by M E. Holley
‘Good point. We must round them up right away,’ said Emlyn.
‘Yes, let’s get the stock in the barns first, and then we have to get out and warn local people quickly,’ Bryn said urgently, ‘or someone’s going to be killed.’
Emlyn suddenly stared at Bryn, and then looked round the group. ‘Someone’s going to get killed,’ he repeated softly. ‘Yet have you noticed? We’ve six or seven ferocious predators in the valley but not a single sheep nor any of your cattle, Bryn, seem to have been hurt.’ He looked round the group. ‘They aren’t hunting to eat.’
It was true. Bryn’s Hereford cattle and all the sheep in the meadows along the lane seemed perfectly calm and undisturbed.
‘It’s people they are after,’ said Bryn, slowly.
‘Somehow,’ said Gwen, ‘that makes the situation more frightening. We have to let everyone know.’
‘Well, we can’t phone. I suggest we go now and bring in the livestock, and then we can drive around,’ said Bryn.
‘If we leave word at one house among, say, six or seven, they can pass the message along to the others. That way, we could reach most people,’ Ted offered.
‘Good thinking. Where should everyone meet?’
Rhodri, who had been sitting silently, listening, now spoke. ‘How wide an area do you need to cover? You aren’t talking just about this valley, are you?’
Mike shook his head. ‘We need to reach anyone who lives near enough to come to Cascob church tomorrow morning.’
The adults, who were already very worried, now looked completely mystified.
‘Why at the church?’ Claire wanted to know. ‘Outside the pub in Bleddfa, on the green there, would be better, surely? I know the landlord would—’
Rhodri cut in. ‘Sorry, Claire, but we don’t have time now. Let’s do as Mike asks, till he has time to explain.’ He stood up. ‘Mike, if we want to use the churchyard, I think we should go to Knighton and see the vicar. Why don’t I take you on my motorbike? Afterwards we can get around people in Bleddfa.’ He turned to the others. ‘If we all take different villages, and call on a couple of houses in each street, we shall soon get people to pass the word to their neighbours. All right?’
Erin sprang to her feet. ‘Jonah and I can do New Radnor. Jonah could borrow Dad’s bike, couldn’t he? Or we can go on the ponies,’ she said, and Jonah nodded eagerly.
Ted grinned at them. ‘On ponies? The wolves would think lunch was coming!’
‘And with Jonah’s bad shoulder and both of you in shock!’ Gwen exclaimed. ‘You’re going nowhere. You are staying here.’
‘No way!’ said Emlyn firmly. ‘Not alone here with wolves on the loose, Gwen. Let them go with one of the adults in a car.’
‘I’ll see to Cascob,’ offered Ted. When the sheep and cattle were in, Bryn and Claire would drive to the villages along the road running north of the Radnor forest, and Emlyn and Gwen would take the southern route.
‘Get as many people as you can,’ Mike said, ‘to the churchyard by half-past seven tomorrow morning.’
Ted began to object. ‘You’ll never get people to the church at that time.’
Mike leaned forward. ‘The earlier the better. We can’t leave things as they are for long. It’s urgent. We have to get round as many houses as possible tonight and ask people to come to a meeting tomorrow. We have to take action straightaway! Just tell them there will be information about the telephone blackouts, and – er – some worrying happenings in this area. That’s probably all you will need to say, for the moment.’
As they all went out, Jonah noticed Bryn take Rhodri aside and heard him ask quietly, ‘Do you think Mike genuinely has some special information?’
Rhodri nodded. ‘Yes, I do.’
‘Are we talking about terrorism here?’
Jonah stared. He couldn’t believe what Bryn had just asked. Terrorists? Here in Radnorshire? And using wolves? He looked across at Rhodri.
‘I don’t want to speculate about who Mike is, or where his information is coming from but my instincts tell me he can be trusted,’ Rhodri said to Bryn, adding grimly, ‘I just hope I am right!’
CHAPTER 10
WHO IS MIKE?
By a quarter past seven the next morning, a crowd of anxious villagers were milling about in the little churchyard. Bryn had worried that parked cars would cause chaos in the narrow, hilly lane, so he was pleased to see that Rhodri and Ted had parking well under control, directing cars into one of Emlyn’s fields a hundred yards or so from the church.
Jonah saw Erin arrive with her parents and slipped across to join her. They smiled at each other, both aware of the tense atmosphere. He noticed that people were glancing around anxiously and chattering in low voices. They all seemed to be discussing why their phones and televisions wouldn’t work. Everyone realised that if the vicar and the parish councillors wanted a meeting this early in the morning, something must be seriously wrong. Some people in the crowd looked very worried, particularly mothers holding small children.
‘Where is Mike?’ Bryn asked, frowning. ‘No point bringing everyone here without him. Go and see if you can find him, kids.’
Jonah and Erin walked out of the lych-gate to watch the people coming up the lane.
‘How’s your shoulder?’ Erin asked.
He waggled it experimentally. ‘Do you know?’ he said. ‘It’s only just a bit sore. The pain was terrible when the wolf was biting me. I was like, it’s going to kill me. I’d have thought I wouldn’t be able to move it for weeks, but it hardly hurts at all, now. Don’t you think that’s a bit weird?’ He remembered the terrifying faces swirling round him in the blackness as the wolf’s jaws had closed on him. Thinking about it made him feel shivery and so uncomfortable that he couldn’t bring himself to talk about that part yet.
Erin was looking thoughtful. ‘Yes, it is weird. Look, Jonah, when you were lying on the ground, blood was pouring out and there was this great flap of flesh, sort of hanging down. Stomach-turning! The wolf almost ripped your shoulder off. I thought you would have to have an operation. But it’s as if you just got scratched a bit.’ She hesitated, looking down at her feet. ‘You know, when Mike bandaged your bite? He looked – well – sort of far away and intent. Oh, I can’t explain. It’s just that there’s something about him, something – I don’t know – it’s as if he’s someone quite different from who he says he is. I don’t mean he’s sinister,’ she added hastily, as Jonah started to object. ‘I just mean that I’m sure there’s more to Mike than he’s telling us.’
Jonah nodded slowly. ‘Yeah, you could be right.’
‘You don’t think,’ Erin said thoughtfully, ‘that he’s SAS, do you?’
‘What, in the Army, you mean?’
‘Well, of course, fluff-brain. Special Air Services.’
Jonah stared. ‘How come?’
‘Well,’ she continued, ‘they’re trained to do special combat and they go behind enemy lines, don’t they? And they work in secret to search for terrorists and everything. Look how Mike fought off the wolves all by himself. He obviously knows about combat. Yeah? And when I asked if he worked for the Forestry Commission—’
‘He said he worked for another company!’ Jonah broke in. ‘You could be right! They talk about “companies” in the Army, don’t they?’ He thought for a moment and moved closer to speak quietly into Erin’s ear. ‘I heard Rhodri talking to Bryn last night. He said he felt he could trust Mike. And he wondered if Mike was here to investigate terrorism.’
Erin’s eyes widened. ‘Well, that sounds like the SAS to me. And Rhodri would know.’
Jonah wrinkled his forehead. ‘Why?’
Erin stared. ‘Don’t you know? Didn’t anyone tell you?’
‘No. Tell me what?’
Erin shook her head, big-eyed. ‘I can’t believe you’ve been related to him for six months and you still don’t know.’
Jonah made a mock grinding sound with his teeth. ‘I may have to injure you. What don’t I k
now?’
Erin was delighted. ‘He was in the Regiment.’
Jonah looked puzzled. ‘What regiment?’
‘No, not any old regiment. The Regiment! You know, near Hereford?’ Erin made googly eyes. ‘Oh, crikey, Mastermind, do you need to ring a friend?’
‘Hey! Cut it out.’ Jonah said, laughing. ‘I don’t know what you’re on about. And you don’t ring a friend on ‘Mastermind’, anyway.’
Erin threw a weary glance upwards. ‘There’s a pretty famous Army HQ near Hereford. No? Doesn’t ring a bell? Rhodri was stationed there, Jonah. He was in the SAS!’
‘Rhodri was in the SAS? Really? Wowzers!’
‘The penny drops!’
Jonah grinned. ‘Nobody said! I just knew he’d been in the Army. I didn’t even know the SAS were based near here.’
‘Well, they are, and I wouldn’t mind betting Mike’s one of them. He’s so calm and sort of quietly in control. He’s just the type.’
Jonah nodded thoughtfully. People were still going through the lych-gate and Erin waved to several children who went to her school.
‘I thought you said there weren’t any other kids our age in the valley,’ Jonah said.
‘There aren’t. They all live round the Radnor Forest, though. I’ll introduce you after the meeting,’ she told Jonah. ‘You’ll like Gethin. That tall boy just going up the path. He’s great at rugby.’
The children kept scanning the crowd for Mike. Jonah looked at a trickle of people filing through the gate. The little church was coming alive today, with so many people here.
Standing on tiptoe to get a better view, Erin commented. ‘If we had this many people here every Sunday, the church wouldn’t weaken.’
A small shadowy thought stirred in Jonah’s mind.
‘Erin,’ he said urgently. ‘What exactly did you say about the churches round the Forest?’
‘That if the link weakened,’ Erin said patiently, ‘the dragon would come out.’
Jonah clutched her sleeve and drew her to one side. ‘Erin,’ he said in a low voice, ‘the link is weakening, isn’t it? This church is hardly used. What if the smoke means—’
‘—that the dragon is waking up,’ Erin finished, her eyes wide.
Jonah’s mouth was dry and he felt shivery with excitement. ‘It could be the dragon, couldn’t it? What if the old legends were true, Erin? What if it comes up here?’
They stared at each other. Then Erin frowned and bit her lip in thought. ‘Those horrible monkey-things we saw,’ she began slowly. ‘If the hand that grabbed you did belong to one of those things…’
‘It was going to pull me down to the dragon.’
‘To feed it? You could have been its dinner!’
Jonah shivered. ‘Thanks for that!’ Then another thought struck him. ‘Hey, you said the monkey-things reminded you of gargoyles on the cathedral. And the gargoyles were supposed to remind people of all the horrible things waiting in Hell, weren’t they? What if they’ve come up through that chasm in the ground?’
‘Like the dragon’s cracked the ground and let them out?’
‘Yes, and you know what?’ Jonah said excitedly. ‘I bet that’s why Mike’s here. I bet the SAS or MI5 or something found out about it.’
Erin screwed up her face. ‘But how?’
‘Well, I dunno. But you said yourself that there was something kind of special about him.’
They were so preoccupied that they did not notice Bryn beckoning to them. Jonah stared unseeingly at his feet, while he thought about all the implications. Erin looked up and saw Bryn striding towards them.
She shook Jonah’s arm. ‘Bryn’s coming,’ she said urgently. ‘Act normal and don’t say anything. No one will believe us yet.’
Bryn waved from the churchyard wall. ‘Mike’s here.’
Jonah nodded meaningfully at Erin. ‘See what I mean?’ he said. ‘How come he got in without us seeing him?’
Erin shook the thoughts away and began to grin. ‘Over the wall from the field, I expect, Dr Watson!’ Then she ran back through the gate, as Jonah groaned.
CHAPTER 11
THE MEETING
It was half past seven. Emlyn Morgan beckoned Erin and Jonah to come over, and introduced them to a tall, balding man with a kind face, who was talking quietly with some other clergymen.
‘This is my daughter, Mr Vaughan,’ Emlyn said, putting a hand on Erin’s shoulder, ‘and this is Claire and Bryn Parry’s nephew, Jonah Drake. Jonah’s the one who got bitten by the wolf yesterday. This is the Vicar of Knighton, you two.’
He introduced Jonah and Erin to the other ministers, who shook their heads, appalled by the thought of a wolf attack.
‘Exactly what happened, Jonah?’ The vicar looked at him keenly, as Mike came up to the group.
‘I think we should start the meeting, if you don’t mind,’ he said quietly. ‘It’s after half past seven now and everyone else will want to hear what happened to the children.’
‘Of course.’ The vicar walked forward with Mike until they were at the highest point of the churchyard. Then he raised his arms to get everyone’s attention.
Someone called out, ‘I think we’re ready to start, everybody.’
The crowd moved forward expectantly. Fingers of early sunlight crept across the churchyard, giving an unreal atmosphere to the almost silent gathering. Jonah felt as if he might be dreaming. The beautiful little building, with its quaint bell tower, looked so timeless and peaceful in the early light, that it was hard to believe in the weird things he and Erin had just been talking about.
‘I want to thank you all for spreading the news of this meeting,’ said the vicar. ‘I’m impressed that so many of you have managed to come here at this time of the morning.’ He looked gravely around the throng of people. ‘I am James Vaughan, the Vicar of Knighton, and this gentleman is Mike Golding. By now, you have all realised that since yesterday we have been cut off from the world outside. There have been no phones working in this area, no radio and no television. I know how very difficult this is in a farming community. But the main reason for asking you to come here is because most of you have heard about the worrying incidents in this valley yesterday. I’ll hand over now to Mike, who can tell us more.’
The crowd muttered and stirred, but quickly settled to listen again, all their eyes glued to Mike’s face.
‘Good morning, everyone. Thank you very much for making the effort to come. I know you all need to get to work but I wanted as many people as possible to find out what is going on here. I have been sent to Wales to assess what could become a serious situation. Something is happening which you will find very hard to believe.’ He grinned ruefully. ‘In fact, when you have heard what I have to say, you may well think I’m mad, but I promise you I am not.’
People exchanged puzzled glances.
Erin nudged Jonah. ‘Bet they won’t believe there are wolves about,’ she muttered.
‘Those of you who live anywhere near here may have heard a terrible howling noise in the valley yesterday afternoon.’ There was a buzz of talking and several people nodded. Mike beckoned to Jonah, who went to stand self-consciously beside him. ‘Lots of you know Bryn Parry from Maesglas Farm. Well, this is his wife’s nephew. Yesterday Jonah was with Erin Morgan from Gilfach Farm, just down the lane here, when he was bitten by one of the animals you heard.’ He looked around for a moment at the tense faces and then said quietly: ‘The children were attacked by a pack of wolves.’
There was an immediate hubbub and cries of ‘Rubbish’ and ‘Come off it!’
Jonah looked towards Erin, who rolled her eyes.
Mike raised a hand for silence. ‘I know, I know. But I was there when Jonah was bitten. I was lucky to be able to drive them off. And, no, they weren’t German Shepherd dogs, as I can hear some people suggesting. They were very large, grey wolves.’
An old, ruddy-faced man in a tweed cap, who looked as if he might be a farmer, scoffed. ‘You’re dreaming, boyo. Hasn’t an
yone told you wolves are extinct in Britain?’
Someone yelled, ‘They want to bring them back to Scotland though!’
‘Maybe they are starting here,’ called a young, laughing man near the front. ‘My village isn’t called Bleddfa for nothing!’
People started to laugh. Jonah looked around, perplexed. ‘He means that Bleddfa is Welsh for Place of the Wolf,’ said one of the clergymen, smiling.
Emlyn Morgan pushed forward and raised his voice so that everyone could hear him. ‘The animals were wolves,’ he declared. ‘It wasn’t just the children who saw them. Bryn and Rhodri Parry here, and Ted Lewis, were with Mr Golding and me when the wolves came out of the woods behind my farm. We saw them close up and there was no doubting what they were.’
Above the clamour a woman shouted, ‘Where did they come from, then?’
‘That’s one of the things I am here to find out,’ Mike replied calmly, ‘but another strange thing happened that you should know about.
‘Erin Morgan and Jonah Drake met me yesterday, after they had been looking at a huge fissure in the field over there,’ Mike pointed, ‘where smoke is puffing out. You must have noticed it. Look, there it goes again, now!’
People craned their necks to follow the line of Mike’s outstretched arm. There was a swell of conversation as the crowd watched a large column of smoke rise into the air and hang above the woodland.
The young man standing in front of Mike raised his hand. ‘I felt concerned,’ he called out, ‘so I went into the woods to look. The smoke’s coming from deep under the ground!’
‘Smoke where no smoke should be,’ Mike said clearly. ‘And then, a bit later on, Jonah and Erin saw two creatures, looking just like gargoyles, scuttling all over the church.’
There was a roar of laughter. ‘Like gargoyles?’
‘Over-active imaginations at work there!’
‘Kids saw some animals and got scared, innit?’ someone called. ‘Sure t’ be.’
Jonah heard the word ‘squirrels’ and frowned. He went back to stand with Erin.