OK, so this has been a long time in appearing
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Chapter 13
The yeti, his companion, and the slowly drying woman from the sea walked up-river to the village. By now, though, it was getting on a bit, and the tea shop had closed for the day. The trio walked over to the nearest pub, which conveniently had a sign saying there were rooms for rent. The Australian barman mixed three drinks whilst two rooms were prepared and the landlords tried not to look too gleeful.
After food and some interesting cocktails, the trio made their upstairs to their rooms. The woman from the sea shook her head slightly and rubbed her eyes, convinced she had just seen two socks slip out from under a nearby door, then hide in the shadows. Even more concerning, she thought she saw the glint as of light bouncing off a small amount of metal. She shook her head - she must be imagining things.
—-
“That was close, Hugo”
“Too close. Still, I think she put it down to the drinks.”
“That’s good. Hugo - can I send myself a postcard?”
“What?”
“Only I saw some nice ones in the gift shop earlier”
“If you mus… wait… what? When were you in the gift shop?”
“Well, it was just a quick visit and…”
“Never mind. Come on, we have scouting to do.”
“I prefer brownies…”
“What?!”
“They have chocolate in them”
—-
The following morning, the woman from the sea went to the shop and asked, in accented English, for a cup of tea and some spotted dick pudding. It may simply have been the after effects of the cocktails, or the early hour, but she didn’t notice the waitress’s face turn ashen. A few moments later she had tea and spotted dick pudding in front of her. She tasted a small mouthful. Then another. And another. And was decided. Her mission was not the fool’s errand some had called it. She sipped her tea thoughtfully whilst deciding her next move. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something move. This time she was sure it was a pair of socks - socks she had last seen in a small apartment in Paris. She blinked, looked again, and there was nothing. Her brow furrowed, but another taste of the spotted dick pudding chased it all from her mind. She called to a passing waitress.
“I’d like to speak to the owner, please”
—-
Meanwhile, whilst the yeti and his companion were off for an early morning stroll, the chappie woke up with a very sore head. He rubbed the sore spot, and winced. Then his eyes fell on an empty cake box, and he made haste towards the ICC HQ.
—-
“Look at all these acorns!”
“Well, they are squirrels. What were you expecting? Croissants?”
“No - but I wasn’t expecting this many… oh! This doesn’t feel like an acorn… nor does this…”
“Lefty! I think you’re on to something! Here - help me try and open one”
“Umm… how?”
“Blast. We’ll need to roll it over the edge and hope it breaks. On the count of three - 3… 2… 1…”
—-
The yeti and his companion wandered into the tea shop just in time to see the woman from the sea talking to the tea shop owner. The conversation didn’t look like it was going too well, judging by the look of dismay on the owner’s face and outrage on the woman’s face.
“And that’s about the sum of it, I’m afraid. As much as I’d love to supply the Kingdom of Pinwheel with Spotted Dick Pudding, I simply can’t without the recipe” the owner said, looking and sounding very close to tears.