Introduction

You might not believe this, but it really happened.

This old couple lived in a nice house in a rural town in the royal county of Berkshire in England.

Their garden at the back of the house was steep, terraced and had sixty six steps leading to the very top.

At the back was a wooden gate leading to open fields once you had worked your way through a small copse.

They always kept the gate closed, to stop unwanted visitors, like cats, dogs, foxes and people coming into their private garden.

One fine autumn day after the husband had been foraging for wild mushrooms at the back, he must have forgotten to close and lock the gate.

The first hint that something had entered their garden was the following week, when the gate was banging in the wind, and he went to close and lock it.

He noticed the tall grass and reeds around their top pond had been trampled, but could not see anybody or anything that might have caused this.

Assuming whatever had entered had also left again after drinking from the pond he walked down the 66 steps to the house.

He told his wife and they did not think any more of it until a few weeks later when the weather was good for foraging again.

The back gate was still securely locked, but there was more evidence of something having been moving on the banks of the pond.

Picking up courage, the old man advanced carefully towards the water’s edge. Still could not see anything, but a faint snoring sound came from deep within the reeds.

“Anyone there?” he whispered. More soft snoring and no answer.

He moved slowly forward, not knowing what he expected to find; a wild animal maybe or an injured fox.

One thing is certain; He had never seen anything like the sight before his eyes.

A small being, no bigger than a baby, but with a beard and rough features covered by a woollen hat, was lying in the grass, peacefully sleeping on its side. A small haversack and a clay pipe beside it.

What was it? Was it dangerous or even injured? Where had it come from? Could he talk with it?

Lots of questions went through his mind as he stood looking down on this little manikin.

The man decided to let it sleep and go foraging for wild mushrooms. It was obviously not going anywhere and did certainly not look dangerous. He would get his wife to look at it when he returned from the woods.

He finally persuaded his wife to climb the sixty six steps to the top of the garden with him.

Apprehensive and maybe a little scared, they approached the figure in the reeds.

It was still sleeping peacefully but he decided to poke it with a long stick to be at a distance, just in case.

It stirred but did not wake up. Looking closer, he could see it was wearing a leather jerkin and trousers.

On its feet it was wearing what looked like wooden clogs.

“Should we cover it up?” his wife asked. She looked intrigued and not the least afraid of this small creature.

They found a sack in the nearby shed and she covered him up as best she could before they retreated back down to the house.

The rest of the afternoon was spent talking and speculating as to what to do next with their uninvited visitor.

Where had it come from, what was it, could it talk, would they understand, was it dangerous, infectious?

By early evening they had the beginning of a plan formulated.

As it was a clear night with a full moon, the husband would sneak up to the top pond and have a careful look around.

No torch would be needed so the creature would not see him coming if it was awake.

Advancing slowly he crept up the steps, trying to stay in the moon shadows.