When Mrs. Jenkins went to release her chickens from their coop one spring morning, she discovered the ground to be covered in feathers and blood splatter. She knew at that moment that one of her hens was missing. It wasn’t uncommon for wild animals to prey on chickens, so she just cleaned up and asked her husband to fortify the coop.

Then that same night, she woke up to the sound of scratching and a low growling. She sprang from her bed, grabbed her husband’s hunting rifle, and rushed outside, but the animal had already fled the scene. Once again, it had tried to get to her chickens. So, over the next few nights, she stood watch, ready to shoot at the first thing that moved. But the animal never showed up.

As she shared her pains with Mrs. Halbert over coffee, the woman mentioned that other villagers had been reporting the same incident. Chicken, ducks, cats… had lately been going missing and were assumed to be dead.

The villagers suspected Owen, as he had recently obtained a beagle he found on the outskirts of the village. But according to Owen, he kept his dog leashed, and he claimed that it was not the doing of his dog, but rather some other wild animal. However, some of his neighbors swore that they had seen an unattended beagle wandering in their fields.

So, Mrs. Jenkins announced that she was going to kill the animal, be it Owen’s dog or a wild beast. And asked her neighbors to do the same. If what they killed was Owen’s dog, then Owen was a liar, and if it was a wild animal, then they will have made the village safer.

After this declaration, the incidents stopped. And it seemed that was the end of the matter. Until a week later, when an attack happened again, and this time more violent than before. Mrs. Jenkins lost two hens and a chick, and some of the chickens had chunks of their feathers plucked out.

I know What I Heard