© 1996

TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT.

The sign was huge. It almost covered the farm gate and, not surprisingly, it made Jessica pause.

She didn’t pause for long.

Dr Jessie Harvey stared down at the pathetic drag marks leading to the gap beside the gate. Harry must have dragged himself through-and there were traces of blood on the path.

Sign or no sign, there was no choice. Jess had to look.

Niall Mountmarche might have half the island scared silly with his stupid signs but if Harry was suffering somewhere on the other side of the fence…

Sod Niall Mountmarche’s sign!

Jessica Harvey, Barega Island’s only veterinary surgeon, pushed stray wisps of soft brown curls from her angry eyes and pushed open the gate.

She’d been here before and she hadn’t been shot.

Louis Mountmarche, wine-maker extraordinaire, had been the island children’s ogre for years. Rumour said that he’d shot a child in the dim, distant past and his reputation was fearsome.

By the time Jess had arrived to work on the island the old man was hardly ever seen by the locals.

Four months ago the local police had asked Jess to investigate reports of animal cruelty. Neighbours had complained that the old man’s dog had been howling for days.

She’d found the dog.

The neighbours had been right. The animal had been neglected but it hadn’t been the old man’s fault. When Jessie and the police had finally found him, Louis Mountmarche had been dead for weeks-with his dog guarding his body.

Although the fate of the old man and his dog had shocked the locals, the islanders hadn’t blamed themselves. The old man had abused everyone-and now it seemed that his nephew was of the same mould.