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Martina later conveyed details about her radio call with Kelvin. He had still not heard from Michael. He was torn between two plans of action – as if his ideas were the only ones necessary and it was inconceivable that anybody else should have one. His first suggestion was that they sit tight and wait until Michael makes contact. His second suggestion was that they all go back to the house, take stock of the situation, secure the house boundaries again and then come and get him.

The way Martina relayed the information clearly showed that she also assumed these would be the only options and no discussion was needed for anything more than deciding on either the former or the latter.

“I suppose it makes sense to some extent,”

Roger said.

“As long as the lion is out of the house it will be easy enough to secure everything and go from there. Then again, if the lion is out of the house, goodness knows where it could be.”

“What if other animals have breached the fence?”

Steph said, running through a series of possibilities in her head.

“What then? I mean, Roger only has one machete laced with mace.”

Roger bit his lip as he caught Steph’s eye and then swiftly tried to look in the opposite direction of Martina.

“I dunno,”

Davey sighed.

“Depends on the animal I guess.”

“Should anyone really be walking around out there with that lion going around killing at will?”

Calum asked.

“It is not killing at will!”

Martina spat.

“Well, it is not exactly killing against its will, is it?”

Martina ignored him.

“Besides, Davey and Michael have walked around the place plenty of times before. Just the other day you went out with Steph.”

She looked imploringly at Davey and then at Steph.

Steph felt it odd to suddenly have Martina looking at her for support. She was right, of course, but Steph felt less easy about the prospect of a walk in the current circumstances. There was a calculated intelligence in this lion that she had not been exposed to then. She was na?ve to the plight of the rest of the animals too. More importantly, the lion had killed people since she last went walking. It had opened Pandora’s box and thrown away the lid.

“Look, whatever the case, let’s decide in the morning,”

Steph said.

“We all need some rest as we won’t make any sensible decisions right now. Kelvin can wait.”

Martina protested for a bit, but she could see that she wasn’t going to turn any heads away from the allure of sleep. Everyone was too tired and damp to contemplate heading out in the dark again. As if to cement the decision, a wolf howled not far from the cabin.

Morning came which brought with it a breakfast of bacon and eggs, but no agreement over a plan of action. There was disagreement. Disagreement over who should go, what to do once they were at the house, whether or not Calum needed to go to a hospital for his knee (which seemed to have worsened during what had been left of the night) and what should be done about the lion if they caught it.

In the end, it was agreed that Steph and Davey would go to the house before coming back for the others. Then they’d secure Kelvin who, it was agreed by all but one, was in no real danger. Roger and Martina would stay and care for Calum.

“Is Martina not worried about you shooting the lion?”

Steph asked as the two of them walked through the trees.”

“Probably,”

Davey shrugged.

“It’s not my intention though. She’s probably just as concerned about you disfiguring it with the sword.”

Steph looked down at the machete in its mace-soaking sheath on the right side of her hip. On her ankle, she still had the dagger. She was surprised that Davey hadn’t asked for it back.

“I would have thought the stuff on this is so potent that it would deliver a clean wound,”

Steph said, tapping the hilt of the machete.

“Are you sure that’s how it works?”

Steph shrugged.

The two proceeded cautiously. As there were obvious potential dangers, Davey decided it was best if they walked the perimeter fence to the house. He seemed to feel they would pass an exit on their way so that if things were looking particularly sticky for them, they at least knew where their out was. He also seemed to think there was less chance of bumping into anything. Steph was not completely convinced that a passed exit was much of a safety blanket, but the idea of being nearer the outside and in sight of guaranteed safety appealed to her.

The day was a clear one. The sun added a bit of warmth to the morning as they trudged over damp ground. It seemed that the sky had emptied itself of all it could hold and was now spent.

As they walked, Steph noticed the footprints of wolves in the mud. She looked up to tell Davey, but he was already looking at her. He looked down briefly at the prints himself and then back at her, grimacing and then flicking his head onwards. She gripped the handle of the machete.

Seeking the reassurance of a blade was becoming an uncomfortable habit for her. She had never understood youths carrying knives before as she felt it raised the chances of danger rather than lessening them. Now she was doing the same thing. She supposed growing up in a residential cul-de-sac in Sheffield with parents who both worked and encouraged extra-curricular activities was a safe environment. Now she wasn’t in one, she appreciated that maybe they weren’t either.

“What are you thinking about?”

Davey asked.

Steph jerked her head in his direction. “What?”

“I said what were you thinking about?”

“Why do you ask that?”

“You were frowning, and your lips were twitching as if you were having a conversation with yourself.”

Did she really do that? Steph made a mental note to ask her parents whether they thought she did. If she did, she supposed she should find a way to tame it.

“I was wondering how this all ends.”

“What do you mean?”

“This whole thing.”

Steph flicked her hands behind her.

“I mean, it’s now such a mess that I am not sure it is a problem that can be solved.”

“I still don’t get what you mean?”

“Look, if someone wanted to build a house but they put the roof on the bottom and had sideways walls or whatever, what would you suggest?”

“That someone smashes it down and starts again whilst the original person is never let loose near bricks and mortar again.”

“Exactly.”

Davey puffed out his cheeks.

“So you’re saying that we should do the same here? What would that even look like?”

“Well, as precious as that lion is to Martina and Kelvin, it must be put down, surely? Possibly the cave bear too – it is just not naturally sustainable here. Imagine what it would be doing if there was not an abundance of food. Even as it is, it’s meant to eat berries and such as much as it eats meat but right now it appears more carnivorous than omnivorous.”

“It would be a shame though, wouldn’t it?”

Davey said, pushing back a branch and watching it flick behind him as he passed.

“I mean, these creatures haven’t been seen for thousands of years.”

“The technology that created them isn’t going anywhere. Now that it has been proven to work, it can be replicated. It’s not as if Martina is going to forget everything she’s done.”

“Maybe. But there is also a lot of money in those animals. Money talks.”

Steph supposed that Davey was probably right. Even so, she still believed the animal in question – no matter how much money it was worth – had to go. Once an animal had killed a person it was hard to train it out of them. In fact, it was impossible as far as she was aware.

Walking around the perimeter fence proved a good move. They managed to reach the house – taking a little longer than they would have done directly – without any interference. There was one moment that worried Steph when a herd of deer passed nearby. If there were deer, she believed there was a chance there was something behind the deer. Fortunately, they passed on without much concern. If anyone was going to pick up on impending danger first, it would be them. If they weren’t concerned, then she felt neither should she be.

They slowed as they reached the house. The gate was closed. Steph asked whether there was some sort of timer that triggered it to close automatically but Davey shook his head. He claimed that people had been against this in case it had shut them out at an unfortunate moment. Steph sniffed in response.

“I suspect Michael has been here,”

Davey said, looking around and putting a card to a reader which opened the gate. Steph couldn’t see why people would be worried about the gate shutting on them if they could just open the gate again to get in. The timing for something to go wrong would have to be perfect. Then again, mathematically speaking, things happened. Look at the current mess.

Steph was surprised not to hear the gate closing after she walked through. She turned to see Davey hesitating after walking through himself. He looked around. Then he looked back through the gate. He repeated this a few times before finally growling to himself and tapping his card against the reader to shut it.

“What was that about?”

Steph asked.

“I’m not sure whether it would have been better to keep the gate open. We don’t know if anything… fast is in here.”

“You mean you’re worried that the gate being shut could prevent a quick escape from something that may or may not be in here?”

“You saw how long the gate took to open!”

Davey hissed defensively.

“One second in the wrong place and you’re done for. Look at Fergus or Daniel!”

Steph folded her arms.

“You’re getting a bit panicky, aren’t you?”

“I’m sensible! There’s a difference.”

“Sure.”

Davey tutted and pushed past her. He insisted they did a loop of the house before they went in. Steph noted that all the windows had been shut. Whether Kelvin had been able to get through to Michael and relay what Martina had told him, or whether Michael had just taken precautions, Steph was unsure. She suspected the latter.

Both quad bikes were still there hooked up to their chargers, but the electric buggy with the trailer was gone.

“Michael definitely must have been here,”

Davey whispered.

Satisfied that there was nothing inside the fence now that it was shut, Davey allowed Steph to open the door to the house. Steph’s pulse quickened as the large door swung open. She half expected something to jump at her. Nothing did.

Steph felt Davey push past her and watched him raise his revolver as he began to walk further in.

“I don’t think anything is here,”

Steph whispered.

“The windows are all shut – not sure someone would shut themselves in with something.”

“Unless they didn’t realise it was there.”

Steph rolled her eyes and strode past him. She headed for the lift. She could not help but notice the sound of Davey’s footsteps behind her, matching her pace. She rolled her eyes again.

The two of them headed down to the room where Steph had seen the monitors for tracking the movement of the animals. It was strange seeing it empty yet with all the systems working, lights flickering on maps. Life continued without anyone to witness it. The animals were seemingly unaware of the turmoil that had descended on the area.

Davey peered at the screen, muttering to himself. He clearly had a better understanding than Steph of what all the lights meant and which one represented which creature. He flicked his head slightly from one direction to the next as he studied the screens.

“This seems odd,”

Davey said, not taking his eyes off a screen whilst aiming a lazy beckoning hand in Steph’s direction.

“That light there is the lion.”

Steph looked at where he was pointing.

“It’s heading north.”

“Right. But it is the speed at which it is heading north.”

Steph studied the screen again. It did seem as if the dot was covering ground quickly. Was it running? The problem she had was that she didn’t really know the scale of the map. That, and she had always struggled with ratio and proportion in maths. Her parents had got her a tutor but to little avail.

After another thirty seconds of silent study, Steph finally said.

“It couldn’t sustain that speed chasing something for that long.”

“Right.”

“So… Michael has it?”

“That’s what I’m assuming, but why is he heading north?”

“Is there another gate there?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t lead to any main road and he’s still in the buggy. The whole idea was that the lion was transferred to something more secure and roadworthy in the house compound. Kelvin was going to call someone in.”

Steph frowned.

“So what are you saying?”

“I don’t know,”

he replied, slowly stepping back from the monitor.

“I don’t know.”