He nodded. “Like to take a nap?” He looked concerned.
For answer, I shuffled past him, dropped onto the mattress, and stretched out, facedown.
“Like it?”
“Too hard.”
“Not for a bowman.” He slid his full length down beside me.
I looked up. “Did you hear what happened to the bowman?”
“No. What?”
“He got fired.”
“Why?”
“He was caught knapping.” I giggled.
My reward was a quick smack on the butt. Next thing he knew, I had him pinned to the mattress in a hammerlock.
“Hey! I thought you were convalescing?”
“You should see what I’ll do to you when I’m fit.”
“I’d like to.” He grinned.
“Good-day,” said the Scarecrow, in a rather husky voice.
“Did you speak?” asked the girl, in wonder.
“Certainly,” answered the Scarecrow; “how do you do?”
“I’m pretty well, thank you,” replied Dorothy, politely; “how do you do?”
“I’m not feeling well,” said the Scarecrow, with a smile, “for it is very tedious being perched up here night and day to scare away crows.”
“Can’t you get down?” asked Dorothy.
“No, for this pole is stuck up my back. If you will please take away the pole, I shall be greatly obliged to you.”
Dorothy reached up both arms and lifted the figure off the pole; for, being stuffed with straw, it was quite light.
“Thank you very much,” said the Scarecrow, when he had been set down on the ground. “I feel like a new man.”
—from The Wizard of Oz
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As always, I am deeply grateful to my editor, Ruth Cavin; to my agent, Laura Langlie; to my doctor-husband, Bob; to my daughters, Julie and Anne, and my son-in-law, Jason, for their tireless help and loyal support.
The idea for Jo Banks, the motel doctor, came to me one evening at the kitchen table while talking to Bob over a few beers. She began to really come to life as the foam settled on the third (or was it the fourth?). I don’t usually resort to drink for inspiration, but every now and then it activates those tired brain cells, loosens those creative juices. Hey, now they even say beer is good for your health! A beer a day keeps the doctor away? Well, not in this case. In this case, the beer brought the doctor right to my door.
Jo Banks and Andrew Fenimore, the hero of my other series, are both in the medical profession, but they are very different. Fenimore, a middle-aged cardiologist of the old school, practices solo from his townhouse in Philadelphia and still makes house calls. On his days off, instead of heading for the golf course, he solves crimes. Jo, a modern, twenty-something family practitioner, provides medical services to motel guests and employees—most motels have a doctor on call—and makes her doctor visits on a motorcycle. If a crime happens to come her way, which it often does, she is more than happy to tackle it.
Besides sleuthing, these two doctors have something else in common: They both prize their independence and refuse to become slaves to “the establishment.”
I hope you’ll enjoy Dr. Banks as much as Dr. Fenimore. Who knows, maybe one day their paths will cross! At a medical convention, perhaps? What a perfect spot for a murder. They may even compete to see who solves the crime first. (Always thinking!)
ALSO BY ROBIN HATHAWAY
The Doctor Digs a Grave
The Doctor Makes a Dollhouse Call
The Doctor and the Dead Man’s Chest
SCARECROW. Copyright © 2003 by Robin Hathaway. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Book design by Nick Wunder
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hathaway, Robin.
Scarecrow / Robin Hathaway.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-312-30851-5
1. Women physicians—Fiction. 2. Migrant agricultural laborers—Crimes against—Fiction. 3. New Jersey—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3558.A7475 S28 2003
813’.54—dc21
2002024532
First Edition: April 2003
eISBN 9780312290368
First eBook Edition : February 2012
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