In The Deep Dark Woods...Part Two

Two weeks later, Janie was sitting in her local pub with a friend, enjoying a quiet glass of wine. The build-up to Christmas was in full swing and the pub was alight with decorations and seasonal cheer. A group of people stood at the bar, pre-dinner drinks in their hands, chatting noisily, while a smaller clutch of local men holding frothy beer mugs laughed raucously. Two of them had been eyeing Janie and her friend all night, their dark gazes flicking over the women as they sat and chatted.

"Do you know them?" Janie's friend, Alison, asked. "Only they've been staring at us ever since we sat down."

Janie looked over at the two men, both of them grinning as they noticed her gaze. They were rough-looking, with greyish stubble on their chins and tousled hair. Their clothes were dark green and the hands that held their pints were rough and gnarled, the fingernails dirty. Janie shivered as one of them raised his pint and nodded at her.

"I've no idea who they are," she replied and turned away, hoping that they were just two men with nothing better to do than ogle women in the pub. "Let's hope they'll finish their pints and leave."

Alison nodded and rose to get another glass of wine from the bar. "It's my turn," protested Janie, getting up in haste and reaching for her bag. "I owe you for helping me out with that problem the other day."

Alison laughed. "It was nothing, my dear," she said. "Sometimes two brains are better than one when it comes to computers!"

Janie walked towards the bar, aware that the two men were watching her intently. The crowd of diners were still milling around and she was forced to stand next to the two men. One of them raised his pint to her again and muttered something to his companion.

"Been enjoying your walks, love, have you?"

Janie stared at him and a shiver of fear ran down her spine. "What walks?"

"Your little rambles through the Nature Reserve, my love...you know what I mean."

"How do you know I walk there?" Janie stuttered, her face draining of all colour as they watched her reaction. "I've got a permit."

"Oh, there's not much we don't know," chuckled the other man, "and you 'aving a permit means nothing to us. We're not checking up on you, don't worry."

"I want to know how you know about my walks there," said Janie angrily. Amidst all the people in the pub she felt unafraid but a creeping dread told her that her walks in her favourite place may have to come to an end.

"We just know, that's all. You just be careful now if you go walking there alone. Young, pretty girl like you..." he sniggered as he looked her up and down, "might come to some 'arm. If you know what I mean." He leered at her as his companion burst out laughing. As Janie turned away, her face turning scarlet at his words, they both drained their glasses and stood to go.

Getting closer, one of the men leaned into Janie as she stood waiting. She could smell his beery breath and took a step back. "Just be careful," he said, his eyes boring into hers. "There's things go on in there that you don't want to know about. Be warned."

With a wave to the barman both men swaggered out of the pub and Janie turned to see Alison watching her, a look of distaste on her face.

"What was all that about?" she asked as Janie returned to her seat. "They looked really threatening. Have you done something to upset them?"

Janie shrugged. "No, not at all. They just kept mentioning the Nature Reserve where I walk a couple of times a week. Some strange things have been happening there, to be honest, and they seem to know where I've been going."

"Stay away from them," said Alison taking a sip of her wine. "They look really rough."

Janie nodded but inside she made a mental note to have a word with someone she could trust. She had a sneaky feeling that the two men were trying to warn her off the reserve, not because they were concerned for her safety but because they didn't want her there, meddling with whatever it was they were up to...


*


A few days later, Janie called into the office where all the Nature Reserve permits were issued. The man sitting behind the desk looked friendly and welcoming but Janie still hesitated. How would she bring up the subject of the two men and their threatening behaviour? Would he believe her?

"How can I help?" asked the man, smiling at Janie. "Are you after a permit?"

"Um, no thanks. I already have one. I just wanted to report something strange."

"Oh," he answered, a frown appearing on his face. "What sort of thing?"

"I don't know, really," replied Janie. "It's just every time I walk through the Nature Reserve I sense that I'm being watched. And I saw a dead rabbit hung up on a branch..."

The man smiled. "Sometimes, the woods have that effect on people. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. Do you walk alone?"

Janie nodded. "I think maybe in future I'll take a friend. But I was in the pub the other evening and two men were looking at me in a weird way. They said they knew about my walks in the reserve, yet I've never seen them before."

The man shrugged. " I can't comment on the men in the pub but my guess is that they'll have seen you out walking. Maybe it's a good idea you take someone with you. And if you still feel worried, come back and see me."

"What about poaching? Would people go into the reserve at night and take pheasants? Or deer?"

"Well..." the man frowned. "It's possible, but we work with the police to make sure that it doesn't happen. All I can say is that if you think that's what's happening you must report it. But don't go getting into any danger, you understand?"

Janie nodded and said goodbye, but she had a feeling that she hadn't been taken seriously and that her fears had been dismissed. Would the police listen to her story? And if they did, would they actually act on her suspicions?

The next day Janie was buying stamps at the Post Office when the old farmer she'd spoken to came in. He seemed to want to talk to her and loitered about while she chatted to the lady behind the counter. Janie could feel his eyes boring into the back of her neck, so winding up the conversation she turned to find him shuffling from foot to foot, a look of apprehension on his face.

"Can I 'ave a word, me dear?" he asked as Janie paused to put her purse in her bag. "Only, there's summat I meant to tell yer the other day and I completely forgot."

"Of course. I'm just about to have a walk around the village. Do you want to join me?"

The pair of them emerged into the cold fresh air, the sun shining weakly out of a deep blue sky. It was a perfect December day. The old man's dog was waiting for him outside the post office and wagged his tail as the farmer approached. Janie smiled to see such affection and wished once again that she had a canine companion as well.

"Would you meet me in the nature reserve this evening? Mebbe I could show you a few things, perhaps they'd explain what's going on, eh?"

Janie nodded. "Fine. Tell me what time and where and I'll walk over to meet you."

They discussed details and parted, Janie feeling excited that at last someone might be able to shed some light on the mystery. They'd arranged to meet at the entrance to the reserve at three o'clock which would still give them plenty of daylight to see whatever it was that the old man wanted to show her.

At the appointed time Janie stood and waited by the gate that led into the reserve. The sun was starting to sink slowly in the sky and a raucous crowing started up from a flock of birds who were wheeling above her head. The woods themselves were still and silent and Janie peered into their depths, her eyes straining in the gloom to see a glimpse of the old man. She'd expected to see him wandering along the path but there wasn't a soul about, only the occasional startled cry of a pheasant.

Janie looked at her watch and saw that the old man was late. It was now almost a quarter of an hour after they'd agreed to meet and it was growing darker by the minute. She felt worried that something had happened to him and climbed over the gate to see if she could see him approaching from within the reserve. Ahead of her was a long straight path and at the very far end she could see what looked like a heap on the ground. Fearing the worst she started to run towards the mound, her heart hammering in her chest.

Her fears were confirmed as she grew nearer and realised it was the old man, slumped on the ground, his face ghostly white except for a line of blood running from his temple. Janie groped in her pocket for her mobile phone and hurriedly called the emergency services, her relief tremendous when, at the sound of her voice, the old man tried to raise his head and murmured something to her.

After giving directions to the woman on the phone and being assured that help was on its way, she took off her coat and covered the old man to try and keep him warm. "Don't worry," she said gently, "Someone's coming. Just stay calm."

He grew more agitated at her words and looked beyond her, his eyes widening in fear. Janie looked up to see a trio of men watching them from the trees, their hands clasped around the barrels of hunting rifles. Her heart missed a beat as she realised she'd been caught in a trap and that the police, although on their way, were still a long time from arriving at such an isolated spot.

One of the men came forward and scowled at her. "I told you to leave off, didn't I?" he said angrily. "You had to stick yer bloody nose in, though, didn't yer? Busy-body!"

Janie recognised him as one of the men from the pub and a shiver of fear ran through her. Had they heard her calling the police? She was no match for three burly men who obviously had something to hide. Did the old farmer know what they'd been up to? They were poachers, there was no doubt about that, and determined to keep their activities secret from the village. Only she'd rumbled them and now she was going to pay.

The two other men left the shadows of the trees and came closer. They were all dressed in dark clothes and were wearing caps pulled low down on their heads. One of them looked vaguely familiar to Janie but she was aware of how close they were now and how their smell of cold air and acrid cigarette smoke filled her nostrils. What would they do to her?

Janie backed away and glanced over her shoulder at the path leading out to the open fields. She knew she'd never be able to make a run for it, as the three of them would be after her and could easily grab her and pull her down. She just had to try and delay any attack until the police arrived.

"Can't you see he's injured?" she pleaded, pointing to the old farmer. "Surely you've known him all your lives? Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

The men shrugged. "Must have hit 'is head on a branch," one of them muttered. "Nuffin to do wiv us."

There was silence as the three men continued to stare at Janie, obviously wondering what to do with her. Poaching was a crime, but actually attacking another person was a whole different matter. She realised that if she could just keep them talking for a while, help would arrive. Just as she decided to go and kneel by the old man to see if he was still alright, she heard the distant whirring of a helicopter. Looking up she couldn't see anything but the whirring grew louder and the three men turned and ran into the woods, disappearing into the late afternoon gloom.

Feeling a rush of relief that things were going to turn out better than she expected, she ran down the grassy path to the field just in time to see the police helicopter land. Two men ran towards her and she shouted at them to follow her to where the old man was lying.

"The men escaped!" she gasped as they sped back into the woods. "I don't think they were responsible for hurting him, but they certainly scared us both."

"Leave it to us," answered one of the policemen. "We'll radio through for an ambulance and get this gentleman sorted out. We'll need to take a statement from you at some point about what's happened this afternoon."

Janie watched as the policemen spoke to the old man and radioed for help. Suddenly feeling in the way she gave her number and name to one of the officers while the other went back to the helicopter in order to set off again to see if they could find the three poachers. With a loud whirring the helicopter set off and flew low over the woods. She fervently hoped that the three men would be found and brought to justice.

Two days later Janie answered the door to a policeman who'd come to take a statement from her. After sitting down in her small living room he explained that the poachers had been caught and were being investigated. Apparently, they'd been at it for years and half the village knew what they'd been doing. The old farmer was fine and was still in hospital and had hit his head on a branch, which was a relief to Janie as she hated to think of him being attacked. He also knew what had been happening but had acted out of concern for Janie and had been worried about her solitary trips into the reserve.

The poachers had been taking rabbits, Muntjac deer, pheasants, ducks and geese, all of them supposedly protected by being in the reserve and the water company who owned the land were now involved. Janie felt a huge feeling of relief at the news but was concerned to think that the men had been getting away with it for so long, no doubt threatening anyone who had dared to try and stop them. As very few of the villagers walked in the nature reserve, preferring instead to stick to the extensive farmland nearby, she was perhaps the only one who had experienced their attempts to frighten her by intimidation and making her believe there were supernatural goings on.

From now on, she would take every opportunity to enjoy the beautiful walks she had on her doorstep, safe in the knowledge that no ghostly happenings would stop her from being at one with nature!