Lord Justice Burns, had sentenced the perpetrator of the Windermere famine, Nancy Benn, to three years community service in 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 dilapidated old castle had few habitable rooms, and aside from George and Jack’s own bedrooms, every available space was filled with the tools and equipment needed to support the growing population of megafauna.
After evaluating the limited alternatives, Nancy opted to move to 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 aren’t any eggs here, especially in the summer when the 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 the uneven cobblestones, rolling can be difficult and there’s always the risk of a crack.’
“And the 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 mothers don’t have natural instincts; they lay eggs at the wrong time and in the wrong place, some are not coilers and a few are egg eaters or fail to prevent the males from eating eggs. In almost all of these cases, the eggs are safer here and we become surrogate mothers.”
How do eggs stay warm?
“We pack them in hay, is that the old haybox principle?”
Any fire hazard?
‘Yes, of course,’ said Jack, ‘Sometimes a stray mother comes looking for her egg and the smell draws her here. Then, when she can’t get in, she’ll 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 sprinkle the hay with catnip,” said Jack, “That blanket has the smell of the egg.”
‘Repels monsters but attracts cats.’
‘Yeah, I hope you’re 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 montage. All creatures should be free to live in nature.
‘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,” Jack said. We will be on our guard to make sure that not even the slightest possibility arises.
