Another day of boring work. Being a policeman in a small town in the middle of nowhere means, most calls are for animals getting on to the road, people complaining about trespassing, motorbikes running across fields destroying the crops. So many silly things to ask the police to deal with.

Today is no different. I've only just got in and Janna handed me a report to follow up. Reading it as I walked to my locker didn't surprise me in the slightest. Another stupid dispute between two people. These two live in the holiday homes just out of town and are probably only going to be here for another week. I saw the time of the report and frowned. It was made at 9 am... that was at the end of James' shift.

"Janna, why wasn't this dealt with already?" I called from my locker.

"James said he was done dealing with these people."

I stuck my head back out of the room. "Why?"

"The complainant has called every day since she moved in a month ago."

I shook my head putting my things in my locker. "So tell me the history there. Why are they calling us?" I walked out of the locker room as I asked.

"They share a boundary with that odd lady that bought up all that land." Jenna said tapping away on her keyboard.

"The odd lady?"

She turned from her computer to give me a surprised look over the rim of her glasses. "You don't know about her! Almost everyone has come in here to say that she unnerved them or her dog has been aggressive towards them. Are you sure you haven't heard any of this?"

"Nope. I was off work for two weeks then I've been on nights and on call. The only thing I've had to deal with is those kids and their dirt bike."

She shook her head at me. "Well everyone has been talking about her. She came in about three days ago to update her gun license. She's got a lot of guns. She moved in about two or three months ago, she handed over her guns until she could have the gun safe fitted and the firearms officer to check her house out. Then she came to update her licence and take her guns back."

"That sounds perfectly normal to me." I said shrugging.

She sighed. "She followed the rules, yes but it's the way she acted. She was... curt, almost unfriendly. Her dog was on a lead when I saw him, but as soon as she can she takes him off the lead."

"Again I'm not hearing anything off yet. It just sounds like she's unfriendly."

She put her fists on her hips. "It's the way she does things. The only one she is friendly with is that dog. Everyone else is given the minimum amount of her attention. If she can get away from you without seeming to be rude and without seeing you she will. She never looks you in the eye and is... cold, plus she owns pretty much everything East of the town."

"Really?" That shocked me.

"Yep, all the forest and farmland to the lake." She smiled at the look on my face.

"She bought the old farm no one wanted, the second holiday house out to the east, and the old hunting lodge. She moved in and demolished all the buildings on that land, except the holiday home. I don't think she plans on doing anything with it. She's left it to grow wild and Hank says she's not put any permits in for building."

I shook off my shock. "So she is short with people and has a lot of land..."

"And guns." Janna put in.

"Even so that's not all that odd. Lots of people here have guns." I looked back at the report. "So her neighbour called because she was on their land?"

Janna sighed. "That Edith is calling us about many things."

"So I have to go up there and ask this lady to stay off Edith's property?"

She nodded, drinking her tea and sitting back behind her desk. "Yep, but a heads up last time Edith was trying to stop the other lady from being on her land."

I sighed feeling that sinking feeling that told me this would be a pain. "Right. What car am I driving today?"

She waved a key at me. "Old Betty."

"Great this day gets better and better." I took the key and walked out the back door followed by Janna's laughter.

I got in old Betty. I turned the key hoping the bloody thing would start. The old Ford coughing and spluttering into life, flashed its dashboard lights at me. "Why can't they give me one of the new cars?" I asked myself looking at the dashboard's meaningless lights. "At least they tell you engine issue or.... low oil. This thing just flashes its bloody lights. What even does any of this mean?"

One of the bulbs was gone and the engine warning light was permanently on. Someone had covered it with tape that now hung off leaving the light visible again. A new light had come on about two days ago.

I must take the rust mobile to Bill at the end of my shift. I'll probably forget again. "Something that starts reliably would be nice." Old Betty coughed again at me nearly stalling, as if to tell me off for my comments. This rust bucket is probably haunted.

I radioed in that I was on my way out of town and forced the gearbox to find a gear that worked. It made a horrible grinding sound before finally going in. "Good luck. You're going to need it." Janna came back with. With what? I wondered. The car or the job?

I drove east out of town towards the first holiday house. All the way there I hoped I'd get a more urgent call, or break down. I wasn't that lucky. Why can't this dam car brake when I want it to?

I pulled up to the house and someone that had to be Edith opened the door. She was short, fat and had blonde hair wrapped up in a bun on top of her head. She was wearing pink trousers and a white tank top that barely held her in as she walked.

"Finally!" I closed the door to the car as she started her tirade. "She stopped the workmen who were building my son's cabin. That dog of hers needs putting down! That thing tried to bite the workmen! You need to do something about her. Does that beast of hers have to kill someone before you will do something about it?"

"I read the report mam."

She waggled her finger under my nose forcing me to take a step back or risk being poked. "A report I made hours ago!"

"We have been busy with more urgent calls. This woman stopping your builders is not the most pressing issue we have had to deal with today." Like drinking coffee and stopping traffic after a van fly-tipped so much stuff at the side of the road, it was coarsening an obstruction. A far cry from what I had to deal with before.

She scoffed at my words. She started from the beginning and I wrote down what she said was important in my notepad. "And these workmen will agree with you about the dog?" I asked when she stopped to breathe.

"Yes! You need to get someone to take that animal away before she sets it on someone!"

I wrote that down and underlined it to make her think it was important. "Where did this happen?"

She pointed to a freshly cut path through the trees. "Follow that driveway. That leads to where my son's cabin will be."

I started to walk that way when she called after me. "Watch out for that dog!" I waved her off as I walked.

Following that driveway led me into the forest that had just been cut down. I could see the cleared wood at the side of the new driveway for pickup.

I saw someone had started to get the stumps out when work was called off. It left one large stump in the middle of what would be a driveway. It had fresh paint on it like something had hit it on the way through. The paint matched what I assume is Edith's little car sitting outside her house. The stump was partially pulled from the earth and she must not have seen it.

Continuing up the driveway I stopped at the top of the hill it ran up. The clearing opened out to a building that was under construction. The foundation was poured and the walls were in place. The framework of that would be the second floor leaning up against the side of the structure. It looked like about a week's work had gone into it.

I started walking towards the structure when a growl came from the German shepherd lying near to the entrance to the building, it had been so still I hadn't seen it at first. Its colour allows it to blend with the mud around it.

"Burt what are you..." A lady appeared in the doorway of the partially built structure.

She was slight almost petite. Her hair was short and dark. She wore a long dark raincoat that covered her completely. It looked well-worn and thick and had dried mud stuck to the bottom. She was wearing walking boots and jeans from what I could see of her lower half. She had a large hiking backpack strapped securely to her. She wore it like she had used one of these bags often and knew how to wear it comfortably.

She turned and saw me. She sighed loudly and crossed her arms. "Oh... let me guess Edith called you about me trespassing." She spoke softly and her tone was curt.

"You do appear to be in her building." I said smiling.

The lady came down the steps. "She's building on my land."

"You're a selfish cow scooping up all the good land around here." Edith's screeching voice came from behind me.

I sighed and turned to her. "Please go home, I am dealing with this."

"Are you? She's inside my building! I demand you arrest her."

The dog growled again drawing my attention to him and making Edith squeal. He was standing now showing his teeth at Edith. "Burt we don't need your opinion." The woman said to the dog. He grumbled in protest and then laid down, his head on his paws.

"You see that beast needs to be destroyed!" Burt the dog jumped up showing his teeth growling more aggressively at Edith.

Edith jumped behind me using me as a shield from the dog. "Burt stop it. Sit down or no dinner." The women's command was soft. The dog whined at his master's command and laid back down. "That's what I thought. Now officer I have my deed here and I ask you to see the piece of paper she showed the builder." The lady's tone never changed from its flat pitch from talking to the dog, to me.

"I will look at both deeds to work out which one is real."

Edith scoffed again and stormed off back down the driveway. I watched Edith sliding on the mud in her flip-flops as I asked. "I take it she doesn't have the paperwork for the building."

"No." I turned back to the lady. Her flat tone matched her face, devoid of emotion.

"May I see your deed?" She shook the paper in her hand at me.

Her large rucksack was on the floor at her feet, open and in her other hand was a waterproof folder. The folder had a few pieces of paper in it, and now I was looking I could see a camera lying next to the bag.

I walked up and took it eyeing the dog that seemed like he was sulking. "I understand you have had a few of these visits from us, is that right?" I looked up from the paperwork when she said nothing and she nodded looking off at the treeline like she was searching it. What is she looking for? "And your dog doesn't like her?"

"No, he doesn't. He takes it personally when someone judges him on his breed."

It was like I'd found the key to her voice box. She had affection in her voice and chose to add things that I didn't ask for. She smiled down at the dog as she spoke.

This is my in. I get her talking about the dog and she will be more open to me. Maybe I can sort this dispute out quicker and get back to the station before dark. "But German shepherds are an intelligent and deeply loyal breed. They are widely used as service dogs in the police and military, that's where their aggressive reputation came from. It's not what they are like really."

She smiled as she looked down at Brut. He stood up wagging his tail. "What do you think Burt?" Burt barked. "I agree. He says thank you for understanding him."

This was what Janna was talking about. She finally had warmth in her voice and face but it was all for the dog. She's also not looking me in the eye. She found no excuse to not look at me.

"Well, Burt I will ask you not to growl at the other officer. He is afraid of dogs and would insult you without meaning to." To my surprise the dog seemed to understand me, he licked my hand and wandered off towards the forest, wagging his tail.

"Burt says he likes you and will be a good boy. He is usually hard to bring around, but you understand him. Now what do you need from me?" All the warmth in her voice was gone by the question directed at me.

"Your side of this, if you would like to give me your side. It's quite clear she has tried to take your land, she gave it away in her comment."

She turned from watching Burt to look me in the eye. Her eyes were different colours and had an intensity to them. One was blue and the other green. They looked dead like someone had sucked all the life out of them. What could have happened to her to make her so deadpan?

"Why?"

Back to the cold and distant way of only using the least amount of words. "If you give me your side we will be able to add it to the file we have. Maybe we won't need to come out and disturb you again."

She stared at me silently for a long while, it was quite unsettling to be stared at with those dead eyes. Eventually, she nodded and looked to Burt who whimpered for no reason I could see. "Alright, I'll give you what's been going on." She took the deed from me and looked off towards where Burt had disappeared behind a bush. "You should come up to the house."

That took me by surprise. "Alright. I will finish Edith's side of this then I will come to your statement."

"I will wait for you at the bottom of her driveway."

My eyebrows were trying to climb to the top of my head. She is just going to get in a police car and have me drive her home? What does she think I am, a taxi? "Sure, but why?"

"I can't get home before you get there. It's several miles. So I will come with you. I will wait for you at the bottom of the drive so I'm not adding to the issues." Every word was a statement made with as few words as she could manage but still get her point across, all delivered in that flat tone.

"Sure, I'll see you there then." She nodded curtly and walked away putting her backpack on and calling her dog with a whistle.

I watched her walk off into the forest. Burt looked back at me wagging his tail and panting with his tongue out, before running after his master. She walked fast and was lost in the trees and underbrush after only a few steps. Once I couldn't see her I lost her from my hearing as well.

I turned feeling uneasy by the interaction, and walked back down the long driveway towards Edith's house. She was waiting for me at the bottom tapping her foot impatiently. There's not enough coffee in the world for me to deal with this first thing.

She had fresh mud on her trousers and shirt like she had slipped in the mud on her way back. "Well, did you tell her to stay on her property?"

"I need to see the proof that she wasn't on her property. She showed me her deed that says she owns this land to the edge of your driveway."

She stamped her foot and crossed her arms. "She owns so much land why can't she just let us have that bit."

"If she was willing to let you have it she would sign it over to you. You can't just take it. Now this piece of paper she said you waved at the builder, can I see it?"

She shrugged still tapping her foot with her arms crossed. "What piece of paper?"

I sighed at her false innocent tone. This is going to give me a headache. "If I find you have forged papers I will have to arrest you."

"I've done nothing wrong how dare you threaten me with arrest!" She screamed.

I took a deep calming breath and opened my notebook. "The builder saw this paper and your neighbour confirmed that he did. Forgery is against the law, so if you have done that you could be arrested. It's not a threat it's a fact. So is making false reports to the police, and harassment. All these things are things you could be arrested for."

She huffed and turned away from me returning to her house. I felt relieved that she hadn't continued to yell at me.

Putting my notebook away I walked to old Betty and got in it. Putting the key in the ignition I hoped it would start. I turned the key and old Betty coughed into life. I sighed with relief as a new squeal came from the engine that I hadn't heard before. Another thing I will forget to tell Bill about.