Play@YSDC

National Laboratory of Psychic Research, 19 Buckingham Place, London
Wednesday 25 March 1931. 9.30am

Exactly a week since they had first met, they found themselves sat once again before the desk of the Laboratory’s Director, Harry Price.

The last few days had passed in a blur. Having seen the beast once again confined to the strange African trees, Serjeant Lorimer had quickly summoned assistance with the aid of his whistle. With the help of Constable Leslie and some of the villagers, fuel had been brought up to the clearing and as dawn had fully broken, twelve trees burned in the morning air.

The man attacked by the creature was badly wounded with bites and broken ribs but he would survive. The bodies of McBride and Willie Stewart were taken away for examination by the Coroner in Inverness but there seemed little question as to the cause of their demise.

Papers recovered from McBride’s home confirmed his theory that he was the surviving heir to the Manor House. Those papers and the ones recovered from the Manor House itself were taken away to the library at Inverness for study. After an uncomfortable meeting with the Strathmorn locals, the investigators followed them to Inverness, where Inspector Sinclair listened to their side of the story, before telling them exactly how it would be reported.

As the news broke, the press had descended, but Inspector Sinclair had been quite firm in insisting that the deaths had been the result of a big cat that must have escaped from a local collection. Serjeant Lorimer and Constable Leslie were put forward as reluctant heroes who had cornered the beast on the shores of a local loch. The creature had attempted to escape by swimming, but a well-taken shot by Constable Leslie had mortally wounded it. The creature had drowned and the body not been recovered. None of the villagers would talk to the press so as to avoid drawing any more attention to the village and they soon gave up as new stories dominated the headlines. The young shepherd, Jamie McLeod, was quietly released.

Price put down the copy of the Inverness Courier that he was reading, the headline of which read, ‘Big Cat Kills Local Men’, and studied them intently.

“Well,” he said, “Was that how it was? A perfectly plausible if slightly unlikely explanation?”

" Not quite, this is a case of the locals 'circling the wagons' , they beither want or desire the attention from the outside world. It is a very insular community. The creature was unlike anything ive ever heard or read about, and the trees which birthed it also not of this land. It fills my heart with fear and dread that there are more of these indescribable crestures at large in the world, if McMorn's journal is to be believed. Did you get very far with life saving as it were phrase we told you? said Dr Douglas.

The Father, that had been quite stressed but had managed to stay still in britain for now, was going probably the only man there that would seem more rational than insane.

"My initial zeory and obinion about ze beast seemed to be quite true. While my other combanions saw ze beast do strange zings in ze trrees, I have to admit, I didnt saw any of zat. Or anyzing as clearly as zey descrribe, inshallah. Ze beast was a huge predatorr, a big cat or wolf, with ze like to climb and mark ze african trees, yes?"

How true was that Ó Shaban didnt see anything supernatural in the tale, that was unclear, but he would sustain that with a good amount of determination, and as an old priest, he was quite a mule and wouldnt back down.

Also, he sincerely had a lame eye and everything that happened was doing the night in the rain, while he was exhausted, hardly something where he would see a lot.

"Aye, 'tis true what Dr. Douglas said," says Bonnie. "We had our guns taken away by the Constable, but from what we saw they did nae good anyway. All I had was the chant in McMorn's journal, and I had nothing to lose by trying it. It worked, twice. It drove the beastie into the tree. It merged with the tree. When we burned all the African trees, that seems to have been the end of it."

Ascot listens to his companions' comments with good humour, as he puffs away on a battered looking pipe. They had all proven their worth and were welcome to blather a bit if they wished. Eventually, he cleared his throat.

"Ah, Price, perhaps I can give you a slightly more military report. Firstly, the good news for you is the murders weren't done by ghosts, so the Society can rest easy there, eh?"

"The last laird of the manor in Strathmorn died a century ago, and from all accounts was a total ne'er-do-well villain missed by no one. Unfortunately, he brought over these beasts and the trees they live in from some very terrible corner of Africa."

"The beasts lived on after the laird died. They seem able to hide within those African trees in a very strange way indeed. They ... fed ... on the members of laird's family buried in the manor's crypt. It was an appalling sight."

"Then it seems likely the first man slain, McColl, was poaching too near the manor, despite the local Presbyterian minister's warnings that the place was cursed and filled with demons. The minister may have been half right. The one beast we encountered was the most violent animal I have ever seen."

"Unfortunately, our attempts to hand this over to the authorities took a detour when we were kidnapped at gun point by the local doctor and his man. The doctor had a claim to the manor as a relative. He dragged us back to the manor at night and nearly got us killed, but definitely got himself and his man killed."

"Then we were dragged back again by the local constabulary and nearly died a second time. The - ah - incantation seemed to drive the beast away both times. Never seen anything like it, and I've spent time with camels."

"Obviously, the local constabulary came up with that poppycock story for the papers. More palatable than the truth, eh?"

”For the general public, that may be so, Mr Ascot,” replied Price thoughtfully.

“So, the beast? Some kind of big cat, was it? You mentioned that they merged with the trees so I presume that is some kind of camouflage?”

"Possibly, although when Miss MacKenzie recited the incantation it seemed to be pulled inside the tree as if it became one with it." mused Dr Douglas. He pulls out the piece of bark that was shot off by Ascot and places it before Harry Price.

"Aye, just so," says Bonnie, nodding.

"I cannot confirm or deny, I didnt see ze creature go inside orr outside a tree, zough I can say for certain it was a big cat zat climbed ze african trees."

The Father remained in his version about not seeing any magical trees, though he was clear about the style and appearence of it.

Ascot pauses to puff on his old pipe. He listens to his colleagues first before saying anything more. As he puffs, he does give Shaban a puzzled look.

"I am sorry to have to disagree with a colleague but it is important you understand this. This was no member of the cat family. Not even the furthest cousin."

"I grew up in the bush in Rhodesia. I have been around wild animals my entire life, except during the War when I spent my time with horses or camels. I understand that lions and tigers, cheetahs and leopards, Scottish wild cats and English moggies are all distant cousins. Or dogs and wolves. Horses and zebras. Great apes and little monkeys."

"This creature though, it was cousin to nothing. I do not know if it was a mammal or a reptile. The whole big cat version of events was a fabrication by the local police."

"Father Shaban, why is it so important all of a sudden for you to deny the strangeness of this?"

The Father, with the conviction only old men had, kept his version of the day.

"Because I am not a liar, ze beast I saw was mundane, not ze demon I susbected ze western man calls a ghost. No exorcism required, no nozing, only a wild animal. Even if ze beast was able to go inside ze trees, somezing I cannot say zat I saw, it would be only a strange animal. And I zaw a cat, inshallah. Ze beast looked somezing like a tiger, I am sure of it."

"If ze beast would have required an exorcism to be pushed away, I would have already written ze berbect article about it. But ze beast disappeared after burning some trees, nozing demonic about zem."

Ascot just shrugs. "The creature or creatures are destroyed, we believe. No more locals should die in that horrible manner. The shepherd boy has been freed. And we ourselves survived, more or less. That's all that matters to me."

Price held up his hand with a benign smile. ”Thank you, gentlemen. It is not uncommon for participants to have differing views as to what they have experienced but I will read all the reports you submit and reach my own conclusions. It is a shame that the Police came out with their public statement - that very much queers our pitch as that will be the accepted version for many. Nevermind, we will cross that bridge when it comes to it.”

Price stood and shook each man by the hand, ushering them towards the door where his secretary stood waiting. “Your expenses will be paid in full once we are in receipt of your written reports. Thank you again for your assistance and look out for our paper in due course.”

He bid them farewell and the secretary showed them to the front door. In the bright spring sunshine, they strolled down Catherine Steet, Wilfred Street and Buckingham Gate, still arguing with each other about what they had seen as the headed towards the Palace. There they were greeted with the sight of dozens of flags, which a helpful policeman informed them was a display of the flags of the many African colonies. He pointed out British Somaliland, Gambia and the Gold Coast, Kenya, Nigeria and the Sudan.They stood as he reeled off more than a dozen countries, struck by the enormity of that great continent while at the same time aware that they had seen just a fraction of the horrors it contained and wondered how many more lurked in the dark heart of that land… …

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The End

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That’s it - your investigation is over and you survived, despite the odds.

I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for playing