Holland had called the town's fishermen to collect their metal nets and bring them to the town centre. Sniffer had a plan, thanks to Doc. He wasn’t sure if he could get it to work but had to try. He could not think of any other way to try and stop the Angelore. Once all the nets had been collected, he asked the fishermen to create one giant net from their varying-sized metal nets. They had objected until he had explained the plan to them. The metal nets were not cheap, and Holland had to offer them recompense if they were damaged. It had stunned Sniffer that the men were so argumentative over stacks rather than survival.
They had spent several hours attaching all the nets and eventually created one that was thirty feet square. It wasn’t as big as the beast with its full wingspan, but hopefully, it was enough to do what he wanted it for. He had identified two old streetlights opposite each other near the town square just down from the building they used as a shelter. He had then concertinaed the net and laid it flat across the street. From each corner of the net, he had attached sturdy ropes; the bottom ones had been secured to the base of the streetlight, and the top ropes had been fed across the top of the street's arms and then fed into the second-floor windows of two adjacent buildings. The plan was that when the Angelore attacked and swooped, they would pull the net up and hopefully trap it.
The snow covered the net and ropes again, and two groups were assigned, one to each side of the street in the buildings on rope duty. Holland was running one crew and Stevo the other, and it would be the whole township's duty to handle the ropes 24 hours a day. Members of each team were assigned, and the waiting game began. Sniffer's plan for sighting of the Angelore would be to play bait to try and entice it to attack him.
They had been waiting two days, and the township ran on a knife's edge. Tempers were starting to flare, and all were feeling the stress and anxiety from the whole situation. Even the children had been much quieter since the last attack. The assigned rope crews were swapped every eight hours apart from Holland and Stevo, who had temporarily moved into the buildings to oversee the entire shift. The problem was that they had no idea when it may come next or what time of day.
Four days passed without a sign of the Angelore or any Spylore, and the decision was made to stand the rope crews down but have them on call. Some of the township members had gotten so restless that they were ignoring the lockdown rules and had ventured from the safety of the central building to complete various menial tasks. The only permitted journey had been to feed the Keefir in the pastures. Holland had tried to keep them in the building, but Sniffer knew it was hard to be so close together for so long. A couple of serious arguments had broken out, and two warring women had to be physically pulled apart at one point.
Sniffer and Tiddles had been doing regular rounds of the town and going out to the pastures. They had seen nothing that raised concern. They had even been down the river two of the four evenings, but again, no signs of any Wild Ones were seen. He was even considering going back to the den. He knew that there were four adult Spylore, three cubs and the Angelore. The snow had continued to fall, and he knew the journey there and back would be treacherous, never mind having to fight in those conditions, so he had eventually resigned to waiting in the town. He was concerned that Tiddles may struggle against that many targets, especially with the Angelore. If just Spylore, he may have thought it viable, but the Angelore brought a completely different element to consider. Out at the den, there would be no way to prevent it from aerial assaults unless they fought in the trees, and then it would be even more dangerous due to reduced vision.
Sniffer had been taking Tiddles to Doc’s regularly to get his wound checked. It was healing nicely, and the gouge left in his skin had virtually healed over. Doc had reapplied fresh paste each visit, to which Tiddles only moaned. Sniffer thought more due to the smell of it rather than any discomfort. He had called to see Doc again and was discussing the current situation.
“I am not sure what to do now,” Sniffer said.
“We just have to persevere,” Doc replied.
“I know, but you have seen that the folks are getting restless. I would not like being kept indoors all the time.” He said.
“It is for their safety, though.” She replied. “We have lost enough good people since these attacks started, and we don’t want to lose anymore. I have never been so busy as I have been over the last few weeks.”
“I understand, but I can’t see an end in sight. We do not even know if they will return, and we can’t try and keep them indoors forever.” He said.
“What has Edward said?” she asked.
"He has done what he can, given pep talks, spoken to all the different families, and I know he is trying to keep them engaged. He even mentioned to me that several families are considering leaving. He believes they would have gone if the weather had been better.” He said.
“Let’s just hope they have given up returning to town after their last attempt.” She said.
“Perhaps, but those cubs are still young and have a long while before they can hunt for themselves, so it is unlikely that the Spylore would move on until they are large enough. Especially with the weather the way it has been. There are also other Wild Ones out there who would be happy with a Spylore cub snack if they got the chance.” He said.
Doc shuddered at the thought of even more Wild Ones willing to attack a Spylore. “Such as?” Doc asked.
“Well, there are many Wild Ones out in the wilds. Jatbear would have no problem snacking on a Spylore cub. Apart from stealing food and causing damage, they are harmless to townships, but a young Spylore cub would be different. There are also Grylack and several other types which are predators.” Sniffer stated.
"I did not realise there were so many different ones.” Doc said.
“There are various types out in the wilds. Most never come near townships, staying out in the remote regions.” He said. “Anyway, I better head back. Thanks for checking over, Tiddles."
Sniffer stood to leave, and Doc put her hand on his arm. “Be careful.” She said, staring into his eyes.
At her touch, his heart melted, and he just smiled in response. As he left Doc’s, his heart skipped with giddiness.
The day became night, and once again, it was uneventful. Sniffer woke and had breakfast with the townsfolk. He had also moved into the central building with Tiddles rather than using the tiny house since the last attack. Tiddles loved all the attention he got from the children while he was there. Sniffer wanted to ensure they were both nearby in case anything else happened. Considering the swiftness of the most recent attacks, the time to get from the tiny house could mean the difference between life and death. They were going to be completing a paddock visit this morning. He looked over at Tiddles, who was getting fed something for breakfast by one of the children. Sniffer could not tell what it was, but since Tiddles could pretty much eat anything, it did not matter what it was.
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He grabbed his jacket from the end of his camp cot, "Come on, boy, time for our rounds." he said, heading to the door. Tiddles looked at him, almost frowning, having to leave being fed snacks, and walked over to the door with what could be described as a sulking walk. His mannerisms were so human now that it was scary. The sky was clear this morning, and although a biting wind blew through the valley, it did not look like it would snow just yet. The weather was so unpredictable that it seemed to go from clear skies to virtually black skies in minutes. When the skies had darkened recently, even more snow had been dropped onto the town. The streets had drifts in them where it was being blown up against the sides of the facing buildings. In some areas, the drifts were nearly five feet deep. Thankfully, the duty roster had included keeping a general path clear from the building towards the Brickhouse and Docs and the road leading towards the pastures.
Once they reached the edge of town, the views of the cloudless sky were serene and peaceful. The snow made everything pristine and clean in the morning light, and absolute silence enveloped the land. You would never think that so much violence had come over the township only a few days earlier or that evil could lurk nearby.
They got to the first paddock, and the Keefirs greeted them as usual. He had been dropping the feed when visiting to save any others coming outside. He walked to the barrel next to the trough and scooped out the feed. This paddock had a group of five Keefirs, who all seemed to have slightly different personalities. He had given each of them names, rubbing Grumpy on his nose while he fed. Four paddocks were at various points, so he set off to the next one.
As they approached the third paddock, Tiddles' stance changed. “What is it, boy?” he asked. He looked over to the paddock and could not see any Keefir’s. Tiddles jumped the fence and immediately set off across the field to the far corner. Sniffer quickly followed and then saw why he was alert. The bodies of three Keefir were lying in the furthest corner away from the town. There were tracks everywhere, and it was evident from the wounds that a Spylore had been there. The fence on the far side of the pasture had been broken, and the body of the fourth Keefir was about sixty feet from the field. It must have broken through trying to escape. “Shit,” said Sniffer. He hurriedly checked around and then went to the fourth paddock. They found a similar scene. Two out of the four Keefir herds had been slaughtered.
"Let's get back and let Holland know," he said to Tiddles, who growled in agreement, and they started to run back towards town.
They found Holland in the main building, and Sniffer explained what he had discovered at the paddocks.
“That’s my livelihood gone,” one of the men said, “I was in two minds whether to take my family and go, and that has now decided it for me.”
“But where will you go at this time of year and in this weather? The nearest township is easily a week’s journey by foot, probably further in this weather.” Holland asked.
“We have enough food to tie us over for a while, and I am not staying here with the wife and kids.” He said.
“Look, we do not know where the Spylore are. You could be attacked trying to leave.” Holland said.
“And instead, you expect me to stay here being picked off one at a time and threaten the safety of my family. Sorry, Holland, enough is enough.” He retorted.
The man got up and walked off to where his family were settled in one of the curtained sections. He spoke to his wife, and an argument ensued. She was unhappy about leaving, but eventually, they started packing their belongings. Holland went over and tried to reason with them both, trying to persuade them to stay, but the man’s mind was not changing. The woman got hold of his hand and thanked him for all he had done for them as they left the building, heading towards the main gate and road leading from the valley.
Sniffer could see another family starting to pack up as well, ‘Maybe it is for the best,’ he thought, ‘I probably would not stay here if I weren’t doing a job.’
“We should go to the paddocks and bring the remaining Keefir into town,” Sniffer said to Holland. “There is no point in leaving them out there to be picked off.”
"Good idea. I will get some group to set up a corral in the square." Holland said.
Sniffer spent the morning with a couple of the men, herding the remaining Keefir into town with the help of Tiddles. He made a good Keefir herder. The small corral had been built using barrels and planks, and it was just in the square and visible from the building they were all staying in. When Sniffer returned to the building to get a drink, three families had left. With the eleven that had been killed in attacks and the three families leaving the township, it had lost a significant amount of its population. If the exodus continued, there would soon be no township left to defend. Sniffer and the men sat by a barrel burner, warming their hands and drinking a hot drink Martha had made for them on returning. They were chatting in general when all hell broke loose at the corral. The Keefir were going crazy, and Sniffer watched as they smashed through the makeshift fencing, knocking barrels over and running down the street away from the square.
“What the hell,” Sniffer exclaimed, jumping up and running towards the corral with the two men following him.
Tiddles had been asleep in the corner of the building by a barrel burner when the Keefir’s cries awoke him. He sniffed the air, and the distinct stench of Spylore filled his nose. He bolted for the door, knocking over an unfortunate lady who had managed to walk before him. If he could have shouted sorry, he would have. As he sent her sprawling on her rear, he hit the street at a sprint and headed straight towards the corral. He soon caught up and overtook Sniffer and the men.
A Spylore was walking down the centre of the street, not two blocks away. It was not even running. It was just walking towards the centre. It had not even attempted to attack the Keefir’s. "Get back to the building and get the rope gangs," he shouted at the men. They turned round immediately, running back.
Sniffer watched the Spylore as it stopped and just observed them not approaching. The two gangs soon ran out of the building and began going to their pull spots. The Spylore suddenly moved, turning off the street and running down an alley. Tiddles immediately started to give chase. “No, boy,” Sniffer yelled. This didn’t feel right. Something was wrong. He came to a halt, turning back to look at Sniffer growling. “Something is not right”, Sniffer said, shaking his head.
There was a woman's scream to his left, and he turned and saw a Spylore leaping from a nearby rooftop. It landed on the woman who had been running to the rope crews, biting straight down through her chest, killing her instantly. It then turned and leapt away again, back onto another rooftop before Tiddles could respond. Another Spylore suddenly appeared a second later, leaping down from another roof. It only missed one of the men by an inch because he dove into the safety of the building's doorway. Sniffer was scared; this attack was deliberate and planned, and there was no way normal Spylore would behave like this. It was then that he saw the Angelore. It was stood on the roof of a tall building about two blocks away, silently watching the proceedings unfold.
The third Spylore in the street suddenly appeared again on the rooftop of an adjacent building. There were four of them in total, now all using high ground. Sniffer was standing on the wrong side of the net location from the Angelore and would need to move at least fifty feet to get in position. The Angelore suddenly let out a piercing cry, and the three Spylores joined it, roaring. The combined sound was heart-stopping, and every nerve in Sniffer's body went on edge. Tiddles had moved back next to Sniffer and howled back at them, defiantly staring around at the creatures. They were spread across different rooftops and had them surrounded.
Sniffer glanced at Tiddles briefly and said, “Well, boy, looks like we are in a right old mess.” Tiddles responded with a low guttural growl.