Chapter 11

Peter cleared his throat and said,"Now that we have firmly established your existence and could infer the Fowlscombe Manor attacks are likely the work of another of your kind. The question foremost on our minds is...How did you two meet? And of course our next question would have to be, did we see a 'baby bump' on you Branwen?"

Before we could answer his questions, Peter reached over and turned on his digital recorder.

Smiling at us, he said simply, "you may proceed when you are ready."

Branwen and I looked at each, her wonderful eyes had the warm glow of a bed of coals with an occasional flicker of a flame rising briefly above the glowing coal bed.

She smiled at me and said soothingly,"It's okay love...Tell them everything."

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, I began with the arrival of a registered letter from a British law firm.

I talked for nearly an hour, with an occasional nudge from Branwen to remind me of anything I may have left out.

Evelyn, Peter and Janice sat quietly taking notes while I talked and listened carefully to my, no, our story.

When I mentioned our plan to replace the missing stone that had once stood near the house, Janice smiled at my mention of her report but said nothing.

Finally concluding my tale, I took a long sip of water and said, "And that, is everything!"

Peter looked over at Branwen and asked, "Would you like to add to that? You must have quite the tale of your own."

Branwen cleared her throat and with her eyes dimmed, began.

She told of her mother's rape by the eldest son of the lord, of her mother's cursing him and his family and condemning her to an eternity of being a fearsome creature of the night.

She described the lord's reaction upon seeing her and his heart giving out and her exile to the shadows.

She told of the long and weary years of hiding while her mother grew old and frail and she remained changeless awaiting the fulfillment of the curse.

After reaching adulthood, she described running through the hills and mountains surrounding Brecknockshire, of standing atop the beacons and looking down on the houses below.

Then she caught a scent, an old and very faint, scent

It was the scent of the one she was born to slay, she became troubled by this scent, it belonged to a foreign born man who was now the lord of the manor.

This man was kind to her aged mother and gave her the right to continue living in her cottage, against the advice of the nasty English lawyer who was so arrogant.

She described stalking me just to get a better idea of what I was up to and her surprise when I returned from America with all my things to stay there forever.

Her description of our first coupling was a bit more detailed than I expected and I couldn't help blushing, to Branwen's amusement.

To my relief, the others blushed slightly too.

I made a mental note to tell her about TMI violations and how they didn't need to know that much about our sex life.

Branwen's tale concluded with our marriage, Mary's return to Faerie and her pregnancy.

Smiling at them, she rubbed her baby bump and said, "And now we're expecting!"

Evelyn spoke up first, "And let me be the first from our museum to congratulate you!"

Peter smiled, "And I, will be the second!"

Looking at her notes, Evelyn remarked to Janice,"I see a connection here between yourself and Blank here, care to discuss it?"

Janice smiled shyly and said, "According to Queen Mab herself, Blank here and I are descended from the ancient Cymru kings who communed with the fae and with the help of the giants, installed many of the standing stones at the behest of Queen Mab herself."

She blushed slightly and said,"In spite of Blank being married to what is essentially her granddaughter and our own hesitancy in this. She requested that we produce children together to restore the Cymru bloodline."

Janice patted her still flat stomach and said while blushing,"I am also carrying his child, the first of many I was told. Branwen's children will have half siblings."

Peter and Evelyn's faces were a study in stunned silence until Evelyn recovered her wits and blurted out,"Bloody Hell! How is that going to work out?"

She looked over at Branwen and exclaimed, "Aren't you the least bit jealous? I know I would be if my husband was out bonking some other woman, queen's wish or no queen's wish!"

Branwen merely smiled and replied,"I only allowed it because unlike the queen who rules in London. Mab really is, the true queen of ancient Albion from before the coming of men. The Cymru respected her and honored her by sending selected youths to serve her in her court. Blank's and Janice's ancestors were among those chosen to serve and thus they became kings of the land when the Angles and Saxons arrived and drove the Cymru and the Fae into what is now Wales.

"Mab and her court went under the hills, leaving the Cymru to hold the land until her return. Mab wishes to see the Cymru kings return and Blank and Janice have the purest bloodlines. By their having many children, the line will be strengthened as other bloodlines are added per Mab's wishes.

"Blank and Janice were quite reluctant to comply with her wishes and it was only after an inquiry from her asking about the pregnancy that they finally coupled. Even then, they only coupled until she became pregnant."

Branwen grinned evilly and her eyes briefly flared, "If they were just fooling around? Yes, it would get very, very unpleasant!"

Evelyn paled at her remark and focused her attention on Branwen's massive, clawed hands.

Hands that could tear a man limb from limb or gently tease him to a shuddering climax.

Peter spoke up, "While we are recovering from this little bombshell...Any thoughts on this series of assaults in the Fowlscombe Manor area? We have considered investigating them since they began."

Branwen quickly declared, "I wish to meet with them, the victims and what may be another of my kind. In fact we discussed this quite recently and it was afterwards that we decided to contact you people."

Evelyn held up a finger to make a point, then said, "I can't help but noticing that you speak rather well for someone who's lived in hiding for so long...Were you coached by anyone?"

Branwen laughed and replied gaily, "I learned to speak clearly by watching the telly. Mom had an old black and white TV that I watched daily. I would imitate the people on the TV and learned to speak like they did. I also read every book and magazine I could lay my hands on. Mom used to tease me about it, but I felt that if I ever had the chance to tell my story, I wanted to be better understood and not thought of as merely a beast of the woods and fields who hides out in old barns and ravishes passing men."

I couldn't help remarking, "This purported Hellhound, how will we be able to communicate with her? We have Branwen who can communicate with us and probably speaks English better than I can. Then we have the Fowlscombe Manor Hellhound. She may literally be, little more than a beast of the woods and fields as Branwen just put it."

Branwen sighed and remarked, "I will have to be involved in any attempts to contact her. If she sees me, she will know that she is not alone in this world and I feel she may be less likely to attack."

I added, "Whatever we do, we cannot corner her, she has to have a way out. Branwen is very strong, far stronger than I am. Someone with her strength and natural armament could do a lot of damage before finally being stopped with no doubt, tragic results for all concerned."

Peter mulled over our comments and said, "Next week we will make an exploratory trip to the Fowlscombe Manor during the day."

He looked at Branwen, "You of course, will accompany us and hopefully, she will see you with us. While I don't expect to make first contact, having her see that she is not alone could be most helpful."

"Now what about the men she has purportedly assaulted? My first encounter with Branwen was pretty scary even though I knew she existed and had seen her before, so it wasn't a complete surprise. Still, it was pretty scary."

I looked at my bride, smiled at her and said,"Don't let her looks fool you...she has never so much as scratched me with those great claws of hers. Unbridled passion and velvet glove sensitivity, it's an amazing experience!"

Branwen's dark gray skin flushed, she covered her face with her great, clawed hands and squealed in her embarrassment.

I knew I would pay dearly for embarrassing her later and looked forward to my punishment.

We concluded our first meeting with Peter Marshall and Evelyn Granger with a round of handshakes and promises to 'keep in touch' to work out the details of the upcoming trip to Fowlscombe Manor.

After they had left, the three of us had a quiet dinner together and afterwards cleaned everything up from the meeting.

Janice finally glanced at the clock and remarked, "Welp, I'd best be off myself...I've got an early day tomorrow."

Branwen exclaimed, "On a Sunday morning? What could you be doing so early on a Sunday?"

Janice smiled at her and replied,"I'm leading an archaeology club on a 'Standing stones of Brecknockshire' tour. It's a part of my duties here at the park and how I earn my keep!"

"In other words, she has to go play the responsible adult tomorrow!" I interjected with a wink.

Branwen briefly pouted and muttered, "Oh poo! And here I'd hoped you'd spend the night with us."

Janice paused and said in surprise, "I thought once I became pregnant that..."

Branwen grinned and said in a throaty purr,"Well, you thought wrong...You're a part of our family too and you are welcome to spend the night with us anytime you wish."

She grinned even more toothily and quipped,"After all, it is by royal request!"

Janice grinned and replied," Well, since the queen has commanded this, who'm I to disobey the queen!"

Janice peeled off her clothing to reveal her boyish figure and delightfully svelte hips and firm little breasts that were so inviting.

Branwen slipped out of her own outfit and the two embraced quite fondly as they kissed.

I soon joined them and I shall not bore you gentle reader with the salacious details of our night spent in carnal congress.

Suffice to say that I woke quite late that Sunday morning, and spent some of the day recovering from the previous evening's festivities; while Janice took a carefully disguised Branwen with her on the 'Tour of the Standing Stones of Brecknockshire'.

Of course I did not know of this until after I had risen from our bed and while looking for my bride, found the cheery note stuck to the refrigerator door.

While waiting for the following Saturday and our own impending field trip to occur.

I busied myself by walling in a portion of the big barn next to our apartment with Tom's help.

By Friday afternoon, we had framed in an area large enough to accommodate Janice Llewellyn and her impending baby.

The wall studs, ceiling joists, plumbing and electrical conduits were all in place and awaiting final inspection, insulation and wall boards to close it in.

When the last nail had been driven home, Tom set down his nail gun, stepped back a bit and said, "A bang up job if you ask me! We're actually ahead of code here so I don't anticipate any troubles passing inspection."

I looked up from the wall outlet box I was installing and remarked,"I hope so, I figured using those heavy timber screws instead of spikes would be an upgrade, strength wise."

Tom idly twirled one of the heavy timber screws between thumb and forefinger and commented,"Pretty clever these things, and the way your impact driver just zips them in is just brilliant!"

I grinned at him and said, "Yes, they are so much more civilized than wielding a hammer to beat on a hapless spike."

Saturday was cold, it had snowed the night before and this Southern California born and raised boy wasn't liking it.

Naturally, my thicker blooded Welsh born wife Branwen and friend Janice and the English born Peter Marshall and Evelyn Granger and her husband Andrew were all perfectly comfortable, while I was freezing and sipping coffee to stay warm.

Ignoring my discomfiture, we all piled into a large van with the museum logo on its side and headed east.

The cold actually turned out to be a good thing as Branwen could wear a hooded cloak to hide her ears and no one would notice.

Dark glasses hiding her blazing eyes and enormous galoshes on her clawed feet completed the disguise.

Andrew, Evelyn's husband deftly maneuvered the big van along the highways and byways leading to Fowlscombe Manor.

I was glad he was driving as I would've gotten hopelessly lost.

My forays into the hinterlands of Wales had mostly been while pursuing George Cohen on his deceptively fast 596cc International Norton from one pub to another.

I had yet to get this far into England proper.

Fowlscombe Manor or rather, what was left of it lay beneath a blanket of white.

The recent snowstorm had blanketed a sizeable portion of southern England and Wales with a fluffy powder that was fine for winter sports and miserable to drive through.

We exited the van and spread out a bit as we walked slowly towards the ruined manor house.

I could see only the dotted foot tracks left by smaller animals braving the cold, nothing the size of human feet had sullied the dazzling white snow.

Nothing had entered or left the ruined building since the snowfall.

I glanced over at Branwen and saw that she was sniffing the air and her wonderfully great hidden ears were listening intently.

She glanced at me and I muttered, "Anything?"

She frowned and muttered, "There is a scent, but it's kinda faint, the snow is masking it a bit."

Her ears seemed to home in on something and she said softly,"I hear a heartbeat, there is something in there, it's probably watching us right now."

I glanced around and said, "Uncover your head and eyes, if she is watching us, she will see your ears and eyes."

Branwen, after taking her own quick look around, took off the dark glasses hiding her blazing eyes and slipped back the hood covering her great wolflike ears.

In a moment of inspiration, I quickly opened her cloak and placed my hands protectively over her baby bump.

"What're you doing?" She exclaimed.

"Showing her that we are mated and expecting a child." I replied.

After Branwen covered herself back up, she said, "I hear movement, I think she's trying to get a better look at us."

"Let's make it a bit easier for her!" I cried as I grabbed her by the hand and pulled her towards the ruins.

We had gone only a little ways when she dug in her heels and stopped us. "Don't get any closer! Her heart rate just went up, she might be afraid."

I could see partly into the ruins and thought I could see a pair of blazing eyes in the deeper shadows.

"I think I see her!" I cried and waved at the eyes blazing in the darkness.

They blinked a couple of times, flared briefly and went out.

"She's going deeper into the ruins, don't follow her, she'll attack!" Whispered Branwen.

Peter called out, "I think we should back away now...We've done enough by just seeing her eyes...You did see her eyes didn't you?"

"I think I saw her eyes, it reminds me of when I first saw Branwen, I just saw her eyes glowing in the darkness."

We headed back to the van and I dug into my kit bag to pull out a small motion sensitive camera and grab my lunch bag.

While the others watched I attached the camera to a tree branch well off the ground and pointed it towards the ruins.

Setting it to come on after dark, I took my lunch, put it in a paper bag and approached the ruins as much as I dared.

I tossed the bag inside the ruins and at that moment, I thought I saw a flicker of light deep inside the ruins.

She was watching me toss my lunch bag inside her den.

Idiotically I waved at her again and hastily returned to the van.

We quickly left Fowlscombe Manor and returned to my house.

During the drive, Peter asked me, "How long will that camera last?"

"About a month if I set it on still pictures, I set it on video so I'll have to come back in a week or so to check on it and download any videos it took." I replied.

Branwen chimed in firmly,"I will be coming with you. The last thing I want is you getting attacked because you decided to go poking about among old ruins!"

She remarked to the others, "Honestly, he's like a little kid, we'll go picnicking and he'll go nosing about the old stones and laying hands on them, as if he can feel the hands that put them up."

I laughed and retorted, "Hey! I'm from L.A. The city with no past. Anything much over 50 years old gets knocked down and hauled away, then a newer, shinier building goes up in its place, only to be torn down in its own time. Here anything under 100 years old is still considered new and a house over 200 years old is considered just settled in. Of course I wanna go see the ruins and the standing stones and such like. They may be old hat to you people, but they're all new to me!"

Evelyn chuckled and remarked, "Isn't that a part of any man? That boyish streak they never outgrow, the small curious boy inside the man a girl falls in love with. That part that never ages, that was the part I saw when I first met Andy here. Me, a shy awkward girl with weird interests, saw in him a kindred spirit and the rest is history!"

Andrew looked up at me in the rear view mirror and grinned before he commented," My interest is folklore and storytelling. I was at the Scarborough faire in costume, telling my tales to all that would listen. When I saw this adorable girl taking notes while I was talking. I asked her what she was doing and before the sun had set, I knew she was the one for me. I still tell my stories and she still takes her notes and we're very happy together."

When we arrived back home, Branwen invited everyone in for tea and some nibblies.

While she was fixing everything up, I opened up the big house and led them through it.

What they saw was mostly empty rooms with bare walls.

Little remained from when it was last lived in.

When I showed them the room where the lord of the manor had suffered his fatal heart attack after seeing Branwen, Evelyn took a large number of photos and jotted down copious notes.

Andrew smiled at his wife's antics and said, "Evie's in heaven right now, this place is a confirmed Hellhound 'attack' site whereas all the others are rumours or hearsay."

I remarked, "I'll have to get Branwen to come up here and show how it all came down. She doesn't care to talk about it, apparently the look of horror on his face was very upsetting to a five year old child seeing her grandfather for the first time."

Evelyn paused in her note taking and said sadly,"How awful that must've been to see that. If she really doesn't want to talk about it, I won't insist. She shouldn't have to relive those memories just to satisfy my curiosity."

"That's quite alright, really," Declared Branwen as she entered the room.

She smiled at Evelyn and said,"I could hear everything with these ears of mine!"

She waggled her fuzzy ears for emphasis and continued,"I had crept into the house and by staying hidden, I could see and hear all that was going on. I followed the sound of the old man's heart, his heart sounded weaker and more laboured than the rest."

Sighing, she said,

"I know now that he was on the verge of a heart attack and seeing me was more than he could bear."

Branwen stepped into a corner of the large room and said,"There was a big piece of furniture here and I had hidden beneath it. He came in by himself and I saw my chance to say hello to my grandfather."

She sighed and said glumly,"He took one look at me and his face got all dark and his eyes seemed to pop out of his head in his terror. He staggered, clutched at his throat and chest and collapsed in a heap. I ran out of there like all hell was chasing me. I ran to mom and told her what had happened, she bundled me up and we left to leave me with some friends."

Branwen smiled crookedly and said wryly, "Why I wasn't seen I'll never know, maybe they thought I really was a dog or something else. I stayed with mom's friends until I reached adulthood and crept back home to be with mother."

She looked around and commented,"Somehow we stayed here at this crazy place, even after the family itself had left, we stayed on as caretakers. Mom allowed herself to appear aged and I stayed out of sight, not even the other caretakers knew of me."

She smiled at me and said,"Then one day this stranger showed up, a stranger with a familiar scent to his blood."

Evelyn looked up from her note taking and smiled at her husband,"That does have a familiar ring to it!"

The next day after visiting Fowlscombe Manor, my smartphone had a message in it indicating the camera I had set up had been activated twice during the night.

Branwen looked a bit puzzled and asked,"Is there a video with that message?"

I smiled at her and replied cheerfully, "My phone isn't that smart! It just let me know that there was some activity at the manor last night. I won't know what happened 'til I can retrieve the camera itself."

"Ah."

"Which means another road trip in about a week or so."

Branwen's massive, clawed hand enveloped my genitals and held them tenderly.

The same hand could also eviscerate me with ease.

Naturally he stirred, he knew his place and his place was with her and only reluctantly with Janice Llewellyn.

"Of course you are, going to include me in this road trip, aren't you?" She murmured in a throaty growl just before she mounted me and engulfed him in her warmth.

We spent much of that chilly Sunday happily engaging in connubial bliss.

It may have been cold outside, but inside we were working up a sweat and deeply in love.

Monday, it was back to work on the new apartment I was building inside the great barn.

To avoid breaking any rules about altering a 'listed building' the structure was free standing and carefully built around the existing support beams for the old barn itself.

The inspector looked my work over quite carefully and smiled at my use of protective sheeting where the old wood met the new, to prevent any damage to the original material.

He liked the heavy timber screws I had used extensively to join some of the larger beams together.

I showed him the impact driver and he commented,"I imagine I'll be seeing more of these in the near future."

He cheerfully signed off on my work and the rough framing, plumbing and electrical was finished.

I walked him to his car, an older Subaru Forester filled with the tools and oddments of his trade, finish cabinetry.

He looked up at the big house and asked, "Any word on your grant?"

"Not yet." I replied, "You know how the government operates, they have all the time in the world to respond, but God help you if you're late with a fee."

"Careful now, I'm a government wanker." He said with a grin.

"But, I know what you mean, I've got four jobs waiting to be signed off so I can finish them up and get paid!"

We shook hands and he drove off to his next appointment.

Tom and Ann Jones came over that evening and while Branwen and Ann socialized.

Tom and I began putting up the 6mm exterior sheeting to cover the outside over the Tyvek wrapping I used to seal the structure.

Before long we had covered a large part of the apartment exterior and had only a few places left to cover when we put down our tools and called it a night.

Tom and I stepped back to admire our progress and he commented, "It won't be long 'til Janice can move in will it?"

"I figure in two weeks time, barring any unforeseen B.S. From some official wanker type."

Tom smiled knowingly, "Yes, the bane of our existence, government wankers."

"They do excel at giving us something to gripe about." I replied with a grin.

Tom looked over at the smaller barn where the three shipping containers now sat hidden from view.

"Funny how they objected to those containers sitting outside, but they're fine with them sitting inside that barn."

"Out of sight, out of mind I guess." I replied,

"I don't mind having them inside and out of sight where they're less likely to attract the curious and the unscrupled."

I chuckled and remarked, "Branwen put the fear of God in a couple of them one night, they never got a good look at her but they sure heard her growling. I thought for sure they were going to hurt themselves trying to get away from her! To tell you the truth, I'm thankful they did get away, had she caught one of them it could've been really ugly. The girl is terribly strong and could separate a man from his soul very easily."

Tom smiled at the memory, word had spread pretty quickly that I had a very fierce watchdog guarding the place.

And far beit from me to tell anyone otherwise.

By Friday evening, Tom and I had pretty much completed the exterior of the apartment and were now working inside where we had fitted the insulation and put up a fair amount of the drywall.

The place was looking more and more like a home for a soon to be mother.

There was also four more reports of activity at the manor, it seemed our 'quarry' was fairly active at night.

Which stood to reason, when better to leave one's den but at night, under the cover of darkness?

Branwen cheerfully reminded me of my promise to take her along on our road trip, how could I forget when her mouth was so warm and so very persuasive?

Of course I got even with her in my own special way, even if I risked getting my head crunched between her muscular thighs.

Saturday morning at 8 AM sharp, we were up, dressed and breakfasted.

The museum's large van pulled up in front of our apartment and we climbed aboard.

Andrew Granger was at the wheel, his wife evelyn sat beside him and Peter Marshall sat on the second bench seat behind them.

Branwen and I took the third bench seat after stashing our lunch cooler beneath our seat.

As before, she wore a hooded cloak, dark glasses and a muffler over her face.

Once again, enormous galoshes covered her clawed feet.

With the cold weather, she blended in quite nicely.

Andrew took the same route as before and I enjoyed looking at the snow cloaked scenery as it rolled past us.

This time I took notes of the route we took to broaden my knowledge of the country roads I enjoyed exploring on my big Norton single.

Admittedly much of my riding time was spent keeping the flying George Cohen in sight on his 596cc Norton Inter!

The drive seemed to go a bit faster as the roads were now mostly dry except for the occasional wet place where snow melt had dampened the tarmac.

Like before, we parked near the ruined manor and got out.

Branwen stood near me and murmured, "She knows we're here. She certainly knows I'm here!"

The snow had melted and refrozen a few times and we couldn't tell if there were any fresh tracks in the grimy, gritty snow pack around the manor.

I went and checked the camera where I had placed it on a tree branch, the camouflage had done its duty and no one had molested the camera.

The battery was still good for another week but I changed it anyway.

I switched the SD card with a fresh one and pocketed the chip.

Returning to the group, I placed the chip in the card reader on the side of my tablet and accessed the files.

We stood close together to view the videos as they appeared.

The first video showed an obviously female creature with great wolflike ears, a floofy tail and blazing eyes emerging from the ruins.

She paced about as if waiting for someone and presently, a warmly dressed human male carrying a bag came into the frame to her obvious delight.

Her tail wagged when he embraced her and they went inside the ruins.

A second video, much later that night showed him holding her before they parted and he walked away, with her watching him leave.

The rest of the videos were pretty much the same, the creature emerging from the ruins, her nocturnal visitor arriving to a heroes welcome, only to reemerge several hours later and a fond, fare thee well parting.

After I shut off the tablet, Peter muttered, "Not sure if any subsequent videos will be any different. Clearly she has someone caring for her, bringing her food most likely."

Branwen remarked drily,"He should be bringing her some clothing too!"

She muttered, "We may be pretty tough but we feel the cold too. He should at least give her something to cover her nakedness!"

An older Toyota minivan pulled up and parked next to our van.

A young man got out and after looking at our van, came over to us.

"Wot's cryptozoology, some kinda zoo?"

Peter smiled at him and replied,"Cryptozoology is the study of hidden or legendary creatures and is certainly not, a zoo."

The young man shrugged and jerked a thumb at the crumbling ruin,"Are ya 'ere ta see about th' attacks?"

Peter asked, "Can you tell us anything about them?"

The young man replied, "I 'eard it was always th' same fellah wot got attacked an' always at night."

I asked him, "Do you know this 'fellah' by any chance?"

He looked at me for a longish moment before replying, "Not me personally an' why is a Yank so interested in this? Come all th' way across th' Atlantic ta snoop around did ya?"

"Not hardly!" I replied,"I live in Wales now, I only crossed a border, not an ocean. My interest in this is for personal reasons, I'm not connected to this museum."

Peter smiled and remarked,"But you are connected to the Hellhound legends, quite intimately I might add. In fact you have greatly contributed to our understanding of them in British mythology."

There was a brief pause then Branwen muttered, "He's been in contact with her and she's watching us right now."

The young man paled and blurted out, "'Ow would you know? You, a perfect stranger claimin' ta know me personal business...As if!" He snorted derisively.

Branwen shrugged slightly and said, "You'd better go reassure her that you're all right, she's getting a little anxious."

She glanced at me and said, "She's pacing...Not sure of what to do...She feels her mate is under duress."

He peered closely at her flimsy disguise, his blue eyes squinting as he tried to penetrate the illusion. "'Ow do ya know all of this?"

Instinctively we all glanced around briefly, there was no one else nearby.

Branwen simply reached up and pulled back her hood, took off her dark glasses and removed her woolen muffler.

His blue eyes widened as he took in her great wolflike ears, her eyes blazing in merriment and her very toothy smile.

A moment later and she was a nobody once again, her true appearance covered back up.

He gaped and began laughing almost hysterically.

We exchanged glances as he nearly doubled over in his mirthful outburst.

Finally regaining his composure, he straightened himself up and wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes.

Clearing his throat he grinned and said cheerfully," Come with me, there's someone I'd like you all ta meet."

Gesturing for us to follow, he led us towards the ruined manor.

As we walked through the now crusted and grimy snow he said," I first met 'er when I was a lad an' I saw 'er playing by 'erself on th' park swingset nearby."

He smiled wistfully and said, "I thought she was in costume as Halloween was that weekend. Not thinkin' she was really a Hellhound, I said 'hello!' an' offered 'er some of me chocolate bar. Just bein' polite, y'know. She smiled at me an' took some of me chocolate, I told 'er she had a really nice costume an' that she would get lots of candy on Halloween night. She thanked me for th' chocolate an' I walked home, leaving 'er on th' swingset all by 'erself."

He chuckled and remarked, "I thought I would see 'er on Halloween night with th' other kids an' I looked for 'er 'cause I wanted to see how much candy she got with 'er costume. I had ne'er e'en 'eard of Hellhounds 'til then, at least not th' way she looked."

As we drew nearer he continued,"Th' next time I saw 'er, I was about 14 or so an' I was cuttin' through th' park near where I'd first seen 'er. There she was sittin' on th' swingset as if she owned them. We both froze an' she finally said "I remember you, you gave me chocolate an' told me I had a really nice costume." I realized then that she was a Hellhound, an' she was about me own age. I also realized that she was naked an' I was lookin' at a naked girl for th' first time. I blushed an' ran away from 'er, too embarrassed to stay an' talk to 'er."

He smiled crookedly and remarked drily, "Some of me school chums were braggin' about coppin' feels from girls an' 'ere I had only just seen a naked young Hellhound, who woulda believed me!"

We stopped at an opening in the ruins unseen from where we had parked.

He stepped closer to the entrance and called softly," Anna! Anna it's me...I have some people here ta meet you...One of them is like you. Anna?..Anna? Are you in there?"

Blazing eyes appeared in the darkness and a soft voice replied,"Yes, I'm here...Be right there."

Moments later, 'Anna' emerged into the daylight.

She was a Hellhound alright, from her great, wolflike ears atop her shaggy head, all the way down to her great, clawed feet.

Unlike Branwen, she was fairly slender and had a lithe muscularity with small, firm breasts.

She was a furries dreamgirl with a floofy tail to go with everything else.

Her eyes blazed in merriment as she stood in the weak sunlight and looked at us, her eyes fairly crackling like a cheery fire..

Branwen took off her coat and handed it to me as she stepped closer to Anna with a smile on her face.

Anna smiled back and said thickly, "I thought me mum an' I were the only ones of our kind.!"

The two embraced fondly and held each other briefly, their luxurious tails wagging happily.

Disengaging after a few moments, the two grinned at each other then Anna looked down at Branwen's swelling baby bump.

Anna smiled and said happily,"I'm pregnant too an' Tommy here is th' father!"

She gestured at the young man who had led us to her.

Tommy smiled sheepishly and said bashfully, "Things just sorta 'appened an' we became a couple when we 'adn't planned on it. I was just 'elpin' out a girl in trouble an' well...Things 'appened."

I raised my hand and said, "What about the police reports about solitary men getting assaulted near here? It was those reports that brought us here to investigate."

It was now Anna's turn to look abashed and reply hesitantly, "The assaults did happen and no, I did not succeed with these poor men. They were unable to perform and I ran away in my embarrassment."

She sighed, "It was Tommy who came ta me on his own. We'd known each other for years, since we were kids, really. I was hiding in me den, scared an' hungry, I had eaten all the squirrels an' other small animals nearby. I knew th' police were lookin' for me an' I feared for me life."

Anna smiled at Tommy and snuggled up to him, her marvelous body against his.

"Tommy came into me den ta bring me food an' some blankets...I almost attacked him 'til I caught his scent an' remembered him as th' boy who'd given me some chocolate. I let him set down his things an' leave again. I didn't want ta scare him off as he had been kind to me."

Tommy smiled at her and with love in his eyes, he said, "I had a feelin' it was that girl I'd seen on th' swingset an' I knew th' police were likely ta treat 'er as they would a wild beast, which I felt she wasn't...I took a chance an' brought 'er some food an' blankies. I was ne'er so scared in me life as I was me first time in 'er den. I couldn't see 'er but I knew she had to be in there, afterwards I went ta th' pub an' drank meself stupid!"

Tommy kissed Anna very tenderly and told us." I went back a week later with more food an' Anna came out of hidin'. We sat an' talked for a long time, I told 'er ta be careful an' th' police were warnin' people ta stay away from here because of a dangerous beast."

Tommy grinned at Anna and declared,"They're wrong, Anna's no beastie...She's Anna an' th' best girl I've e'er known!"

Branwen snuggled close to me and murmured, "Do we look like that? All gooey and ooey?"

I grinned and replied teasingly,"Nope! More like icky and sticky!"

Her eyes flared mischievously and she purred, "You, my love, are gonna get it!"

I playfully squeezed her luscious bottom in defiance.

Anna cleared her throat and said, "It was during his fourth visit that we started kissing..."

She got very shy and said softly,"He stayed the night with me an' now, I'm pregnant!"

She snuggled against him, her luxurious tail wagging happily.

Peter cleared his throat and asked, "What are your plans now? Clearly she cannot stay here, not with a baby on the way."

The young couple clung to each other and looked anxious.

Tommy said glumly,"Me folks don't know about Anna, they think I'm shaggin' some bit o'fluff I met at th' pub. They'll likely disown me, but I really love 'er an' I won't leave 'er!"

Branwen looked at me and murmured, "We have all that room at the house, couldn't we offer them a place to live?"

I replied quietly, "It isn't so much as having the room, it's what would Tommy do for work? He's gotta have a job, an income!"

Tommy spoke up suddenly, "I can work, I ain't afraid o'workin'! There's just not much work in this area for a stone mason."

I held up a hand and said, "I have a friend in Wales who does a lot of restoration work, he's gotten me a few jobs here and there. Let me talk to him, he might need a stone mason. What else can you do?"

Tommy shrugged and replied,"I can do some plumbin', rough carpentry with large timbers...I helped rebuild parts of a 15 century manor an' barn an' it was all hand work ta keep it authentic."

I chuckled and replied, "I live in such a house, some of the timbers I've seen are freaking huge! I make no promises, my friend may not need you but we've got to get your lady love out of here, before too much longer."

Evelyn smiled at Anna and said, "I hope we didn't alarm you too much when we came here last week end and Blank here threw his lunch into your den so you'd remember us."

Anna looked at her blankly and replied, "I don't remember you from last week and I would remember someone sharing food with me."

Branwen muttered, "Then who was it I smelled and heard?"

She paused and moments later exclaimed,"Your scent and heartbeat are different than the ones I caught last week. Who then, did I scent?"

Anna was about to reply when a rich, contralto voice came from the shadows, "That would've been me!"

We all turned to see a mature Hellhound emerge from the gloom.

Where Anna was gracile and lithe, this woman was robust, lush and well muscled with the rounded hips of a woman who had borne many children .

Her prominent nipples having known many a suckling babe and faint stretch marks across her stomach, mute evidence of many pregnancies.

White hairs streaking through her raven tresses gave her an even more erotic appeal to those who loved mature women.

In short, she was truly a MILF!