Lord Justice Burns had sentenced the perpetrator of the Windermere famine, Nancy Benn, to three years of community service at George’s monster menagerie, and while George slept for a week without armor, his man, Jack, was trying to find a room. where Nancy could stay. George’s old ruined castle had few habitable rooms, and aside from George and Jack’s own rooms, all available space was filled with tools and equipment needed to support the growing population of megafauna.
After evaluating the limited alternatives, Nancy opted to move into the hatchery, which is used to keep the eggs warm during the winter. ‘At least it’s warm,’ she said, ‘and I’m used to living with monster eggs.’
“It’s not often that we have more than one egg at a time,” said Jack, “and sometimes there is no egg here, especially in the summer when eggs can be left outside.”
Where do you roll them?
‘That’s the point,’ said Jack, ‘if they’re stored here, they have to be rolled on the patio outside, and with uneven pavers, rolling can be difficult and there’s always a risk of a crack.’
“And summer eggs are laid on the grass and rolled on the grass?”
‘Yes, and usually everything is done by mom!’
‘The natural way.’
‘Yes,’ said Jack, ‘but unfortunately all moms don’t have natural instincts; they lay eggs at the wrong time and in the wrong place, some are non-rollers and a few are egg eaters or fail to prevent males from eating eggs. In almost all of these cases, the eggs are safer here and we become surrogate mothers.”
How are eggs kept warm?
“We pack them in hay, is that the old hay box principle?”
Any fire hazard?
‘Yes, of course,’ said Jack, ‘Sometimes a wayward mother comes looking for her egg and the smell draws her here. Then, not being able to get in, she will let the hot thing fly out the window and the hay will burn.
‘Has happened?’
‘Once or twice; Look at that blackened wall!
‘Will it happen again?’
We hope not.
‘How are you going to prevent it?’
“We sprinkled the hay with catnip,” said Jack, “That blanket has the smell of the egg.”
‘Repels monsters but attracts cats.’
‘Yes, I hope you are a moggy lover.’
I hate all pets.
‘Then you’ll hate our monsters too,’ said Jack, ‘we treat them like house pets.’
‘Yeah, I hate the whole setup. All creatures should be free to live in the wild.
“That’s what motivated your crime and why the judge committed you to community service to change your ways.”
‘I will never change my beliefs. And if I get the slightest chance, I’ll unleash all your pets!
“Well, at least you’re being open with us,” said Jack. We will be on guard to ensure that not even the slightest possibility arises.
