The Beast of Exmoor

The Beast of Exmoor is a legendary phantom big cat that haunts the moors of Devon in southern England. After it apparently took a farm girl, the Queen ordered Sir Differel Van Helsing to hunt it down and destroy it. But she soon learns she may be after the wrong monster. A rousing adventure involving a famous English cryptid. This is a short story.As the United Kingdom's monster hunting bureau, the Caerleon Order will go after any paranormal creature that becomes a threat to Sovereign, Church, and Country. However, it serves as a defensive paramilitary organization, not an investigative agency, so it normally ignores cryptids, creatures whose existence have been suggested but are not yet recognized by scientific consensus, unless they go on a rampage.The Beast of Exmoor is a famous legendary phantom big cat that haunts the moors of Devon and Somerset in southern England. Reported sighting became national, then international news starting in the mid-seventies, but except for some wild deer and farm animals, it had never attacked a human being, so far as anyone knew.However, during the latest rash of sightings and animal maulings, a little farm girl has disappeared, rumored to be a victim of the Beast. In response, the Queen has ordered the Caerleon Order to hunt it down and destroy it. Sir Differel Van Helsing has decided that the best tactic would be to deploy snipers around the area, with herself as one of them, using farm animals as bait to lure it into rifle range.She has every reason to believe her plan will work, given time. But what she and no one else can know is that she is hunting the wrong monster.