‘Ere, ‘ave yuh ‘eard, yon Seth has ‘ad three more cows slaughtered. ‘Appened overnight they tells me?’

Business was beginning to liven up in the Inn and Old Mac was sharing the latest news with Landlord Tobias.

‘That’ll be the third this week,’ Said another regular at the bar. ‘It’s becoming a bit of a botherance. What’s Wardens doin’ ‘bout it, that’s what I wanna know?’

‘An them with new recruits too.’ Said another.

Before long the comments became a heated discussion and unrest began to grow among the drinkers. Tobias decided it had gone far enough. He didn’t mind the odd argument, even a bit of physical stuff, maybe a touch of blood and hair but this was beginning to get a bit too ugly and there was little worse than an ugly booze fuelled crowd because that crowd soon turned into a mob. That was definitely not good for business. It would hit sales dramatically, which made him sad.

‘Come on lads, I am sure old Max and his team are on it as I speak, now, what’ll it be, same again?’ There it was, that magic formular of old, the offer of a free drink. At least that’s how the regulars heard it. All heated discussion ended abruptly as everyone in the place scrambled for a place at the bar.

Max, Jay and Galen were in the southeast field of Farmer Seth Hays property, examining three carcasses that were once livestock. 

‘Ah just come out in the mornin’ and there they were, just as yuh see ‘em torn to shreds. Who could do such a thing, for what reason?’ Seth was of good old fashioned farm stock himself, no nonsense, straight talking, stoic, but this had clearly shaken him by its sheer wanton destructiveness.

‘You didn't hear anything during the night, I supposed?’ Asked Max, already having a very good idea as to what the answer would be.

‘Like I said, I come out in the mornin’ an’ there they were, what’s left on ‘em.’

‘Well thank you Seth, try not to worry yourself too much about it.’ Max could have bitten his own tongue off for this crass remark. ‘We’ll do our best to look into this for you but I have to say, we don’t have much to go on. Leave it with us anyway, we’ll be in touch.’ With that the three Wardens quickly left.

‘What do you make of that, lads?’ Said Max when they were far enough away from the farm.

‘I think you know,’ Responded Jay.

‘I was just checking.’

‘What’s next?’ Asked Galen.

‘Gwen needs to know.’ Before these words had time to leave Max’s mouth a piercing scream was heard by all.

‘Sounds like that came from the Settlement!’

They arrived back at the Settlement to find a group of Peeps gathered together obviously watching something. When Max, Jay and Galen managed to get through they discovered Gwen kneeling down, administering first aid to a young woman who had apparently fainted whilst out visiting a friend.

‘Okay, okay, stand back please, give the lady room to breathe,’ Said Max. He knelt down beside the two women and asked Gwen quietly what had happened.

‘Let’s get her home first,’ said Gwen, ‘then I’ll tell you. Too many ears here.’ 

After it was clear they were not going to hear or see anything else the crowd dispersed and the young lady was escorted to her home and once settled there they moved off to Gwen’s abode where Gwen related to Max, Jay, Galen and Merv what the woman had told her.

‘While on her way to visit a friend the woman felt she was being followed and heard a strange scuffling noise behind, when she turned to look she was confronted by a hideous black creature, which shuffled in a stooped manner. Its eyes were glowing red and it had sharp yellow-ish fangs. These were the details of what she saw before she passed out. You do know what this means?’

‘They’ve crossed the river.’ Said Max.

‘The PUKA?’ Asked Jay.

‘The same,’ affirmed Gwen.

‘They haven’t taken long,’ Added Merv.

‘Oh, I feel that this was more a scouting exercise than an attack. Besides, on their own they are cowardly, they need numbers, no, it was sizing us up, I feel.’ Gwen could rely on her feelings. ‘What do you plan to do first, Max?’ She asked.

‘Well, I reckon first I ought to inform the Council of our findings, see what they have to say, though I don’t expect much. More likely they will ask me what I intend to do about it, which is fair enough as I am the representative of the law, responsible for the safety of the people.’ 

‘And when they’ve passed on their wise assessment may I respectfully suggest to come straight back here, Max, and we will discuss the matter in detail. This is no ordinary group of miscreants we’re facing and we all require some serious, careful preparation.’

‘Agreed.’

It doesn’t matter how well a secret is kept, word will find a way to get around especially in a close knit community like Windy Ho. The Beast was soon the number one talking point of the place, and like all good stories that get around it gained embellishment. By the third day it was ten metres tall, had six arms and four legs and was covered head to feet in huge hairy scales. It did manage to retain just the one head.

Madam Gwen’s home had been a hive of activity during those three days by the end of which the team were as ready as they could be, having been kitted out by their host with what she thought they needed and that she could provide. One plainly visible piece of equipment was a shield. Each carried one, round and covered in fist size discs, having the appearance of pearl shells, each shell sported an array of tiny pyramid shapes. Each also carried a sword that had been dipped in a solution of Gwen’s own recipe. She had been very busy those three days. Even their clothes and helmets had been immersed in the same liquid their swords had. All that she said about these was that they would afford them some protection and that was all they needed to know for now. Until she returned. Gwen had left them in order to make an important journey but while they were based in her home they remained safe enough. She had promised not to be long.

As for Max, he’d been busy trying to persuade the Council to accept a) the situation and that he and his team were on top of it and b) the three Sneep be sworn in as his honorary Wardens. He’d threatened to resign three times and even done so once before he got a grudging acceptance of his ideas.

 Everything was ready, everyone was ready, all on high alert, ready for anything but, nothing happened. There were no more instances of livestock slaughter, no sightings of anything out of the ordinary, the ultimate anticlimax. Max and his team were tiring from being so hyped up for so long and no action.  

The people of Windy Ho were slowly getting back to their normal routines as the emergency seemed to be under control, maybe even over. Even the Council were beginning to relax, so much so that they were now questioning the whole affair. Had they overreacted to the ravings of an hysterical female, it wouldn’t be the first time. Maybe they should instruct their Head Warden to stand down and even dispense with the services of those Sneep boys.

The farming community weren’t so sure though. They had noted a definite unseasonal drop in temperature over the past few days, their livestock were restless and there was an odd sort of un-weather-like cloud over The Hill that overlooked Windy Ho on its far south-easterly border. In response to this Max decided to do a little investigating while Gwen was away, it wouldn’t do any harm just to go see. With him he took Jay and Merv, all carrying the equipment Gwen had provided them with. just in case. They were playing safe. The three set out for The Hill but as they approached the foot of the slope they noticed movement roughly half way up.

‘What the…!’ Exclaimed Max.

‘What do they think they are doing?’ Said Jay

Merv was silent, scanning around with his eyes for any other signs of movement.

There, stumbling among the scree up The Hill were four figures that  Max could make out to be four Councillors. At first he thought they were showing a bit of initiative for a change but then he realised that what they were doing was foolhardy to say the least, they had no idea what they were up against and so had no preparation and were not equipped for any emergency as far as he could see. 

What happened next happened too quickly for any of them to register quite what it was they were seeing. From out of nowhere a group of dark shapes fell upon the Councillors and there were arms and legs flailing about wildly in an attempt at defence, panic stricken voices shouting and then screaming and then, in the next instant there appeared a huge winged creature that immediately scattered the dark shapes, leaving the Councillors free to turn and run, or rather tumble down the slope. Everything was over in seconds and left Max, Jay and Merv staring up into empty space where seconds before there had been a mad frenzy of action.  

‘Did you see what I just saw then?’Asked Merv.

‘What did you see?’ Asked Max.

‘I don’t really know?’ Replied Merv.

‘Likewise!’ Uttered Max and Jay in unison.

‘Come on, lads, better get these gents to safety,’ said Max, pointing to the four figures that had ended up at their feet. ‘Gwen will be able to explain things when she gets back.’ 

The four councillors were in a terrible state of shock and couldn’t make much sense when their fellows questioned them, just stared straight ahead, faces a white as snow. Max and co. were not forthcoming either with information, just that they had heard that someone was climbing The Hill and decided to investigate. When they reached them this is how they were. It was thought better not to say too much until Madam Gwen had been informed.

Back at The Igloo, as they now called Gwen’s home they found the lady in question was still absent so they returned to the Wardens’ Station to check if they had any messages and also to see how the two young recruits were getting along with the tasks they had been allotted. After all, they had been away for quite a while. The Station was in a strange state, it was tidy. Matt and Marc had been busy cleaning the place up and organising the paperwork into neat piles and each pile labelled. This meant that Max initially couldn't find anything. But, he did praise the youngsters on their efforts by way of encouragement. He was still reluctant to give them any tasks connected to this present emergency though, prefering to keep them away from it if possible. He may have to change his mind on this later. All was strangely quiet that week and Gwen had still not returned, this was the longest she had been away and the team were getting concerned. It was on the third night after the team had returned to their Station and they were just preparing their meal when there was a faint tapping on the door. Young Marc opened the door and received a shock for standing there, looking like she’d been run over by a cart and then dragged through a hedge, was the bedraggled figure of Madam Gwen. Quickly they found her a chair and Marc went and got her a drink.

‘Gwen, where have you been, what happened to you, you look awful.’  

‘I’ll be okay, boys, once I get my breath back.’

‘You’ve been running.’ Commented Jay.

‘Lads, lads, please let Gwen get her breath back like she said. All will be made clear in good time, I am sure.’ Max was the first to recover from the shock but his team were soon fussing around Gwen like she was their own mother and he was very proud of them. He’d got a really good team at last, just what he’d always wanted and it made him feel good. They waited patiently for Gwen to recover fully which didn’t take long. They waited for her to speak first.

‘I hadn’t intended to be away for long but things happened, you know how it is  when you go visiting.’ She eventually said, in a quiet apologetic voice.

‘I don’t think any of us go visiting quite like you appear to do. Our visits are usually social. Yours does not have the marks of a social visit, if you don’t mind me saying. In fact your marks have the opposite effect. And while I’m at it, what did you do to your arm, Why the bandage?’

‘Oh, that, it’s nothing, don’t fuss so.’

‘Gwen, we are all absolutely straight with one another here, our lives depend on it.’

She looked down at the floor and for a short while not speaking, as if in deep thought. Eventually she raised her head and, looking directly at Max said, almost in a whisper.

‘I am very sorry my friends but I cannot tell you everything at this point, I really can’t but I can assure you that I have the very best interests of you and the Settlement at heart and am doing everything I possibly can to that end. Please believe me when I say I cannot tell you everything right now, you must.

There was silence in the room, each with their own thoughts, each wondering whatever can she mean by this. Max was the one to break the silence.

‘Gwen, I am sure you have your reasons and that they are very good ones for not telling us everything. I am disappointed that you see the need to be secretive but this doesn’t change anything for me. We, the Settlement, us, are still in mortal danger and we need each other. I am equally sure that when the time is right you will tell us what we need to know. I think I speak for all of us?’ 

Max looked at each one of his team in turn looking for any signs of doubt. He saw none.