"I'm okay, Luke," the girl said.
"He's right, Jenny." Whittaker looked concerned. "Let's get away from here."
She reluctantly agreed but gazed up earnestly into Fender's face. Will you be coming back, Luke? I'd like to talk to you."
Fender nodded. You'll be seeing a lot of me from now on, Jenny."
Whittaker frowned, unsure of the meaning in Fender's words. "Come on Jenny, let's go," he urged, and gently led her away from the church grounds.
Tender." Whitney-Evans again.
"Coming," the rat catcher said wearily, and walked over to the superintendent and the Warden of the Conservation Centre.
"What caused this?" Whitney-Evans demanded to know.
What the hell do you think caused it?" replied Fender, anger broiling.
You think it was the rats?"
"I'm bloody sure it was."
There's no need to adopt that tone, Fender. I'm only asking your opinion."
"My opinion didn't count last night'
"Of course it did. We took the correct action."
"We could have avoided this."
"Perhaps. I still maintain, from the knowledge we had at the time, that we took the appropriate action. Now, is there definite proof the Black rat was involved in this terrible business?"
Fender stared at him in disbelief. "No," he said deliberately. "I believe there's a tribe of cannibals living in this forest and last night or some time this morning, they decided on a little feast."
The superintendent's face became outraged. There's absolutely no need for your ill-manners, Fender. Just who do you think you are to talk to me in this way?"
Fender controlled his anger and ignored him. He turned to the Warden.
"I suggest we set up an operational HQ at the Centre immediately, Mr.
Milton. If you could start by sending any classes you may have back to their schools, I'll get things organized from the Ratkill end. I've asked the constable to get his station inspector over here I think he should be put fully in the picture ..."
"Aren't you exceeding your authority?" Whitney-Evans interrupted.
"My job is to prevent another Outbreak, Mr. Whitney-Evans, and I answer only to my organization and the government in times of emergency. My authority overrides that of any outside bodies. If you want me to produce the official papers giving me that power, they're in my car. I can
That won't be necessary. But I think there should be another meeting before you put any plans into action."
"Oh, we'll have another meeting all right. And another. Then another.
But while we're talking, I'm going to make sure something is happening.
You can help by calling in all your staff. Anyone connected with the forest, not just the keepers. Someone, somewhere, in the forest must have seen signs of these rats. I want to know when and where."
This time Alex Milton spoke up. "Why, Mr. Fender? How will that help?"
We have to find a pattern. We have to know their haunts, their hunting-grounds. Rats are scavengers and if they find a good source of food, they'll stick to it until it runs out."
"But we've had no reports of damage or losses," said Whitney-Evans.
"Not serious losses, anyhow."
Fender shook his head. "No, that's what I don't understand. I'll need to speak to the farmers I questioned this morning again. I think one or two may not have been exactly honest."
"Surely not?" said Milton. The farmers know how serious the vermin problem is."
"Yes, and they know how serious it is to have their farms put in quarantine. They'd suffer heavy losses."
What then?" asked Whitney-Evans. What if someone admits they have had trouble?"
Then we can start pinpointing locations on a map. We already have three the Centre itself, the pond and this graveyard. We can begin to work out their boundaries, trace their movements. It'll give us a more defined area to work in. You see, to eliminate the rats, we have to find where they're coming from, we have to rout them out. So our priority is to find their lair."
TEN
It was early evening before the meeting finally got under way and the Centre's small lecture hall, though less than full, seemed crowded to Fender. He quickly scanned the many anxious faces, estimating there were over thirty people present. Personally he would have chosen a more select gathering; in his experience, the bigger the crowd, the more confusing the outcome. He supposed, however, each was necessary to the operation to be discussed.
He recognized the Private Secretary for the Ministry of Defence, Robert Shipway, talking with Antony Thornton from the Ministry of Agriculture, at a long table hastily brought in for the occasion from the Centre's library. Beside them sat the Director-General of the Forestry Commission with one of his commissioners and someone from the Department of the Environment Fender could not remember his particular title, nor the names of any of the three. Whitney-Evans was seated next to Stephen Howard, Alex Milton sitting slightly away from the table. The police commissioner for the Essex area occupied the other end of the table, together with Mike Lehmann and a major from the Armed Forces. It was to be a high-powered meeting and Fender could already see that Stephen Howard was revelling in it.
The others in the room sat facing the select group at the table in the lecture hall's rows of rising seats, Fender among those in the front row. Eric Dugdale of the Safety Inspectorate was there with two members of his staff; several local councillors spoke together in hushed voices; the inspector from the area's nearest police station sat in deep silence; Charles Denison, seated next to him, equally silent; Vie Whittaker and an attractive, middle-aged woman introduced earlier to Pender as Alex Milton's wife, Tessa, sat immediately behind. Other seats were taken up by several men referred to as Verderers of Epping Forest, and a few members of the community considered important enough to be invited along. Thankfully there were no journalists present, but Fender knew it would not take long for the story to break.
The general low-voiced din was interrupted by Antony Thornton tapping sharply on the table top with the blunt end of his fountain-pen.
"Gentlemen, I think we should proceed with the meeting without further delay. I believe everybody who should be here is here." He looked around at the forest superintendent and Stephen Howard for affirmation.
Both men nodded.
Thornton continued. This is just a general meeting to let everyone who will be concerned with the operation know exactly what is happening.
Details will be discussed in subsequent smaller gatherings by those directly involved." He paused and looked around, his voice losing some of its briskness. "Most of you have some idea of why you were called here, but for the benefit of those who haven't, I'll start at the beginning. Over the past few days, damage has been done that suggests a powerful vermin is at large. Droppings have been found which indicate the vermin is the Black rat."
A buzz of voices broke out behind Fender. Thornton held up a hand to still them.
Yesterday, three of the creatures were sighted by a tutor of this Centre. It was not a definite sighting..." Fender flinched '... so we thought it wise to investigate further before pushing the panic button."