The Crowded Grave

shooting,” Dominique went on, watching Bruno at work on Kajte’s leg and then looking at Teddy. “But everybody knows it’s you two and that other Dutch couple who let the ducks out from that farm. We heard you arguing with Kasimir on the way back from the dig yesterday.”
    Bruno applied antibiotic cream to each wound and covered them with adhesive strips. There were only two places where the pellet holes were so close together that Bruno thought a bandage would be needed, though not the thick layers that Teddy had applied.
    “You should be able to walk more easily now,” he said. “But remember, you’re still in shock. Rest here, stay warm and take lots of liquids.”
    “You sound more like a doctor than a policeman,” Kajte said, trying to smile as Teddy helped her put her pants back on.
    “I’m a local policeman, not a gendarme. It’s different. Now, this business cannot be hushed up. I had to take a statement from Maurice, the farmer who shot you. He thought you were a fox. That was why he fired so low. He’s devastated to think he hurt somebody and so is Sophie, his wife. They are poor people who barely make ends meet, just like the Villattes, where you and Teddy released the ducks yesterday.”
    He held up a hand when she started to protest. “Don’t try to deny it. I’ve got witnesses to your printing the leaflets and the peta.com website you visited, and I assume it’s your blood at Maurice’s farm. I’m going to give you a choice.”
    “What do you mean?” she asked, taking Teddy’s hand.
    “You can both be charged with criminal damage and you’ll probably spend some time in jail. I don’t think you’ll have much of a career in archaeology after that. Worse still, the museum and Horst and Clothilde will be held responsible by the local farmers, who are furious about these attacks. You heard Dominique.”
    “I’m very angry about what they do,” Kajte said.
    “I understand that. And you’re entitled to your beliefs, but I live here, I know the farmers and I know the foie gras trade, and I think you’re going after the wrong target. These duck farmers you attacked are the ones who raise their ducks in theold-fashioned way and feed them by hand. They’re not the big factory farms and industrial plants where the ducks are kept in cages and force-fed with pumps. How much do you know about foie gras anyway?”
    “I’ve read up on it,” she said defiantly.
    “So what’s the difference between the male and female ducks when it comes to foie gras?”
    “What do you mean? There’s no difference. They get force-fed and then they’re killed.”
    “Not quite. In most places, the female ducklings are killed right away, because their livers are different, too many veins. The customers don’t want that. But at Maurice and Sophie’s farm they don’t do that. They raise the female ducklings too, although they make no money out of it, and they do so in the open air and in good conditions.”
    “They still kill the birds eventually.”
    “That’s true, but I think you’re going after the most decent people in this business. It’s cowardly because you’re attacking the soft targets, the poor farmers who have no security and no alarm systems, rather than the really bad places where the ducks are caged and slaughtered by the thousand.”
    “Bruno’s right,” Dominique said. “I’m as much of a Green as you, but you’ve picked the wrong targets. Also I don’t think you understand just how angry the farmers are. I’m angry too because you’ve blundered into something you don’t understand. I’d say you should be punished and thrown off the dig.”
    Kajte locked glances with Dominique and then looked up at Teddy. “I’m sorry I got you into this,” she said, and turned to Bruno. “What was the choice you mentioned?”
    “There’s no guarantee, but let’s try to make this work. I’ll take you to the farmers, first the Villattes and then to Maurice and Sophie. You apologize to them, and you pay the Villattesfor the cost of the birds that were killed and some compensation to make it clear that you’re sincere. Then you apologize to Maurice and Sophie for the grief and guilt you have caused them. Maybe you should spend a day at each farm to see what they do and how they do it. I don’t care if you remain a member of your animal rights group, but you should know what you’re talking about.”
    “How does that fix things? I’m still going to be