Honeybee

Chapter 6

A 1930’s detached house sat within just under an acre of land, the gardens were tidy but far from immaculate. The exterior of the house was in an average condition, the brickwork was good and the windows had been recently replaced, it was just in need of a little clean up.

The silence was periodically broken by the thud of a hammer or the whirr of a drill coming from within the five bedroom house. The interior of the house was in a poor condition. The plaster had been removed off the living room and hallway walls and new heating pipes and electrical circuits had been run down the bare walls which were now waiting to be re-plastered. The kitchen was in its final stages of installation and incorporated the cooking and dining areas in an open plan style.

A radio tuned into a national rock station filled the kitchen with an energetic guitar riff and thundering drums, as a pair of strong arms fitted the doors and drawer fronts to the kitchen units. Jason Lambert had bought the house at a bargain price because of its rundown state and he spent almost all of his spare time renovating it. He had started with the bathroom and it was immaculate and now the kitchen would soon be finished. Standing up and stretching his back, he reached for his coffee cup and took a sip, savouring the taste for a moment. Glancing around the room, his determined blue eyes locked onto his mobile phone which was sat on the worktop, its little LED blinking, indicating a missed call or message. Ignoring it, he took another sip of coffee and got back to work on the final two doors.

The mobile phone vibrated on the wood surface, making a buzzing sound as it slowly travelled the width of the worktop. Putting down his screwdriver, Jason stood up and grabbed at the phone.

‘This better be good.’ he said to himself.

He unlocked the screen and it flashed up with his notifications. 6 MISSED CALLS. All from the same number. It was his work colleague, Natalie. For the past 14 years, Jason Lambert, with the help of his team, had patrolled and cared for various forests and conservation areas within Leicestershire as a Woodland Ranger. Sometimes it was a lonely job, sometimes it was stressful, but as a lover of nature, it was always fulfilling. However, today was his day off and he had things he wanted to get done. He wanted to complete the kitchen at the very least, maybe even cut the lawn which was becoming a chore rather than a pleasure.

He let out a sigh and was about to call the number when his phone buzzed in his hand. He swiped the screen to answer.

‘Hi, sorry Jason can’t come to the phone right now, it’s his day off.’ He smiled at his attempt at humour.

‘Where have you been?’ said Natalie, ‘I’ve called you like, a hundred times.’

‘Well, it is my day off, so I thought I would get some work down on the house’

‘Well you’ll just have to leave the house for now. Your services are urgently needed.’

It was unusual for any of his colleagues to call him on his day off. It was even more unusual for them to ask him to work on his day off. He took the bait.

‘Ok. You have my attention. What’s up?’

‘We’ve had reports from dog walkers in two of our parks. Their dogs are going crazy, barking at trees, turning around and whimpering, some even ran away and are lost.’

‘Any ideas?’ he asked straight out.

‘Nothing comes to mind. A couple of hikers reported hearing something in the undergrowth and saw movement, but there have been no confirmed sightings of any animals running free.’

‘Have you checked with the zoos and local farms?’

‘Yes, nothing is missing. Adam and Will are already out investigating, no word yet.’

‘Ok, I’ll come pick you up and we’ll join the search, I’m curious what these hikers believed they heard and saw.’