"Marvellous beef Helen!"

"Thank you."

"Should be enforced by law!" Siegfried declared, reaching for his napkin. "If I had my way I wouldn't treat a horse that hadn't been immunised."

"Well that would be the ideal thing but I can't see it happening." James replied. "Not in the foreseeable future anyway."

"Why on Earth not, James?"

"Well, ignorance, apathy. I don't suppose one person in a thousand recognises the dangers and after all, they are pretty remote!"

"Not good enough James," Siegfried said empathetically. "If an avoidable risk to human life exists it should be eliminated."

"How?" Tristan put in.

"Well simply by educating the public! I mean everybody takes vaccinations for Smallpox for granted…"

"Oh, come off it Siegfried, it's not the same thing at all! You're never going to get an outbreak of tetanus!"

Siegfried was about to reply when the phone in the hall rang shrilly. Tristan jumped up, dropped his napkin on the table and went to answer it. Devoid of his brother for an audience Siegfried turned again to his partner and his partner's wife.

"But the individual risk does remain! I mean, as vets we're protected and we get our anti-tetanus injections as a matter of course." James nodded in agreement. "But take that fellow Myatt for example. He might have cut that wound out himself; nicked himself just as Tristan did and he wouldn't have given it another thought because he was ignorant of the consequences. Chances are he'd be dead in a month."

Helen frowned.

"Do you think you should speak to him about it? Next time you go up there?"

"Oh I did." James replied. "He said he'd been inoculated a couple of years ago when he caught himself on some barbed wire."

"Well that's all right then-ah, Tristan. Who was that?"

"Our beloved benefactor!" The youth answered, swinging back down into his seat.

"Mrs Pumfrey?"

"Who else? She seems to have had a nasty dream about Tricky Woo, wants to come down tomorrow to check on him. I told her that would be fine, you don't mind Helen?"

"Oh no, of course not! I really do think Tricky looks forward to seeing her too you know."

"That dog must be the most spoiled animal in all of Yorkshire!" Siegfried said.

"Well he's not exactly being fed champagne and truffles now Siegfried." James said.

"No, but I can't think of any animal with a more devoted nurse! I'm sure many humans don't get as much care and attention when they're sick."

"I know I don't." muttered Tristan, spearing the last of his beef.

"Hush Tris," Helen reproved. "Thank you for the compliment Siegfried. I'm sure Tricky will continue to improve and he'll be back to his mistress before too long."

Mrs Hall came in just then to clear the table and the family split their separate ways, Helen to the kitchen with Mrs Hall, Siegfried to the armchair by the fire, James to the surgery to finish dispensing the medicines and Tristan to the drinks cabinet, before a stern look from Siegfried sent him off to the hall instead. He pulled on his coat and wandered out to find a pint.

The next few days continued smoothly, Helen discovered the mystery of the locked room and Tristan resolved to uncover it. James had an accident with a budgie and had to find an emergency replacement and Siegfried spent six hours in a frozen field helping a horse who'd managed to get his head jammed through some railings. Despite the workload Siegfried was still in the Christmas mood, eventually dragging the other men of the household out to find a suitable tree. An adventure that ended with a last minute intervention for a very sick little donkey foal and a more subdued ride back home than anticipated.

"Tetanus!" Siegfried fumed as he drove the car down the winding road. "So easy to prevent! Just one little injection."

"Come on Siegfried, they're gypsies! Besides, the poor things only a few weeks old. They wouldn't have had time to get it inoculated." Tristan said.

"That's still no excuse! What about their other animals then? The horses and the pony? Mark my words, they won't have been inoculated either! It's a crying shame, waste of a good animal out of sheer negligence."

Tristan decided not to risk his brother's wrath further. He shifted the dog on his lap and rubbed at his neck. This car was certainly not big enough for three grown men and a dog, he mused. They couldn't have left him behind? Christmas was delightfully festive and yes, he did understand why Siegfried was so determined to make this one special, but it was still dammably cold out here, and the donkey detour hadn't helped. He surreptitiously edged the dog over to James, who shot him an unamused glare but didn't say anything and rubbed his neck again. Yes, he definitely needed a pint or two to take the cold out of his bones.

They arrived back home just in time to see Helen struggling with the door. James immediately leapt out to come to her assistance, gallantly taking one of the bags and opening the door while the two brothers went to unload the tree.

"Dash it all Tristan! Will you untie that rope!"

"What? Oh, right."

"Heavens boy, you away with the fairies? Come on; put your back into it!"

"I'm trying Siegfried! You know, you could take some of the weight too!"

"I'm doing my fair share, which is more than I can say about some layabouts!"

"Layabout? I work hard enough Siegfried!"

"Putting away pints perhaps."

Tristan scowled, the exchange getting to him more than usual. He gritted his teeth and hauled the tree through the front door at last. Couldn't Siegfried ever lay off? No, apparently not.

"Now go and get the holly Tristan. Hurry for goodness sakes, I'm sure Mrs Hall doesn't appreciate having the front door left hanging open! It's freezing!"

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Tristan said in annoyance as he fetched the holly. "Seemed like a balmy summer morning to me."

"Don't be flippant Tristan, there's a good chap." Siegfried took the holly and vanished into the living room with it. Tristan pulled off his coat and followed him. James and Helen were just standing the tree against the wall.

"It's marvellous Siegfried!" Helen beamed, "We'll have to decorate it properly."

"Of course my dear! Of course we will! But first I think we could all do with some tea. It's punishingly cold out there today."

"Oh that sounds lovely, I'll go put the kettle on shall I?"

"My dear Helen, what would we do without you?"

"I haven't a clue." James said, looking at his wife tenderly. She smiled prettily back at him and moved off to the kitchen. The phone called shrilly from the hall. All three looked at each other. Siegfried leaned out and glanced into the hall.

"Hmmm, I believe little brother, that you are on emergency call outs tonight."

Tristan glared but couldn't be bothered to argue. He stumped off to the hall and lifted the receiver.

"Darrowby veterinary surgery, how can I help?"

James sank down onto the battered old sofa and sighed in appreciation at his hot cup of tea. Siegfried reclined opposite him and Helen settled down beside him. All was well. Tristan poked his head through the door.

"That was Mr Marsher; he's got a pig with a bad leg. I'm going up now." He withdrew, collected his bag and headed out grumpily.

"Well, Tristan's in a mood anyway." Helen commented. "What have you been doing to him?"

"Oh, nothing in particular. He does get unreasonably moody at times I find. Leave him alone, he'll get over it."

Three hours later Tristan returned, bruised and covered in mud. Siegfried watched him in amusement as he dropped off his bag and coat and headed upstairs to bathe. He returned shortly, still bruised but sans mud and made a bee line for the drinks cabinet. Siegfried decided against commenting. Particularly when Tristan brought him over a whisky as well. His little brother slumped in the chair opposite and stared morosely into the amber liquid.

"Pigs. Why do I always get the pigs?"

"You have an inherent talent with porcines perhaps?"

"Hah. Inherent talent for ending up with the worst jobs perhaps. Bloody thing was about the size of a cow and bad tempered to boot."

"Watch your language Tris."

"Sorry. Where are the happily married couple anyway?"

"James got a call out to Witherby's. His cat's having complications. I think Helen went up to their rooms."

"Oh."

"Are you actually going to drink that Tristan or are you just admiring it?"

"Hmm. Oh right." He took a sip and swallowed. Then put it down and stretched. "Bother it, I'm exhausted. I'm going to bed and praying that the rest of the animals in Darrowby manage the night with no further problems."

"Goodnight Tris."

"Goodnight Siegfried."