Page 15

As fascinating as the cave bear was, Steph knew that she could not spend all day admiring its size and presence. She had a job to do. Two jobs, in theory. The one Kelvin had hired her for and her own (she was still shaping that one). Either way for both jobs, she felt it best to make use of Davey’s knowledge of the place. She might not like the man, but she would definitely need to converse with him.

She wanted to see the beavers and discover how their handiwork had shaped the environment. They had dammed the river creating a small pond which acted as a bit of a drinking hub for some of the animals. Davey seemed pleased to point out that the original pair had successfully bred. Then he mentioned some trivia about the fur trade in the past. Steph was not sure why he felt the need to bring the fur trade up but listened anyway.

She continued to make notes and ask questions. Davey was knowledgeable about what he had seen in terms of the behaviour of the animals and of what had gone on inside the fences. However, his answers suggested that he lacked any prior academic grounding. His knowledge came from his own observations alone.

“The light is starting to fade,”

Davey pointed out.

“Fine,”

Steph sighed.

“I shall have to come out tomorrow anyway. More than that is needed really, but I will do a couple of days and then regroup.”

“For what?”

“What?”

“Regroup for what?”

Davey said, widening his eyes and spreading his hands.

“To figure out what I need to do next to find out what is effective and what isn’t, and what that might even entail considering the mishmash of animals and the territory, for that matter.”

“And work out how secure the fences are?”

Steph paused for a moment.

“I saw you looking constantly into the distance whenever you assumed we were nearing the perimeter,”

Davey continued.

Steph paused a moment longer, opened her mouth slightly and then chose to ignore the bait. In her head, she questioned whether an animal could have escaped the fences unaided. They seemed secure.

“Like I said, you can knock yourself out on that front,”

Davey said, bending down to tie his laces whilst keeping a wary eye scanning the area around them.

“Maybe you can ask Michael to take you around the perimeter tomorrow.”

“I don’t need that,”

Steph replied.

“Sure.”

“I don’t! What use would it be to me?”

“I know that the fences were all intact after what happened to that boy. Maybe that’s of use to you.”

Steph chose to ignore him. She wouldn’t be goaded. Even so, if the animal that killed the boy – and Steph was pretty certain that it was an animal – had not come from the compound, where had it come from?

The pair walked for a little longer. Steph made mental notes of the track they were taking and the surrounding vegetation. The light was really starting to disappear now. If it was not to provide a slow acclimatisation to the light levels, Steph would have been tempted to pull out her torch.

Steph was about to ask who chipped the animals, when she noticed a light up ahead.

“What’s that?”

“What’s what?”

replied Davey.

“That! That light up ahead?”

“Oh, that. That’s one of the cabins.”

“Ah, yes… the cabins,”

Steph said, frowning.

“Yeah, Kelvin has paid people to live in the cabins,”

Davey said.

“Not quite sure how he advertised it exactly. Essentially you’re looking for a certain type of person who is willing to give up their life for an extended period of time.”

“What type?”

“Generally not the best type. They’re all right though. They’re just people. Roger’s OK.”

“And this is to help prove animals and people can learn to live amongst each other again?”

“That’s what I have been told. If they can live here and not die, I suppose it’s a reasonable green light for any leisure venture with the whole thing.”

Steph supposed that was one way of checking safety. A risky one, but a straight-to-the-point test that was in line with what she understood of Kelvin.

“So the people just live out here in the cabins?”

“There are only four of them,”

Davey replied.

“Occupied by single men. Well, as far as I am aware they are single.”

“And are there fences around the cabins?”

“Nope.”

“Is that wise?”

“In my opinion? No. However, they get paid very well to do it. It’s interesting to see at what monetary figure people will start taking risks with their lives. That said, I am not sure they fully appreciate the danger they’re in.”

Steph stopped. Davey continued walking for a few steps before stopping himself, exhaling loudly through his nose and turning to look at her.

“They are briefed, aren’t they?”

Steph asked.

“There are enough ethical problems as it is without Kelvin putting that on himself!”

“Oh, they’re briefed all right. It’s just that I doubt they fully appreciate the brief. They must last a year and in exchange, they are paid handsomely.”

“How handsomely?”

“As I said, enough for them to become more liberal with their life.”

“What do you mean by ‘a year’?”

Steph asked, deciding to walk again. Davey fell into step.

“Well, although this place has been running a while, you have to think how hush-hush things have been.”

“I don’t get you?”

Steph replied.

“You’re in a giant fenced-off area in rural Scotland. It is hardly covert.”

“Yes, I know that, but Kelvin is very good at keeping things reasonably quiet. Besides, when was the first time you heard about us?”

Steph thought about this. Maybe a month or so ago. That was when she’d heard of the death.

Davey took her thoughtful silence as a concession to his point.

“Exactly, and you’re someone who actively looks for this kind of thing. The average person doesn’t really give a shit what goes on in the wilds of Scotland. Sure, things are a little more interesting now, but who is going to believe that there is anything massively strange happening here? People tend to shy away from the strange and hard to explain. I know you make a living off it, but I imagine it is a niche living.”

Steph was about to protest when they heard a long howl a few hundred yards behind them. Davey froze. Steph mirrored his concern.

“Fuck!”

Davey hissed.

“What’s the problem?”

Steph asked. She had dealt with wolves in the wild before. It was not exactly ideal being caught out with them, but they had what they needed to keep themselves safe.

“We need to run,”

Davey hissed, grabbing Steph by the arm and pulling her forward before breaking into a jog.

“Run where?”

“The cabin!”

“But I don’t see what the issue is; running will only encourage them!”

There were more howls now. They were coming from the surrounding trees. They were getting closer. It was as if they were surrounding them.

“You have to remember that these are not wolves in an ordinary environment!”

Davey panted.

“These doggies are hungry! Very hungry!”

Steph chased after Davey towards the entrance of the cabin where warm lighting flowed from the windows on either side of the door. Davey hammered on the door and then turned around. Steph looked over her shoulder. The howling was getting more excitable but there were still no shapes amongst the trees.

The door opened.

“Oh, it’s you. What are you knocking fo… hey!”

Davey pushed the man back inside. Steph once again found his hand upon her arm, pulling her in. He then slammed the door behind them all.

“What’s all this about?”

asked a man who, to Steph’s astonishment, did not look as surprised by the intrusion as she expected one would when two people barged into their home.

Davey put a finger to his lips. They listened. There was another howl. It was close. It sounded right outside the door. In the quiet, Steph was sure that she could hear the padding of numerous paws in the dirt around the house outside.

“Ah, I see,”

said the man, rolling his eyes.

“You’d best come in then… or at least sit down seeing as you’re already in. Come on!”

Davey gave the man an apologetic shrug as he followed him towards a large sofa where a book was opened face-down to keep the pages the man had been reading.