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Davey drove with Daniel; Steph followed behind with Roger. She had never driven a vehicle quite like it. It was like driving an oversized go-kart. At the house, they were met by Kelvin and Martina. It was Martina and Roger who helped Daniel inside, who was moaning quietly as he hopped on one leg using the other two as crutches.

Davey wanted to know how Michael was getting on. Kelvin waved a hand dismissively that he was doing something or other but had delivered Thomas and Calum (the other cabin dwellers) safely to the house.

A little while later, Kelvin was sitting in the lounge area with a newly returned Michael, Davey, Martina and Steph. Daniel was up in his room recovering having been treated by Martina. Her father had been a vet, so she said she knew how to stitch well enough. Daniel didn’t question her ability. Although, it could have been the gulps of whiskey Roger had encouraged him to have that held his tongue.

Steph looked at Kelvin. He was staring straight-ahead at a picture of three bear cubs on the wall. Eventually, he spoke.

“So what did you find?”

“Well as you know, we didn’t find the rest of Fergus,”

Davey said.

“We did look but… Roger seems in reasonable spirits though, given the circumstances.”

“Money will do that,”

Kelvin replied, still looking at the bear cubs.

“What about yours, Michael?”

“My what?”

“Your two whom you picked up. What did you tell them? How much do they know?”

“Well,”

Michael said, turning out his palms.

“They know that Fergus was killed by one of the animals although they don’t know which. They are a little shaken I suppose but coping.”

“Coping?”

Kelvin turned his head around at Michael.

“At the loss of a friend. No. Acquaintance is how they put it.”

“But no calls to drop out of the study?”

Kelvin asked.

“We’re calling it a study now? Nope. If anything, they seem reassured by being moved into the house so quickly and that you’re looking for the delinquent animal. Again, their words, not mine.”

Kelvin nodded to himself.

“Yes,”

he said slowly.

“Yes, tell them we found the animal. Maybe hunt one of the bears. It might not be such a bad thing for them to see it coming into the compound.”

Michael nodded. Steph was not sure what she was hearing.

“Why would you need to lie to them?”

Steph asked.

“Surely, they have a right to know the truth. Besides, we can’t carry on with the cave lion running loose.”

Martina snorted and rolled her eyes.

Kelvin turned slowly to Steph, studying her. Steph was not sure whether to continue talking. A part of her told her it would weaken her position, whatever that was.

“I have heard from Daniel,”

Kelvin said slowly.

“About what happened. However, I would like to hear from you what you believe happened. As well as your thoughts on what is going on out there thus far.”

He pressed his fingers together and leaned back, his eyes not wavering from Steph’s face with his unnerving gaze.

Steph looked momentarily away and then turned her head back, and trying to match his tone said,

“I believe that the lion had been studying Fergus and his movements for a while before it made its move. Maybe days.”

Martina laughed.

“It is an animal. Yes, it probably knows how to hunt but it is reactive, not proactive!”

Steph ignored her. It gave her great satisfaction to see Kelvin do the same.

“The attack was too well-timed and too perfectly executed for the lion not to have done some learning before. It waited on the roof and must have got Fergus as he came back in through his doorway.”

Steph then had a thought.

“Did Fergus ever say anything about noises on his roof recently?”

Kelvin shook his head but Davey suddenly piped in.

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

Kelvin asked, his head cracking in its new direction.

“Well, sort of. He mentioned a few days ago that his roof tiles might need seeing to, as he thought he heard them banging slightly the other night when it was windy. He assumed they might have come loose. That was all.”

“That doesn’t prove something was on his roof!”

Martina sneered.

“Fergus might have been right. It was windy, so who is to say it wasn’t roof tiles?”

“Look,”

Steph snapped.

“All I’m saying is what I think. If you think differently then I don’t really give a shit!”

Martina laughed.

“And what about the other animals… from what you have seen?”

Kelvin asked, still very calm.

“From early observations, I think it’s a mess,”

Steph said.

“There seem to be too many big predators out there, territories are overlapping horribly, the behaviour of the animals appears verging on desperate – probably what encouraged the cave lion – and there will be more trouble before there is a balance. I would assume there will be killing between the animals until an equilibrium is found.”

“Just give them more food, then there’s no issue,”

Martina said, looking out the window.

Steph watched Kelvin closely. His eyes turned to the ceiling slightly. He took a deep inhale through his nose, held it, then noisily released it.

“I do believe you are right, Steph,”

Kelvin said, quite deliberately.

Steph had not expected this. From the reactions of the others, neither had they. Martina silently seethed.

“We cannot leave the cave lion out there,”

Kelvin continued.

“What do you mean?”

Martina snapped.

“That animal took ages to create! It is far too valuable to be just wiped out!”

“A man has lost his life!”

Steph snapped back.

“A stupid man who did not take enough care of himself and who knew the risks anyway; he signed the papers. He knew!”

“Enough,”

said Kelvin, barely raising his voice.

“We move the cave lion to the nursery facility before the police come. As for Fergus… any animal could have got him. In this case, I think it was a bear.”

There was silence. Martina allowed her shoulders to sag slightly as she sat back. Her scowl eased.

“You can’t do that!”

Steph said. She was looking around at the others. They appeared impassive.

“It’s not right! The lion killed Fergus. It can’t be trusted!”

“Correct,”

Kelvin said, taking Steph by surprise once more in his agreement.

“Then again, it could never be trusted. It is a hybrid between a top predator of our age and one from the past. To assume it could ever be trusted would be folly and Fergus knew this. It was explained to him when he signed the paperwork, which he was happy to sign for the arranged financial compensation for him committing to a given time period. Martina is correct on this front.”

Steph looked at Kelvin. For once she really didn’t know what to say. He looked at her almost pityingly. Like a parent would at a child who just doesn’t understand due to overwhelming naivety.

“Look,”

he continued.

“Killing the lion will not bring Fergus back. In fact, it would deny us the opportunity to study it to prevent something like this from ever happening again. If one of the bears takes the heat, then so be it.”

“Surely,”

Steph whispered.

“The cave lion is a failed experiment? You can’t keep going with it knowing what it will do?”

“Ah, but is it a failed experiment, or are its environmental factors failing it? You said it yourself: things are out of balance out there!”

“But it will kill again!”

“Do you crush a car when it has accidentally run someone over because there is the risk it could do it again? Do you, knowing there are road accidents all the time, refuse to drive?”

Steph folded her arms. Was she wrong to think the way she did? No. Surely not. In any other walk of life, the animal in question would be put down to prevent the loss of other human life.

Human life? Something about her own line of thought didn’t sit comfortably with her. She was putting human life above animal, and in her line of work it felt wrong. Yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was the right thing to do.

“I can’t say I agree with it,”

Steph said.

“Noted,”

dismissed Martina, flicking her hand.

“So what’s the plan?”