The guilty Patrick took a grudging step backwards, disappointment evident in his face. 'I won't be able to get it now,' he complained.
'Look,' Jenny said, pointing at a small insect skimming across the surface of the water. That's a water skater, the one I told you about back in the classroom. We won't be seeing much more of him now the colder weather is on its way.'
She smiled as the children followed her pointing finger with their eyes and exclaimed triumphantly when they caught sight of the swift-darting insect. It was fine to talk about such animal life in the detached atmosphere of a classroom, but it certainly added a new dimension when the children could see that Me for themselves in its natural surroundings. Five nets were immediately plunged into the water to capture the startled skater.
'No, children,' Jenny said, laughing. We're looking for algae.
Remember I told you about the rootless, flowerless plant? Volvox is what we're after. Let's see if you can spot it.'
The children stopped tormenting the insect which had the sense to head towards the centre of the pond.
'Come on, boys and girls, do as Miss Hanmer says,' their stray-eyed teacher said heartily. She clapped her hands as if to emphasize the command and the giggling children scattered around the pond's muddy bank.
'Keep to this side!' Jenny called out anxiously.
'Keep to this side!' their teacher instructed.
Thank you, Miss Bellingham,' said Jenny, inwardly amused. They're very well behaved.'
Miss Bellingham gave a small, self-conscious laugh, both eyes defiant of one another as they singly followed the children running off in different directions. 'You have to keep them under control, mind.'
Jenny nodded, blinking and shifting her gaze from the teacher's undisciplined eyes. They seem to enjoy coming out here,' she said.
'Oh, yes, it's a great lark for them!' Miss Bellingham quickly realized her slip. 'And so educational' she added. 'How long have you been with the Conservation Centre, Miss Hanmer?'
Jenny had to think hard; the time had flown by. 'Nearly a year, I think. Yes, about eight months. I was with the Juniper Hall Field Centre in Dorking before.'
'It must be a lovely life, my dear. Very interesting,' Miss Bellingham enthused.
'It is, most of the time. I had planned to be a geologist, but I somehow got sidetracked into ecology. I'm not complaining, though.'
Jenny dug her hands into her loose-fitting cardigan and looked around, checking that the children hadn't got into any awkward situations.
Miss Bellingham was about to ask another question, her interest aroused by the attractive young tutor, wondering why she should choose what seemed to her an almost monastic existence at the Centre, when a shout from their left distracted her attention.
'Look, Miss, look over there!' One of the children, a coloured boy, was pointing towards the shaded side of the pond. 'What's them?'
Jenny and Miss Bellingham looked towards the spot, the rotund teacher's eyes swivelling past and taking several seconds to settle back onto a moving object in the water. 'What is it, Miss Hanmer?'
Jenny wasn't sure for a moment; she moved further down the bank for a closer look.
There's three of 'em, Miss,' shouted the sharp-eyed boy.
At first the tutor thought they might be water-vole, but remembered that voles usually swam beneath the surface, and rarely in a group like this. These swam in an arrowhead formation.
As they entered a sun-lit area, she saw only their long, pointed heads above the surface, the water barely disturbed by their progress. They ignored the excited clamouring of the children and continued on their way, making for the bank on Jenny's left. The boy who had first seen the creatures picked up a thick piece of rotted bark and hurled it towards the centre of the pond, a point just reached by the three animals.
'Darren, you naughty boy!' Miss Bellingham was outraged by the youth's action. Jenny felt a good clout from the teacher might be appropriate.
She quickly turned her attention away from the culprit and back to the pond. The bark had landed with a loud splash directly in front of the animals and she was relieved none had been hit. They had merely changed direction and were now heading for the shadowed bank directly opposite.
Their sleek, black heads glided through the murky water at an almost leisurely pace and Jenny's eyes widened as they emerged on the other side. She recognized the creatures, but something told her she must be wrong. They were too big. The long, black-haired bodies, shiny with water, were far too large for rats!
Their tails, slimy and grey-pink, slivered from the water behind them and the tutor suddenly felt repulsed: the tails alone must have been a foot long. Without waiting to shake themselves free of water, two of the creatures disappeared smoothly into the gloom. The third, the one that had been leading, turned to face the group across the pond. It squatted there and Jenny shuddered as she felt herself being observed.
Several of the children began to cry and the young tutor knelt down to comfort the nearest.
When she looked up again, her attention diverted for no more than a few seconds, the rat if the creature had been a rat was gone. The forest, and the pond, were perfectly still.
FOUR
Fender pushed his foot down hard on the accelerator pedal, glad to be free of the city again. The journey from the Ratkill laboratories in Surrey had taken him through London's vehicle-choked centre and the constant frustration of stopping, starting, waiting, avoiding, had made his mood grim. Although he didn't regret moving back down to the south again he often missed the more open country of the north. Huddersfield had provided a splendid base for trips into the surrounding counties, and, although he was city-bred, he appreciated their coarse beauty.
Perhaps the people-crowded years had heightened his respect for the countryside's seclusion. The car gathered speed and, as the woods on his left thickened, so he began to relax. Soon it was woodland on both sides of the road.
