SWEET WILLIAM AT STUD read the bold print. Beneath, in ordinary script, was Purebred Nubian Goat available for service. $50 breed fee.
The ad in the local newspaper caught my attention. I smiled. He might not be the only old goat in town available for stud, but he was probably the only one worthy of a fifty-dollar fee.
I was looking at the classifieds in the Creston Valley Advance to try and come up with a notice of my own. As soon as I got a phone installed, I was going to have to get my name out there!
“Hello, anyone here?”
“Yes, just a minute.” I tucked in my shirt and headed for the back door.
A slight woman in her twenties stepped back as I opened the screen door. She wore tight blue jeans, a red plaid wool jacket, and well-worn men’s hiking boots. Her cascading dark brown hair framed a pleasant, if discerning face. She had a confident, no-nonsense air about her.
“Are you the new vet?”
“Yes, I’m Dave Perrin.”
“Hello, Dr. Perrin, I’m Jean Melba.” As she extended her hand, I could detect an unusual combination of fragrances—-the musk that was popular with the hippies of my era and just the faintest trace of garlic, but what else?
“I was visiting one of your neighbours down the road. She told

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