Chapter 40
THE RAIN STARTED Wednesday afternoon. By the early hours of Thursday morning it was coming down in sheets. A tropical storm battered the East Coast. Its effects reached far enough inland to inundate much of the Mid-Atlantic, including Crutchfield County. Certain that Saint Hubert would not allow the Thursday hunt to be rained out, Ryman disagreed with Thumper’s preference to cancel in advance.
He awoke at four a.m., two hours before the go or no-go call had to be made, at which point Marva would post the information to the membership. There seemed to be little need for that, though, as no one in his or her right mind would even remotely consider going out with hounds in these conditions. But, then, Ryman was clearly not in his right mind.
He slipped out of bed, went to his co
