Gentlemen, I do hope you don’t mind me coming round this late but I had a strong feeling you were going to call on me and as I was in the area decided to pre-empt you.”

“Well bless my soul, Miss Ginny, how extraordinary. Do take a seat. Tea?”

“Thank you.”

“Syd?” 

“On it Chief.”

“It’s true, I was planning on calling on you but not until tomorrow but as you’re here…”

“You have a problem, yes?”

Sam then explained his evening and the characters involved and Ginny listened. When he got to the subject of ‘the white one’ she smiled though it was a nervous smile.

“Oh,” She said, very softly.

“You know what they were referring to?”

“Well,” she said. “I do know of ‘a white one’ but it may not be the same thing. In fact it would be better if it wasn’t.” 

“Riddles, Miss Ginny?”

“It’s Ginny and no, I’m not talking in riddles but if our white ones are one and the same thing then it will mean big trouble. I must tell you something I had hoped could have been kept till later but it would seem that the time is now. You see, we don’t just have one dragon, Big Red, on the island just off our coast but two.”

Ginny proceeded to relate to the assembled how it came about that a rare white dragon, injured in combat, was rescued and its wounds attended to and a home found for it and this home was on an island in the middle of a lake not very far from here. It was hoped that the location of this island be kept secret, for now at least, to give the dragon time to recover enough to decide for itself its immediate future, unhindered by humans.

“And if we have a dragon hunt on our hands which is not only illegal but extremely dangerous then we are really in a spot.” Sam said as soon as Ginny had finished.

“Of course, it may not be the same ‘white one’, though I think it unlikely there are two identical items attracting this much interest.”

“Thank you, Ginny, So then, plan of action, do I take it you know the location of this inland lake and island.”

“Yes and I think I need to get there at once. I'll give you the directions which should put you on the right track to lead to the would be hunters. But I must get there first because if our white one is spooked it could be disastrous.” Then she was gone.

Sam turned to his lads and remarked.

“I’d almost swear that lass just vanishes before our eyes, she moves so fast. Right lads, to work. Rock-son-of-Hud, you take Syd with you and I’ll take Archid here and we’ll fan out and remember, two of our hunters are not a big problem, they are small fry, but the other two, identities not known to us, could prove to be another matter.  

“Wouldn’t it have been better leaving this till the morning, I mean, we can’t see much in the dark.”

“Ike, Ike, trust me, I know what I’m doing and, more importantly, where I’m going, er, we’re going and besides, we have a good clear moon tonight.”

The two would-be hunters had set off on their search virtually straight after leaving the Inn, making one stop off to collect some equipment Zeke said was essential. He was by far the most confident of the pair, convinced they were going to make their fortune at last. In his mind the right buyer would pay them riches beyond their wildest dreams to own a Supreme Great White and he was sure this is what he had located. His accomplice was less confident having experienced his friend’s many wild certainties in the past. But, Ike was a loyal friend and would do anything for Zeke, even if the latter didn’t always act as if he was aware of this. Such loyalty is quite rare.

“What was that?” Ike caught his partner’s arm as he turned to look if there was anything behind them.

“Ike, Ike, it’s night time, there are many sounds of the night. If you’re going to be spooked by everything you hear you’ll die of sheer fright. Now come on, keep moving, we can't be far away now, just a bit further.”

 Ike was less confident now than when he’d started and he knew the sounds of the night and what he thought he heard was not one of them.

“I hope you’re right, Zeke, I really do.”

“Honestly, Ike, you act like an old woman at times. I don’t know why I brought you.” 

Yes, Zeke was not the most thoughtful and considerate person Ike had ever met. Yet, he was his friend. The two moved on, making their way slowly through tall grass and bushes before they felt the terrain was changing and they were beginning to rise. They had encountered the hills. They were on the right track alright. They would soon reach the valley and then the lake.

Sam Childs stopped and signalled Archid to do the same. He listened. “Duh hear that, Archid?”

“I heard it, Chief. Came from just up ahead aways and slightly to the right.”

“And?”

“A struggle.”

It took the two Wardens just five minutes to reach the spot where they heard the sounds of a struggle emanate from. They found two bodies sprawled out on the side of the rough path. It didn’t look good. On examination one of the bodies was past all caring now but the other, that of Ike Breed, petty thief, was still breathing although in a very laboured way. He was severely injured, beaten about the head and had lost a lot of blood. Sam was wishing he had Ginny and her skills here right now. He did his best to make Ike comfortable while Archid kept watch. 

“They, they came at us like wild animals, we didn’t stand a chance. H-how’s Zeke, only he went down first. I-I tried to help him but the other one was far too big and powerful and did for me before I got a punch in.”

“How many were there, Ike?”

“It felt like an army but there were only two, two savage brutes. Snarling all the time they was. So, how is Zeke, he my friend you know?”

“I’m sorry, Ike, Zeke has had his last adventure.”

Ike looked away briefly and let out a quiet “Oh.” Then he turned his head back to look at Sam and said in a very low voice, almost a whisper, “It had to happen one day, I knew it, but he’d never listen to me, called me an old woman for worrying so much.”

“Why did you stick with him then?”

“He, he was my friend, that’s why. He needed me, he needed to talk about his plans to someone. Who else was there? He needed me.” His voice trailed off and he slipped into unconsciousness. According to Sam’s experience Ike would survive the physical ordeal but he didn’t know about the loss.

In a matter of minutes Rock-son-of-Hud and Syd joined Sam and Archid, having picked up the trail of the ‘mystery two’ leading them to here.  

“Good timing you two. We were too late for Bridger but Breed is alive. He really ought to be taken back to town.”

“I’ll see to that, Chief,” offered Syd. “You have enough muscle without me.”

“So be it, Syd, take good care of him and we’ll see you in a while.”

“On it, Chief.”

“A word, Chief,” It was Rock-son-of-Hud and he looked worried.

“What is?”

“While we were following the trail it changed. I didn’t think too much about it until I noticed it had changed again.”

“What are you talking about, ‘it changed.’?” 

“One minute we were tracking two men then the next, we were following non-men.”

“Non-men? What are you talking about?”

“The tracks we followed were a mixture of human and beast.”

Sam knew his second in command well and when he said something like this he knew they were up against someone or something he didn’t understand but that demanded utter caution. He gave Rock-son-of-Hud a questioning look but saw that his fellow Warden was being deadly serious.

“Okay, let’s move on and the pair of you, stay sharp.”