In the Marshes by Adam Marks

“It snatched a dog two days ago, in Drapers Fields” Detective Constable Habib explained back at the station to her superior, “right in front of its owner. They found its entrails wrapped a lamppost on the High Road. It’s head was…”

“A dog you say?” said Detective Sergeant Carter.

“Sir…!”

“Come back when it snatches a kid or an old lady” said Carter. He turned to his screen and pretended to write. “Perhaps I might give a toss. Until then, get on to pest control.”

“It’s only a matter of time” said Habib. She meant it too. She was worried.

Carter shook his head. “I should never have given you this” he said and sighed. He looked up at Habib. She wouldn’t leave. “Go on then…”

“I think I might know where it is” she said.

“You think you might know?”

“I’m pretty sure” said Habib. “Mapped the sightings. It’s somewhere around Hackney Marshes.”

“Right…” said DS Carter, “and I suppose you want some time to go snooping?”

“Reports have it active between dusk and dawn. I want to go tomorrow night.”

Carter thought about it. “OK…” he said. “You go look… but you’re not getting any back up. We’re stretched as it is,what with real crimes and everything.”

“Come on, lads.” She brought two guys from pest control after all, Gary and Zac. They gathered just after sunset on the bridge over the Lea Navigation. Habib led the way with her torch. They were lads too. Both of them were younger than her, somehow. They came with nets, prods and leashes.

“It’s probably a dog” Gary offered, “a big one. Some bastard probably dumped it when they ran out of food or something.”

“It could be a cat” said Zac, half-humorously, “a leopard or something. “It could be. Stranger things have happened.”

“Like what…?” Gary laughed, then Zac. DC Habib didn’t. She’d briefed them, somewhat. She’d not given all the background though. How could she? They might think was a dog or cat but for some it was the return of the Beast of Hackney Marshes. It had been turning up for six months. Stories went from word-of-mouth to blog posts to newspaper articles, dumped on Habib’s desk. They stuck her with it, make-work. She read through examples.

Kids playing football early morning on the marshes saw a wolf staring at them from the bushes. They threw stones at it until it disappeared. A photographer caught an ape-creature, squatting in the reeds round the Middlesex Beds. She described it as making “grunting noises, like snoring.” Another occasion, the verger at St Mary’s in Eton took the bins out and saw a big cat walking the wall in six feet in front of him. It looked at the Verger, snarled and ran away. But they were just  tall tales. DC Habib thought nothing of them until people started seeking her out. Sightings grew as the Beast became better known. Habib interviewed some of the witnesses. She thought it might reassure them. Time went on and she started wanting assurance herself.

She spoke to a Mrs Osho-Williams. She was a cleaner. She had been working at the Copper Box one night when: “It was the purple hour before dawn. I was alone, the last to leave. It was very cold outside. There was a devil waiting in the car park, half-man half-monkey, with horns sticking out here. It was grunting like a pig, hot with steam and looking at me with eyes like red lanterns. The devil walked up to me on its hind legs, slowly. I prayed to God to help me and car came by with its headlights on and the devil ran away.” Everyone saw red, glowing eyes. She looked back. The photograph from The Beds showed red eyes. It was the one thing everyone agreed on, red eyes. 

What was it? It had to be an animal,  but where could it shelter in this part of London? She picked on the Wick Woodland. Now they had arrived. They crossed the bridge and followed a small, worn footpath, off the canal side, into the wood. Once inside the light and noise of the city faded. They were alone in the gloom of the primal remnant.

“Woo…”

“Shut up, Gary.”

“Both of you shut up!”

“We’re not going to find anything” said Gary.

“Not while we stick to the path” said Habib, “this way…” She plunged into a gap between two tall bushes.

After several minutes forcing through the undergrowth Gary said:

“Do you notice something?”

“What…?” asked Habib, looking high and low.

“No litter” he said, “no needles… no dossers…”

“The Beast must’ve had ‘em” said Zac, grinning.

“We didn’t see anyone on the path either” Gary added.  A pall descended, more silence. It was getting cold and the ground underneath was wet.

Minutes later they found a body, almost a skeleton, quietly clustered in a clearing under a tree, a few strips of flesh and cloth were left.

Zac whispered, “Shit…”

The sky above was moonless, starless. Habib crouched over the body and examined it. The first victim? There was something strange about the body. The cloth was brown, rough and shapeless. It felt ancient. “We should retrace our steps” said Habib eventually. She stood. “We need to head back.” They followed the same route, now with urgency but something was wrong.

“Where’s the path?” said Gary.

“We should be out by now” Habib concurred. They were lost. Half an hour later they were still looking. How was it possible in a few small acres? They stopped in another clearing. The air was chill, the mud was cloying. The sky had cleared and there was a track of stars above them.

“What’s going on?” said Zac. He spotted something. His eyes peeled back in  panic. A snap of twigs, a low, breathy grunt answered. Two eyes pierced the dark, looking at them, red and glowing.

# # #

Adam Marks http://adammarkswriting.blogspot.co.uk

Photo credit:  Dirk Dreyer   www.dreyerpictures.com

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