You’ve all heard the old stories, right?
The Kelpie, the nixie, the river horse- a malevolent fey creature that lures unwary children into its watery realm. Some stories say it looks like a beautiful horse, one that entices children to mount it. As they do, its back elongates to accomodate yet more children.
Kelpies, obviously, arent real. They are just a tale mothers tell to make their children avoid the water. The tale conceal a deeper truth however- the waters edge is a dangerous place.
I was 9 when it happened. My best friend Eric and I had ridden our bikes down the creek to play pretend at some suitably dramatic cliffs overlooking the river. As we approached our destination we saw something white, brown and red in the distance.
There was a metallic smell in the air- you know that peculiar mix of blood and shit you get when an animal has been shot in the abdomen? Its not a particularly unpleasant smell, but never bodes well. Eric sniffed the air nervously. His face, reddened by the summer sun, had grown drawn and paled.
My heart thumped in my chest as we approached, anxiety mounting.
We found a cow. Well, in truth we found half a cow. Her neck was still attached to a nearby oak with a thick rope, but maybe a foot caudal of her coracoid process remained nothing but a massive gaping wound. Torn off entrails hung from what remained of her liver still attached to the partially ruptured diaphragm. A trail of blood, gore and fecal matter led down to the waters edge.
“What the hell?” Eric nervously swallowed and glanced at the river. “We should maybe go back? This feels weird!”
I crouched by the bovine cadaver. There were toothmarks, I thought- bloody indentations of a long snout. There were tracks in the mud too, vaguely doglike but bigger than any I’ve seen. “There are claws, so its definitely not feline… I think its a wolf.” I said “They have bigger paws than dogs.”
Eric shook his head. “I think we should get out of here. Wolves are dangerous.”
“Thats mostly a myth- they’re-“ I stopped suddenly as I saw it. It was obvious in hindsight. The tracks had five toes, meaning they could not possibly be canid.
“What!?” Eric whimpered. He was sweating heavily at this point, his mounting dread written plainly on his young features.
I did not think of them as young at the time. It took time to get to that stage.
He will always be 9 to me. My best friend. Forever.
I barely had time to react as the massive head burst from the water. The monsters paws pressed deeply into the mud and for a moment it was if time was suspended as the monster sank slightly. Then its long neck twisted abruptly and its long jaws snapped shut around Erics thigh.
He was wearing shorts. The monsters teeth rasped along the thigh, leaving bloody gashes in the pake untanned skin, before powerful jaw muscles clenched and sharp teeth sank into the muscles and tendons with a sickening crunch. The monsters whiskers bent against Erics skin and for a second I bizarrely wondered if they tickled.
Eric didnt have time to scream before he was pulled into the water, quickly disappearing beneath the surface of the river. I just stood there, mouth gaping peripathetically.
I still remember the last look he gave me. It was my fault he died, and he knew it.
After the initial shock was over, I ran. Not back the way we came, but away from the waters edge and the monster that lived there.
They never found Erics body. I have no illusions- the creature ate him and there is nothing left of him to find. Hell, they didnt even find the remains of the cow, nor was one ever reported missing.
No one believed me when I told them what happened to him. I did not go back to the creek for over two decades.
Not before tonight.
Soon everyone will believe me.
I know what that damn monster was. Its not a kelpie, nor any other kind of supernatural, invincible fiend though I think it may have inspired those old stories.
Only one kind of critter has tracks like that, like a 5- toed wolf.
Mustelids.
It’s a damn Otter. Not the kind you’re familiar with though- an evolutionary offshoot evolved into a semi- aquatic ambush predator. Its snout has grown longer to grip its prey better, like a mammalian crocodile, but its body plan is otherwise similar to other otters. It does look a little like a horse with a weirdly elongated back, if I’m being generous to the old fairy tales.
In Ireland, there is a myth of the Doubhar- Chu, a giant anthropophagic otter. I’ve no doubt that particular tale was inspired by something very real. I’ve read about Enhydrion- an extinct genus of giant Otters that lived in east Africa one or two million years ago. They could weigh up to 600 lbs and probably ate our poor, apelike H. Habilis ancestors when they went to the wrong watering hole on the ancient savannah. Perhaps the monster is an extant descendant? Or perhaps just a distant cousin adapted to a similar lifestyle.
Either way, its just an animal, and its about to learn its f**ing place.
I’ve tied the cow close to the rivers edge. Its placidly eating grass, unaware of the danger. A meal on a platter- the perfect bait.
The sun is setting soon, and by then I’ll turn on my infrared scope. My rifle is loaded with 4 Norma 30-06 Oryx half- mantled lead bullets. I have all the time in the world. I’m going to shoot that damned monster and watch it choke on its own blood. Then I’m going to show its body to the world. Everyone will believe me soon.
I’m going to put the phone away now. I have a monster to kill.
I expect you’ll hear all about it tomorrow.