As noon approached, Mr Findleyson busied himself with packing things in his old Land Rover for the long trip to Norwich.
The Land Rover was a long wheelbase model over 30 years old with over 300,000 miles on the clock! It had a diesel engine which ran as well as it did when it was new. It was clapped out looking, it's dark green paint faded with patches of corrosion appearing on its aluminium body.
He saw no reason to get rid of it as it still got him where he wanted to go. As far as he was concerned, it was good for another 300,000 miles.
He still had it serviced once a year and it still passed its MOT with little needing done.
The inside was basic and afforded little comfort.
There was no carpet, no heater, and no radio.
They would be driving for 12 hours in it, a long time for them to be bouncing around inside and breathing diesel fumes.
The long uncomfortable ride would surely ruffle a few feathers and numb a few asses!
Whenever he drove the hens anywhere, he would put all the hens except Martha, in cages in the back of the Land Rover for their own safety and wellbeing. Martha would sit in the passenger seat up front, on a cushion next to Mr Findleyson.

Martha would even perch upon a stool at the kitchen table which Mr Findleyson had provided for her.
He would share his toast with her at breakfast and other bits and pieces at lunch and dinner.
As they sat at the table, he would talk to Martha and she would cluck back at him.
He knew she did not understand a word he was saying but he could not help himself. He was fond of all his hens but he loved Martha. She was good company and would even sit with him while he watched TV or listened to the wireless. She would cluck away as they sat in the lounge.

In the winter there would be a big roaring fire going in the large Inglenook fireplace.
His farmhouse was over 300 years old and still retained a lot of the original features.
The Inglenook fireplace being one of them.
There were large wooden beams throughout the house and the original stone floor in the kitchen and pantry, with the original oak floorboards in the rest of the house.

The farm had belonged to his parents and they had kept the house as traditional as they could.
Mr Findleyson had not changed a thing and it was still as his parents had left it.

In the winter, with the fire roaring away, he would usually fall asleep in his comfortable recliner by 10.00 pm. He was tired after a long days work, not to mention getting up at 5.00 am everyday, no matter what the weather was like! Good or bad, he still had work to do.
It was 7 days a week to run a farm. He was also not as young as he once was and had slowed down over the years. He was now 73 and rheumatism had set in. So he would fall asleep on the settee or his recliner with Martha clucking away beside him!

He would usually wake up in the middle of the night and put Martha to her bed in the kitchen and then he would take himself up to bed.
During the day, Martha followed him wherever he went. She clearly loved him and was devoted to him. They had a very special relationship and a deep understanding of each other.

Days before each show, Mr Findleyson's competing hens were given special food along with their daily diet.
He always gave Martha a special hen mash he prepared, to plump her up even more and to bring out the sparkle in her black beady eyes.
Her eyes became beacons in the night, transfixing you when you looked at them!

The day before the Norwich show had finally arrived.
Mr Findleyson and the hens were up earlier than usual.
He, Martha and the other competing hens had a long drive ahead of them. It would take at least 12 hours to get to Norwich.
The journey would be split in two, with Mr Findleyson pulling off the motorway and parking in a layby so he and the hens could get a nights sleep. In the morning he would feed and water them and then feed himself.
They had to be at the show grounds for 8am to register and get organised, as the judging of the hens would start at 10.00am.

Mr Findleyson wanted himself and the hens to be rested and fresh for the competition.
They would be setting out from the Farm at 12.00 pm that day.
There were chores to do around the farm and eggs to collect before the long journey began.
Mr Findleyson was up at 4.00 am. By 6.00 the farm was a hive of activity. Hens bustling about, getting ready for the midday departure.

Martha was relaxing, as she felt she looked her best. The other competing hens were doing some last minute preening. At 7.00 am Mr Findleyson fed and watered all his hens. He then went into his large farmhouse kitchen to have breakfast.
Martha followed him into the house. She was the only hen that lived in the house and she had done so since she had hatched.
She had a bed which Mr Findleyson had made for her in front of the large Aga.
The other hens on the farm had the choice of the big barn or the henhouse in which to sleep. They were free to roam around during the day. By night they were tucked up securely for their own safety from the foxes which roamed the countryside pillaging from the farms they came across!

Nowadays he concentrated on his vast collection of child pornography he stored on his computer.
He sold and traded images with his fellow paedophiles who trawled the internet, speaking in code as not to get caught.
His collection of child porn was supposedly the largest in Britain and Europe.
The majority of the images were of young boys up to the age of thirteen.
After thirteen, the underground world of paedophiles who bought and sold these vile images were not really interested.
These evil, sick, twisted and sexually depraved men only liked really young boys and girls. The younger the better!

Cedric had spent his adult life amassing child porn images and had made a fortune from them over the years.
He had gone into teaching to cover up his perverted ways and to gain respectability, which afforded discretion to ply his sick and evil trade.
He was no longer sexually active but when he had been, it was with young boys, some of them his students at the time!

Cedric and Hillary didn't just happen upon each other, no they had been working as "ringer" judges together for the past 7 years. They were not friends, just co-workers.
Hillary despised Cedric's sick and perverted way of life.

They were known as the best and most distinguished looking "ringer" judges throughout the world of competitions where judges were prevalent.
They became "experts" of the theme or subjects they were judging. They could turn their hand to any competition because of their distinguished looks, elderly appearance and the fact that they both thoroughly researched the subject of a competition that they were judging. They both did their homework leading up to any competition they were judging.
Whether they were judging livestock, highland dancing, flower arranging, cooking and baking, art exhibits, hand knitting or even judging local gardens in a community, they appeared experts in that field.

The Norfolk Show was now two weeks away and George had hired and briefed the "ringer" judges.
There were two of them. An elderly woman and an elderly man.
They both looked very distinguished and above board. In reality these two people were plebeian's of a depraved nature!

The female judge was 67 years old, married, a mother to three grown children and a grandmother of 7 grandchildren. Her name is Hillary Lumsden, who lives in the countryside outside Aberdeen.
By day this "twinset and pearls" grandmother does voluntary work for the homeless and mentally impaired. She is a pillar of her community.
By night, her and her husband are king and queen of the dogging fraternity! Active participants for over 40 years.
They are well known on the dogging scene by the police in their community.
With the advent of the internet, they were the first to have a website devoted to dogging.
They would share with their fellow dogging enthusiasts, which forests, lanes, carparks and countryside clearings were the most active, exciting and frequented.

Hillary and her husband , despite their advancing years, still travelled the country to engage in dogging!
In fact they were considered "hardcore" by other doggers.

The other elderly judge was Cedric Henderson, originally from Cornwall, he had been living in Edinburgh for over 40 years.
Before he retired, he had been a religious teacher to an all boys prep school.
He had taught at the same school throughout his career.
A quiet and distinguished man who had never married.

Reclusive since retirement with few friends and no family to speak of.
This shy and retiring bachelor was really a depraved and perverted paedophile with a long and sordid past of sexually abusive young boys.

He went to her house one evening and threatened her with blackmail. He wanted her to let him and his band of betes noirs, to be allowed to hire the judges for the upcoming show in Norwich, Norfolk. Norwich was the biggest show of the year and the finale of the season.
They would not hire real experienced judges, no, they would hire "ringers!"

They would brief the ringers as to what hen would take first place, second and third places. There would be no place for Martha!

These ringers would be well paid, so they did not talk.
The breeders and farmers would have a whip round to pay the ringers, if Beth agreed to the sordid scheme.
She really had no choice as George confronted her with what he knew. As she could not face the humiliation or the loss of her job, she agreed to George's request.
Whoever George hired, she would pretend it was her doing. If anyone found out, it would be her that took the fall.

Depression.
Tears ran down her feathery cheeks as she became weaker and weaker from lack of food and water.
Her feathers were also falling out due to her physical and mental state. Bald patches started to appear on her body.
Her mind drifted back to happier times and a more carefree way of life.
Martha was now over 5 years old and had been at the Mather's cottage for a little over 6 months.
She had been bred and raised at a farm owned by Oliver Finleyson, which was nestled in a glen outside Oban which was on the west coast of Scotland.
Mr Findleyson was a passionate breeder of hens which he also showed up and down the country.
Martha was one of his top show hens. She had reigned supreme for 3 years at the top, as she travelled with Mr Findleyson to shows all over Britain.

The trophies and blue ribbons that adorned the mantlepiece, barn and kitchen of the large farmhouse, were a testament to Martha's superiority.
Martha was a true champion, winning the top prizes at the fairs, shows and festivals they attended throughout the country.
The other breeders and farmers who competed became jealous and angry as their hens could do no better than second or third place.
They grew to despise Mr Findleyson and Martha.
They huddled together at shows and talked about ways they could knock Martha off her "perch."
Some of the shows offered large cash prizes along with the trophies and ribbons.
The shows attracted big sponsors, who put up the money to attract a large number of show entries.

Besides all the first place trophies and ribbons Martha always won "best in show" for the 3 years she competed.

The other disgruntled farmers and breeders started meeting outside the shows to dislodge Martha from top spot. Finally they found away!

One of the breeders who wanted rid of Martha, was the brother-in-law of the secretary who worked for the Breeders Association.
This man, George Atkinson, was unscrupulous in every aspect of his life.
His sister-in-law, who was in her 60's, led a double life that George had found out about and was prepared to blackmail her with.
Her name was Beth and she had worked as a secretary for the Breeders Association for near on 30 years. Her work and input was respected throughout the Association.
Beth, over the years, had personally organised shows and hired the judges to judge the hens.

Beth was his wife's sister and they were very close.
That is how he found out a about Beth's secret.
She was plain, dowdy and quiet woman, who George thought was downright boring.
She was very competent and efficient at her job but had no personal life.
Never married nor even had a male suitor in all the years George had known her.
Then one day his wife let slip that Beth is a much sought after dominatrix with a drink problem. Apparently his dowdy, plain and boring sister-in-law was really a sexually deviant woman with a hatred of men and enjoyed humiliating them, not to mention whipping them until they begged for mercy.
If only the Breeders Association knew the real Beth!