“Good shooting, Tex,” said Kim, “that’s one less rabbit in the Harpertown region.   Only 99,999,999,999 to go!”

“In other words keep shooting,” advised Jason, “you don’t win any kewpie doll just for shooting one of the little buggers.”

“Well, thanks for the encouragement anyway,” said Mark, to the amusement of the other men.

With the Rover travelling much slower now, throwing the men around less, they were at last able to start getting value for the cost of their bullets (as well as a personal sense of satisfaction) by more and more frequently seeing small grey or brown carcases fly into the air after a shot had found the mark.   The shooting had almost taken on a party atmosphere, when unexpectedly the great shape loomed up in front of the Land-Rover.

“For Christ’s sake watch out!” shouted Kim Monroe, seeing the large manlike figure and mistaking it for a human being.   “Don’t hit him!”

“All right, all right, I see him,” shouted back Don Blythe.   He desperately tugged on the steering wheel to send the vehicle swerving to the left, missing the figure by only centimetres as they went rocketing past.

“Bloody Hell!” cursed Jason Melville.   “Who the Hell is it!”

“Don’t ask me,” replied Mark as the Rover came to an abrupt stop.   “Too big for most of the people around these parts.   Did you get a gander at him?”

“Only a glimpse,” replied Kim, “but I reckon held be over two metres tall.”

“The only person we know anywhere near that height would be Bear Ross,” said Don leaning out of the now opened door of the cabin, referring to Danny “Bear” Ross, Sergeant of Police in Glen Hartwell, about thirty kilometres from Harpertown.

“What would Bear be doing out here, so late at night?” demanded Mark.

“Don’t ask me, maybe he…?” began Kim, stopping in alarm as the figure approached from behind the Rover and they could see it clearly for the first time:

Two-and-a-half metres in height, perhaps two hundred and fifty kilos in weight, it had the same basic shape as a human and walked erect like a man.   But its naked body was covered from head to foot in long, stringy reddish-brown hair.