it on a legal basis,” Hym added. He reached out, took the last remaining bite of the white cheddar biscuit from his plate, and held it up. “These are awesome,” he said before holding it down for Hazelnut to eat. The puppy made its way over to take the offering before sitting down in front of him.
    “That’s cheating. You’re going to spoil her right off,” Hannah protested.
    Hym shrugged as he petted the hound’s head.
    “They may not even perform one,” Magdalen informed in an attempt to redirect the conversation