He stroked her long blonde hair to comfort her and leant down to kiss her on the forehead, thinking how beautiful she looked.   Then as he started to feel faint, and knew that his change to the black wolf was starting, he hurriedly climbed out of bed and started across to the bedroom window.

He just managed to get the window open before transforming.   Then, without looking back he leapt out through the window and started across the farmhouse yard.

*      *      *

It was a little after 10:00 p.m. when the hunters gathered at Sam Hart’s sheep station just outside Merridale.   To keep things simple (and minimise the chance of the hunters shooting each other), they were setting out in only two Land-Rovers, with the tarpaulin tops removed.   Each Rover had a powerful spotlight mounted on the roof of the cabin, which could be operated by one man, while three or four others stood up in the back shooting.   The first Rover would be driven by Morrie Blewett, with his son Terry directing the spotlight, with Bear Ross, Sam Hart, Des Hutchinson, and Andrew Braidwood in the back.   The second Rover was driven by Mel Forbes, with Paul Bell working the spotlight, and Jim Kane, Bob Montgomery (owner of the general store in Harpertown) and Brian Horne and his retarded brother Warren doing the shooting.   (Although Brian allowed Warren to carry a shotgun so that he didn’t feel left out, he was not allowed any cartridges.)

That first night turned out to be a disappointment for both the hunters and the black wolf:

Sam Hart had appointed himself leader of the hunt and chose to ignore Bear Ross’ suggestion to track the creature by day.   However, the hunters did follow the Glen Hartwell Police Chief’s suggestion to start at the Blewett sheep-and-goat station, where the spoors were still relatively fresh.

During the day, despite Sam’s insistence that spot-shooting was best, Bear Ross and Terry Blewett had spent a few hours sorting out the footprints of the black panther from those of the frightened Angora goats and had managed to track the panther’s spoors a kilometre or so into the forest.

“By the three great She Oaks near Miller’s Hollow,” directed Bear, referring to local landmarks, receiving a resentful look from Sam Hart, who disliked having his authority usurped.