Disclaimer

This chapter features a character with Alzheimer's. If this subject is unsettling for anyone, please read at your own discretion.

FOR the personnel of the GDF and the British Army, what they were looking at poking its head out of the top of the cylinder was something totally unexpected and that they largely regarded with caution and confusion with a touch of fear. For the International Rescue team however, fear was the only thing they felt. With the exception of John, Grandma, Kayo and Parker, everyone else had at least encountered the Rock Snakes once. But those had been on Mars, and never in a million years did they ever think one would be seen on Earth.

Scott's words to everyone over the radio were also heard on Thunderbird 5 and on Tracy Island, filling everyone with a huge amount of concern.

Alan was the first to find his voice. "Did he say…*gulp*...Rock Snake?"

"Yes, Alan…" said Jeff. "He most definitely did."

The Rock Snake looked around at this strange new environment that was all around it. It was so used to a landscape that was reddish brown with a permanently black sky. This sky was blue and there were different shades of brown and green all around it. There was also a strange chill in the air which made it feel uncomfortable. And yet, it did not seem to be paying any of those who were staring at it any attention at all.

From their position at the perimeter of the exclusion zone, Hayley and Amanda looked through their binoculars at the peculiar creature peeking out of the cylinder. "What the hell is that?" Amanda asked in a low and slightly fearful voice.

"Something that I've heard a lot about and hoped I'd never see," Hayley replied. "That's a Martian Rock Snake."

"Are they dangerous?" asked Amanda.

"Extremely," answered Hayley, which made Amanda's stomach churn.

Scott, Penelope, Parker, Colonel Jennings, Ogilvy and Professor Howard had taken cover behind one of the Gf's ground vehicles whilst Captain Liberty kept under a nearby tree. All the soldiers around them had their weapons trained on the Rock Snake, several with twitching trigger fingers in case it suddenly turned hostile.

"Just 'ow h'in the Dickens 'as one h'of those got 'ere?" asked Parker.

"That, Mr Parker, is what I think everyone is wondering right now," answered Colonel Jennings.

Scott was watching the troops nearby nervously. "Colonel, get your people to move back," he said. "We cannot provoke that thing into attacking. Especially if there are others inside."

"You think there's more than one?" asked Penelope.

"That cylinder's too big for just one of those to be carried in," said Scott. "I have a hunch there's at least three or four inside at least curled up waiting to come out."

Not wanting to take that chance, Colonel Jennings radioed all the units. "Colonel Jennings to all personnel. Fall back slowly. Repeat - fall back slowly. Do not make any moves that could provoke it."

That was easier said than done. As the soldiers began to move away towards the edges of the field, one tripped over a stone and fell over, catching the attention of the snake.

"Stay down," hissed one of the soldier's colleagues.

Both men lay flat still and quivered, hoping the snake would lose interest.

The snake did indeed seem to lose interest and then to the alarm of everyone, it began to rise further up out of the cylinder like it was about to climb out.

"Oh, God, no, please don't come out!" Penelope gasped in a scared low voice.

Scott tapped his radio sash. "Thunderbird 2, get your demolition missiles ready. I think we're about to need them."

"F-A-B," answered Virgil.

"Lowering multi-launcher," said Gordon as he pressed some buttons. The hatch underneath Thunderbird 2's nose opened and the launcher was lowered. "Demolition missiles armed."

"Are we targeting the snake or the cylinder?" Virgil asked.

"Both, Virgil," said Scott. "Take out the snake first and then destroy the cylinder. If there are others in there, we cannot give them a chance to come out."

"Do you have to destroy them?" Penelope asked.

Scott was taken aback by Penelope's words. "I thought you didn't want them to come out?" he asked.

"I don't," said Penelope. "But-"

"Hold on," Ogilvy said suddenly. "Where's Professor Howard?"

The others looked around. Professor Howard was no longer with them.

It was Captain Liberty who spotted where he'd gone. "Holy what now?!" he exclaimed. "Colonel, the professor's heading towards the cylinder!"

The others looked over the vehicle and gasped at the sight of Professor Howard walking slowly towards the cylinder. In his hand was a camera.

"Idiot!" said Scott. "What's he playing at?"

"Captain, get him back here now!" ordered Colonel Jennings.

Captain Liberty ran out from his hiding place under the tree, but soon saw he wasn't the only one for Ogilvy had also run out after the professor. "GET BACK, OGILVY!" he shouted.

But Ogilvy didn't hear him because he was too busy shouting at the professor. "PROFESSOR, COME BACK!"

Professor Howard didn't hear the shouts of anyone. He was too busy gazing up at the Rock Snake with massive curiosity. "Incredible!" he said out loud. "A creature from another world…and made out of living rock! I wonder what their intelligence is like?" He then raised his camera and pressed the button to take a photo.

There was a quick snap of bright white light as the camera's flash went off, which wasn't what Professor Howard had expected to happen. Not only did the flash make everyone's hearts leap a little, but the loud roar from the Rock Snake which was startled by the flash made everyone jump a lot. Even those far out on the perimeter of the exclusion zone froze in fear at the sound of the snake's roar.

The Rock Snake now turned its full attention down at Professor Howard who was still gazing in awe at the creature. He raised his camera for another photo.

Ogilvy had almost reached him ahead of Captain Liberty. As he looked up, his eyes widened as he saw a bright orange glow coming from inside its round open mouth.

Penelope saw it too and let out a scream of terror. "LOOK OUT!"

Ogilvy threw himself at the Professor and knocked him over face-first onto the ground. Ogilvy stumbled but remained on his feet, but in doing so was now right in the spot where the Professor had been and was now in the direct line of what came next.

Nearly everyone around cried out in horror as a huge ball of fire shot out from the Rock Snake's mouth and struck Ogilvy who screamed as he went up in flames. Little balls of fire bounced off in all directions. Some landed on grass and in a nearby tree causing them to catch alight. Captain Liberty had to throw his shield up to protect his face.

Parker had to pull Penelope down behind the GDF vehicle so that she wasn't able to see the terror that was unfolding.

"My GOD!" gasped Colonel Jennings, horrified.

"Goddamnit!" cursed Virgil. "Firing missiles!"

"NO!" Scott shouted. "HOLD IT! RIGBY, GET THEM OUT OF THERE!"

Captain Liberty grabbed Professor Howard who had completely frozen in shock. He then tried to get a hold of the screaming and burning Ogilvy, but the heat was too much and he wasn't able to. He therefore threw the Professor over his shoulder and legged it to the safety of the nearby trees.

The Rock Snake, now angry, was now climbing out of the cylinder to start sliding down to the ground.

"CLEAR!" Captain Liberty shouted.

"NOW, THUNDERBIRD 2!" yelled Scott. "FIRE!"

Gordon punched the missile launch button. The first demolition missile was fired from the launcher. It hit the snake right in the neck. The snake let out an almighty screech as it was blown apart, pieces of rock flew in all directions with its head landing on the other side of the GDF vehicle some were using as cover. Penelope, Parker and Colonel Jennings all yelped in alarm when they saw it land.

Then the second missile was fired, this time into the open gap at the top of the cylinder. There came an almighty explosion this time as the whole craft plus whatever was inside of it were obliterated into several hundred little pieces, scattering all over the field whilst every single person on the ground ducked for cover.

As the dust settled, Captain Liberty ran out to see if he could Ogilvy. But his efforts were in vain. The young astronomer was no longer screaming or rolling around on the ground. He was motionless as Rigby used his special suit's gloves which were flameproof to pat the fires out. However he did not need to be a medic to understand what the flames had done to him.

Parker and Scott were trying to console Penelope who was shaking like a leaf, and not because of the cold. "It's okay, Lady P," Scott was saying. "The cylinder and snake have been destroyed. The danger's over now."

"Deep breaths, m'lady," added Parker. "'ere, drink this water."

Penelope took the bottle of water and began to drink from it. "T-T-Thank you," she stammered.

Scott and Parker stood up and moved away to give her some space. "I've never seen her like this before," Scott whispered.

"Neither 'ave h'I, Mr Scott sir," replied Parker. "And h'I really don't like it."

Scott had to silently agree on that. Along with Kayo and Hayley, Lady Penelope was one of the toughest women he'd ever met, and to see her as terrified as she'd been just now made him feel very uneasy.

International Rescue returned to Tracy Island whilst Penelope and Parker went back to Creighton Manor. Later that evening they were in a video conference with Colonel Jennings on the day's events.

"I've spoken with The World President and informed him of what took place," explained Colonel Jennings. "He has authorised a mission for our spaceships to go and hunt down the remaining cylinders and destroy them before they reach Earth."

"If you can find them, Colonel," said Scott. "Aren't they cloaked in some way?"

"Yes, but I've created an algorithm that should help identify the green clouds of vapor," said John. "I will also give Captain O'Bannon a frequency to the anti-stealth jammers being fitted to their ships so they can positively identify and then destroy them."

"Thank you, Tracy," said Colonel Jennings. "Your help has been invaluable once again."

"And how are you holding up, Colonel?" asked Jeff. "From what the boys were saying it was rather hairy out there."

"You can say that again," said Colonel Jennings. "As I'm alone in here, I'll let you all in on a secret. I am very seldom frightened…but I was out there. That creature was terrifying when it attacked."

"What happened to the guys it hit?" asked Gordon.

"Professor Howard is in hospital with minor burns and in deep shock," said Colonel Jennings. "I'm afraid that Dr Ogilvy didn't make it."

Hearing those words made Penelope's heart break. She'd gotten quite fond of Ogilvy and had been proud of him for standing up for himself against the professor. And now he was gone. His life tragically cut short by a creature from another planet.

"We're sorry to hear about Dr Ogilvy, Colonel," said Jeff. "But let's take some solace in the fact we were able to stop this from getting any worse."

"Agreed," said Colonel Jennings. "I have some other calls to make. You guys rest up. Over and out."

Everyone sat in silence, unsure of what to say. Eventually Kayo broke it, noticing the expression on Brains's face. "You're deep in thought, Brains," she said. "What's on your mind?"

"A v-very big problem, Kayo," Brains answered.

"A We Had A Rock Snake on Earth kind of problem?" asked Alan.

"N-No, Alan. worse than that," Brains said.

"Worse?" asked Virgil. "How exactly could it be worse?"

"Unless the GDF space-planes miss one of the cylinders," said Scott.

"N-Not even that, Scott," said Brains. "As we all know, those R-Rock Snakes are incredibly dangerous. If allowed to be loose on Earth, the results would be c-catasrophic."

"No offence, Brains, but that's kind of obvious," said Jeff. "What are you getting at?"

"Whilst they're d-dangerous, they're just creatures," said Brains. "They do n-not have the capabilities of building anything."

"In other words, what we need to be trying to work out is who built those cylinders and launched them from Mars?" said Gordon.

"P-Precisely!" said Brains.

"But John says that the people on the Mars colony have no knowledge of these things or even detected them being launched," said Virgil. "So what exactly does that mean?"

"I w-wish I could answer that, Virgil," said Brains. "It's p-possible that some unknown party has travelled to Mars and somehow managed to build these cylinders and then gather up a g-group of unsuspecting Rock Snakes and load them inside before launching them at Earth."

"Yeah, but who and why would anyone want to do that?" asked Scott.

Alan suddenly jumped to his feet. "The Cabal!" he said.

"What makes you think that?" asked Kayo.

"Oh, come on, it's obvious!" said Alan. "Given what John and Virgil said about The Hood losing his mind during their encounter, only someone incredibly insane would even consider trying to send Rock Snakes to our planet!"

"It's a g-good theory, Alan," said Brains. "But I'm afraid I'm n-not convinced."

"Neither am I," said Jeff. "Sorry, Alan. But the Rock Snakes are a very closely guarded secret. Even the World President knew nothing of their existence until today. Colonel Casey and the GDF were never told of them either, so I think it's highly unlikely that this is the work of The Cabal."

"Plus if it were them, they'd try and attack us directly," finished Scott.

Alan didn't have a response for that.

All eyes turned to Penelope who'd just let out a heavy sigh.

"You okay, Pen?" asked Gordon anxiously.

"A little better than I was earlier," Penelope answered. "After my time on Mars, I made myself a promise never to lay eyes on one of those creatures again. And seeing that one today brought back horrible memories of that rescue I helped you with, Gordon."

"It's very late where you are, Penny," Jeff said. "I suggest you do what Colonel Jennings said to us and get some rest."

"Take something to help you sleep as well, dear," added Grandma. "It might not help much but it's worth a try."

"I will. Thank you, Mrs Tracy," said Penelope. "Goodnight everyone."

Everyone bid Penelope a 'goodnight' as she signed off.

"Wow…" remarked Alan. "I've never known Lady Penelope to be that distressed before."

"It was very unsettling," agreed Scott. He turned to Jeff. "Do you think she'll be okay, Dad?"

"I hope so, Scott," said Jeff grimly. "And I damn hope the GDF are able to stop those other cylinders. I don't even want to think what might happen if one landed in a city."

"Yeah, we were lucky," agreed Virgil.

Gordon looked down at the floor. All he could think of right now was Penelope, and wishing that he was with her.

Despite taking Grandma's advice and having a sleeping tablet before going to bed, Penelope's sleep was restless and somewhat haunted. Whenever she got comfortable and was almost asleep, a nightmare image of the Rock Snakes that she'd encountered back on Mars kept appearing to taunt her and cause her to wake up sweating and gasping for air. After the fifth time, she'd finally had enough. She looked at the digital clock on her bedside table and saw it was only 3:30am. Wanting to get rid of the sweat, she hurried to her en-suite bathroom and gave her face a wash before looking at herself in the mirror. The lack of sleep had given her a headache and she felt thirsty so after putting on her dressing gown and slippers, left her room and went down to the kitchen, a place that she didn't normally go and poured herself a glass of cranberry juice. She then went to the Drawing Room and sat in one of the comfortable chairs to drink. She kept the lights off, feeling more secure that way. As she sipped the drink, she thought about her parents being away in London, wishing they weren't, and also feeling so glad that the cylinder had landed where it had done and not in the middle of the capital.

Penelope's thoughts were suddenly disturbed by the sound of someone moving about upstairs. Then she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She walked over to the door which she'd left slightly ajar and was surprised to see that it was Parker who was coming down the stairs. She was however more shocked that in his hand was Big Alice. "Parker?"

Parker jumped and fell down the last two steps, landing hard on the floor. "OOF! BLINKIN' HECK!"

Normally Penelope would scold Parker for using bad language, but this time she did not due to feeling guilty at causing him to jump. "Oh, God, Parker! I'm so sorry!" she apologised as she ran out and helped him to his feet again. "Are you okay?"

"M'lady?" Parker said, coming to his senses. "What h'are you doing down 'ere?"

"I've not been able to sleep," Penelope said. "I thought one sleeping tablet would help. Maybe I need to have two."

"Bad dreams about them snakes?" asked Parker.

Penelope nodded. "But that doesn't matter now," she said. "The more pressing question is why on earth are you up with Big Alice?"

Parker looked at the crowbar. "Eh? Oh, yes!" he said, remembering. "We've got h'an intruder." He held out a small tablet for Penelope to see. It showed a signal making its way through the wooded area to the West of the house and was making its way towards the open lawn that then led over to the mansion.

"I see," said Penelope. "Then let's wait for them to show themselves."

Heading into the study on the Western-most side of the house, they peered through the window. It was pitch black outside. Luckily they knew where some night-vision goggles were kept and used those to see out into the night.

After waiting for roughly four minutes, the shape of a figure emerged from the trees. They were moving in a most unusual way. Moving only a short distance at a time, ducking and diving and using the various trees and bushes to hide behind as though they were trying to conceal themselves from something.

"Strange behaviour for a burglar," remarked Penelope.

"I'm not so sure it is a burglar, m'lady," replied Parker. "They're using military manoeuvring tactics. I can also see that they are armed."

Penelope could see now that the mysterious intruder was carrying what looked like a rifle.

Once the figure was a lot closer to the house, the outside lights began to show it up better so that they did not need the goggles anymore. Parker was right. It was a military person. A man to be exact. He was wearing a British Army uniform. He was looking around, like he was afraid something was hunting him.

"A young soldier," said Parker. "H'I wonder what unit 'e's from."

"Only one way to find out," Penelope replied.

They had noticed the soldier was heading towards the main entrance so they left the study and headed for the doors themselves. Parker held tightly to Big Alice just in case whilst Penelope unlocked and pushed the doors open.

The soldier did not seem to notice them at first until Penelope called out. "Can we help you?"

The soldier almost jumped out of his skin. "WHO'S THERE?!" he yelled, aiming the rifle at them.

"Woah, h'easy, young man," said Parker. "No need to be 'ostile."

"Who are you?" the soldier demanded.

"I'm Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward. What is your name, soldier?"

The soldier didn't answer for a second. But then after a moment he lowered his rifle in relief. "Essex. Private Essex." He then stepped into the full beam of the light so they could see him more closely. They were surprised by the state he was in. His face was covered in dirt and blood. His hair was scruffy. His clothes were covered in muck, grime and appeared to be torn in a few places. He looked as though he'd been in a fight.

"Crikey!" remarked Parker. "You're h'in quite a mess."

"Thanks for stating the obvious, Grandpa," scoffed Essex.

"Say that h'again."

"What?"

"Say…that…h'again," Parker repeated, clutching Big Alice tightly.

"No, he will not," said Penelope standing between the two. "Come inside, Private Essex. You look like you need a drink."

"Please make it a strong one, Your Ladyship," pleaded Essex as he hurried inside after her.

Parker grimaced as he brought up the rear.

Penelope took them inside and back into the Drawing Room. This time she did turn the lights on and went to the drinks cabinet before taking out a bottle of brandy and pouring a tiny bit for the soldier. "Here you go," she said.

"Thank you," said Essex gratefully before drinking it down in one. "So sorry about my appearance."

"What's happened to you?" Penelope asked. "Is there a war I don't know about?"

"You could say that," replied Essex. "They wiped us out. Hundreds dead. Maybe even thousands."

"Who did?" asked Parker.

"Them bloody snakes!"

Penelope and Parker's eyes widened as they looked at each other. "Snakes?!" they repeated.

"Yes," said Essex. "Huge alien snakes made of rock, can you believe?"

"That's not possible," Penelope said. "International Rescue destroyed that cylinder."

"You know about this?" asked Essex.

"We were with the GDF and International Rescue examining the cylinder when one poked h'its 'idious 'ead h'out of the top."

"That's right they did," said Essex. "I was among the battalion tasked with assisting the clean up of the remains when suddenly, a whole load of them appeared out of nowhere. I don't know where they came from but my God they did! They attacked us. Huge balls of fire spitting out from their mouths. People on fire. We did manage to destroy one with a missile launch vehicle before the others destroyed it. But then more appeared out of nowhere. I saw all my comrades falling around me. I…I ran…before they could get me." He collapsed onto a comfy stool and began to sob for his fallen comrades.

"Did anyone else escape with you?" asked Penelope.

Essex shook his head. "No, Lady Penelope. Nobody else made it out. Only me."

Penelope and Parker looked at each other again. One of the reasons why Penelope had been so disturbed by the Rock Snake's appearance from the cylinder was that the location it had landed was only around five miles away from the Creighton-Ward estate. Now she'd learned there were more which had overwhelmed the forces, she realised that the nightmare hadn't been prevented…it had only just begun.

"We 'ave to warn the authorities," said Parker. "Those things could go h'anywhere."

"Agreed, Parker," said Penelope. "I'll call Jeff and tell him of this development. Can you get FAB1 out of the garage? I feel we're going to need it."

"Yus, m'lady," said Parker. He turned to leave.

"I still have my radio," said Essex. "But it's only receiving at the moment. I can't seem to get anyone to hear me. I heard that someone or some others witnessed the attack and have alerted the authorities. From what I heard, there's to be an evacuation of the county whilst larger military forces tries to box them inside. One of the places I heard listed for evacuation was Creighton."

Penelope felt her heart skip a beat at the mention of the small village located down the hill from the estate. "That's very distressing," she said. "They aren't going to like being forced to leave their homes, especially at this hour."

Essex shrugged. "That's what I've heard," he said. "I didn't make the order."

"I know you didn't, dear fellow," said Penelope reassuringly. "Now, there's a downstairs bathroom just along from here. You clean yourself up as best you can. I'll get changed and then try to get you some food from the kitchen. You look like you could use some."

Essex nodded gratefully and headed out of the lounge past Parker.

"Still want the car, m'lady?"

"Yes, Parker," said Penelope. "We'll need to go and assist in the evacuation. A lot of people are going to refuse to leave. I might be the only one who can convince them to do so."

"Very well, m'lady."

Parker left the room, leaving Penelope alone. Her legs began to tremble like jelly. She'd hoped she could have shaken off the Rock Snake nightmare, but she was very wrong.

Scott walked into the lounge to see Jeff was alone. Straight away the eldest of the Tracy brothers could tell that something wasn't right. His father was slumped back in the chair with his chin resting on his left fist. Jeff only did this when he was having troubled thoughts.

"Something wrong, Dad?"

Jeff jolted out of the deep thought trance he was in at the sound of Scott's voice. "What?! Oh, it's you, Scott. Sorry I was in my own world there."

Scott came over to the desk. "I know that look, Dad," he said. "That's the one you have when you've been given some bad news."

Jeff looked around behind his eldest son to see if any of the others were in sight. "Keep this between us for the moment, son," he said quietly. "I don't want Gordon to know about this. Do you know where he is?"

"Last I saw he was down on the beach with Virgil and Alan," he said. "They're looking for shells to put around the base of the Christmas Tree."

Jeff was relieved at that. "In that case, I'll say this only to you for now," he said. "I've had a call from Penny. Don't ask how because she doesn't know, but somehow the Rock Snakes survived the explosion."

Scott nearly fell off the desk. "W-What?!" he exclaimed. "But Virgil destroyed the cylinder!"

"I know he did, Scott," said Jeff. "Penny and Parker found one of the soldiers guarding the site on the estate a short while ago. He claims to be the only survivor from the attack that this group of snakes made."

"Then we need to get out there and help them!" said Scott.

"Scott, we don't know where the Rock Snakes are," said Jeff. "I have also spoken with Colonel Jennings and she too is aware of what is happening. Right at this moment, the GDF are helping the local Police and Army to evacuate Gloucestershire in an attempt to hopefully make a more sealed off area to try and keep the snakes there."

"That's a mighty tall order," said Scott. "What of Penelope and Parker?"

"She says they're going to go and assist in the evacuation of the village near to her estate," said Jeff. "She fears it won't be an easy task."

"I'll say," said Scott. "Let's hope the snakes are found swiftly and dealt with."

"I couldn't agree more," said Jeff. "But I have a hunch that we will be needed. Better have the others ready just in case."

"But if Gordon knows the reason, he'll be wanting to go out there now," Scott realised.

Jeff didn't need to answer. A simple nod of the head told Scott he was right.

By the time FAB1 reached the village of Creighton, dawn had broken and the night was turning to day. It remained overcast, making the already unpleasant winter temperature even more unsettling. The evacuation was already well underway. Several buses and trucks had been brought in to help ferry the people away. They could tell already things weren't going well for several villagers who were either fighting against the local Police or Army as they refused to co-operate or leave whilst several were trying to pack whatever they could into cars. Some were allowed to leave in cars but the majority were ordered not to use them for fear of clogging up the country lanes.

"This looks quite chaotic," observed Parker.

"Indeed, it does," agreed Penelope. "I feel it's going to have to be up to me to get them to leave."

"Look at them!" Essex remarked, pointing out of the right-side window of FAB1. Parker and Penelope looked and saw in the field next to the road was a group of artillerymen with six wheel-mounted guns like the ones used in Royal events were standing-by as though they were anticipating trouble.

"That's desperation if h'ever I saw it," remarked Parker.

"Let's hope they aren't needed," Penelope said.

They soon found themselves on the outskirts of the village where the minibuses, regular buses and two coaches were parked. An angry mob of villagers, most of whom Penelope knew were shouting abuse at the Police and Army as well as a group of GDF officers who'd arrived to assist.

Penelope stepped out of FAB1 and climbed onto the front of the car. "HELLO?!" she called out. But the noise from the crowd was too much and nobody could hear her. "LISTEN TO ME, PLEASE!" Still the mob couldn't hear her. Penelope sighed. "Parker?"

"Yus, m'lady," said Parker, already guessing what she was going to ask him to do. He adjusted a small switch close to the steering wheel. "You might want to cover your ears," he then said to Essex.

Essex, unsure why, did as he was told and Penelope covered her own ears whilst Parker put in a pair of earplugs. He then pressed the horn. BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!

The noise was so loud that everyone jumped and turned towards FAB1, startled.

Penelope lowered her hands afterwards and faced the crowd. "Listen to me, please," she said.

But before she could say another word, a man called Mickey called out instead. "Lady Penelope! Will you tell these moronic officers of the law that we do NOT want to be forced out of our village and that we want them to go away and leave us alone!"

Several of the other villagers called out in agreement.

"SILENCE!" bellowed Parker, startling them all into quiet. "THE LADY NEEDS YOU TO LISTEN!"

"Thank you, Parker," Penelope said quietly before addressing the villagers again. "I understand how you all must be feeling, but I'm afraid they're not doing this out of inconvenience. This order of evacuation isn't just for Creighton, but for the whole of Gloucestershire. Even at this very moment, every town and village in the county is being evacuated."

"But why, Lady Penelope?" asked a woman whose baby was crying. "What is going on?"

Penelope knew she had to be careful with this one ."There's a potential danger to life that if not dealt with could put the whole country at risk," she said. "Therefore, you must all get on the buses and leave to a designated safe zone."

"Danger to life?" repeated another man. "Such as what?"

"Would you believe me if I said fire-breathing snakes from Mars, Mr Mopp?" asked Penelope.

"No…I wouldn't," the man replied after a long awkward pause.

"Didn't think so," said Penelope. "Look, everyone, I am really sorry about this, but please just do as the Army and Police are instructing you to. It's for your own safety, and I want to ensure that you are all safe."

The villagers didn't like this at all, but they reluctantly gave in. They stopped trying to fight with the Army and Police and instead started to board the waiting buses.

Penelope walked up to one of the Policemen. "Has every house been ordered to evacuate, Sergeant?" she asked.

"All except one, Lady Penelope," the Policeman replied. "Just that cottage back up the road is left."

Penelope looked up the road at the picture-postcard-like white cottage with a thatched roof halfway back up the hill. It was practically next to where the gunners were located. Whilst Penelope knew some of the people in the village, she didn't know everybody, and therefore did not have any idea as to who might live there.

Mopp, the villager who Penelope had spoken to during the speech, had overheard what they were saying. "Mrs Burtonshaw lives there," he said. "Good luck trying to get her out. She's not all there." He said no more as he went to board the bus.

Penelope wasn't quite sure what to make of what Mopp had said, but regardless she and Parker took FAB1 back up to the road and parked outside the front gate.

Essex came with them. "I'm gonna talk to the commander of the gunners," he said.

Penelope nodded in acknowledgement before following Parker up the garden path towards the front door of the cottage. The garden looked untidy, like it hadn't been tended to for a long time. Parker knocked on the door. They waited for someone to come. They waited. And waited. But nobody came. Penelope tried to peer through the stained glass window of the door. Someone was definitely inside as she could make out the silhouette of a figure moving about. "Try the bell, Parker."

Parker rang the bell and they waited again. They saw the silhouette coming towards the door. Then it stopped for a moment, then seemed to head away again.

"What h'is going on?" Parker asked out loud. He rang the bell again, much harder this time and banged very hard on the door.

This time the silhouette did come up to the door and they heard the sound of the lock being undone. Then the door opened to reveal a short elderly woman with very untidy grey hair, gold-rimmed glasses and wearing a purple dressing-gown. At first she looked at them in confusion, but then her face broke into a massive smile. "Hello!" she said excitedly.

"Good morning, Mrs Burtonshaw," said Penelope.

"Yes, that's me!" she said, still grinning. "Are you the postman?"

Penelope and Parker exchanged bewildered looks. "Err, no?" Parker said.

"Oh, this is exciting!" said Mrs Burtonshaw before Penelope had the chance to speak again. "You're just in time for tea!" She then called up a flight of stairs just on the right of the door. "TOBY?! TOBY! THE POSTMAN IS HERE! COME ON, TOBY! YOUR TEA WILL BE COLD!" She then began to head back to the kitchen.

It was only now that Parker and Penelope started to realise the unsettling truth. "I think I now know what Mr Mopp was saying about 'er not being h'all there, m'lady," Parker said in a low voice.

"Quite, Parker," agreed Penelope. "This is going to have to be handled very delicately indeed. Let me try and talk her into coming out with us. You go upstairs and find Mr Burtonshaw."

"Very well, m'lady."

They walked into the cottage and Penelope entered the kitchen where Mrs Burtonshaw was fussing about. "They don't normally send two postmen," she said.

Penelope said nothing because she was trying to decide what to say.

Parker made his way upstairs to the upper floor. He looked down the landing and saw there were four doors. He checked behind them all. One was a bathroom, one was the airing cupboard and the other two were bedrooms. One was clearly a spare room. But as for Mr Burtonshaw, there was no sign of him. Parker even checked the wardrobes in case for some unknown reason Mr Burtonshaw had decided to randomly hide in one of them, but again he found nothing. He looked out of a window into the back garden and across the field towards the nearby woods. But there was still no sign of him.

Penelope was halfway up the stairs when Parker appeared at the top. "Is he coming?" she asked.

"'e's not 'ere, h'I'm afraid, m'lady," Parker answered.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean there's nobody h'up 'ere," said Parker. "She's the h'only one in the 'ouse."

Penelope was confused. "That doesn't make sense," she said. "She called up the stairs for him, so-" She broke off suddenly as a memory suddenly came back to her. During the previous month she'd been in the village with her parents to attend the annual Remembrance Day celebration in the village square. She'd also paid a visit to the village church and looked at the gravestones. One in particular, a fairly recent-looking one of possibly one or two years of age was now visible in her mind. The words 'TOBY BURTONSHAW - BELOVED WIFE OF HENRIETTA' were written on it. Penelope fell back against the wall, the colour draining from her face. "Oh, no…" she groaned, covering her face with her hands.

"Mr Burtonshaw h'isn't with us anymore is 'e, m'lady?" Parker said.

Penelope's hands fell away as she shook her head. "No, Parker," she said with a heavy sigh. "Oh, God, can this day get any worse?"

Two GDF officers had followed them and Penelope had left them talking to Mrs Burtonshaw. At this moment one of them appeared at the foot of the stairs. "Mrs Burtonshaw says she's ready to come now, Lady Penelope," he said.

"Good," said Penelope. "Get her into a minibus and then as far away from here as possible. I'm afraid her husband isn't around but please don't mention that to her."

"Oh…right…" said the officer awkwardly as he realised what this meant. "Of course."

Penelope and Parker went outside the cottage to get some air. Penelope was starting to feel unwell. It wasn't just the lack of sleep that was affecting her, but the stress of wanting to ensure all the villagers were evacuated and realising what Mrs Burtonshaw's illness meant. She almost felt like wanting to cry, but was doing all she could not to.

"Hello, Lady Penelope. Parker."

Penelope looked up to see Hayley walking towards her. "Hayley?" she said.

"Ma'am," said Parker.

"What are you doing here?" asked Penelope.

"These officers are on my squad," said Hayley. "The rest of the village has been cleared. It's just the people here that we're left to get to safety."

"There's only one I'm afraid, Ma'am," said Parker. "Mr Burtonshaw is dearly departed."

"Oh, right," said Hayley. "And the wife?"

"Not good," said Penelope. "Not because of him being gone, but because of her illness."

"Illness?" asked Hayley.

Penelope nodded. "She doesn't seem to have realised that he's no longer with her. Or it's caused her to forget. Either way. It's really horrible that she's in this situation."

Hayley now realised what Penelope meant as she saw her officers helping Mrs Burtonshaw, who was still smiling happily as though nothing was wrong, out of the front door and along the garden path towards the waiting minibus. The other buses and cars had already passed and were making their way up the road on the hill leaving Creighton empty behind them.

"We'll make sure she's taken care of, Lady Penelope," said Hayley. "You have my word on that."

Penelope nodded, fully trusting of Hayley's words.

Mrs Burtonshaw and the officers had almost reached the gate at the end of the path. "Here's the minibus, Mrs Burtonshaw," said one of the officers. "You'll be on your way soon."

"Oh, marvellous!" said Mrs Burtonshaw. "Come along, Toby! They're waiting for us!" She looked back over her shoulder. Then she stopped dead and turned around. "Toby?"

Hayley, Penelope and Parker saw this and exchanged worried looks.

"Oh, 'eck," groaned Parker. "H'I feared this might 'appen."

"Mrs Burtonshaw, you need to get on the bus," said one of the GDF officers.

But Mrs Burtonshaw suddenly became stern. "No!" she snapped. "Not without my husband!" She then started to try and return to the cottage. "TOBY?! WHERE ON EARTH ARE YOU?! TOBY?! TOBY!"

BOOM!