[ShortNCuddlyAm]

short update - chapter 5

In The George Inn, George (no relation) - one of the landlords - paced nervously. It was summer, and that meant the brewery would send a man around unannounced to see how things were going. On top of that there was what looked like a mythical hairy creature wearing shorts, sandals and a T shirt tucking into a rustic platter in the beer garden; and an odd noise coming from the cellar. At least there were no SHUMS around. He half-chuckled as he remembered muttering invectives about them within the hearing of an elderly priest who, naturally, asked what a SHUM was. On being told, he looked at George askance and told him for being uncharitable to the blessed children. He then went out into the garden, where the SHUMS were. And came back in a few seconds later, ashen-faced. He nodded to George and muttered “I see you have a point, actually”, and went and sat as far from the garden as he could.

The noise was getting too distracting. He headed down to the cellar, torch in hand. He was carrying it more for the weight of the thing, making it useful as a cosh, than its light-emitting properties. The cellar, after all, was wired to the mains and had lights and other such mod cons. He turned the lights on, and descended into the maze of barrels and casks, boxes of glasses and crates of empties. At the foot of the stairs he paused, sniffing slightly. He thought he had caught a whiff of outside air coming from a direction it didn’t normally come from. And then he heard the noise again, coming from the same direction. He pulled out his diary, checked and double checked today’s date, frowned and cautiously moved off. He mentally chided himself for leaving his mobile phone upstairs, then mentally chided himself for mentally chiding himself - there was, after all, no reception down here.

A figure stepped out from behind a tall pile of boxes, smiling a little apologetically, and looking like he’d been dragged through a hedge backwards, sideways and maybe forwards for good measure. Moreover, his shoes were squelching slightly, and George was sure he could hear something from within the large bag the man had with him.

“You!” George shouted in a whisper. “You’re not due here now. I’ve had no notification. Nothing.”

“Training run, all a bit hush-hush, sorry” said the other. He noticed George’s eyes go towards the bag. “Change of clothes, small inflatable boat, and, well… you don’t want to know the rest. Is, err, my room free? Only Janey is a bit more sensitive to how I look than you. Plus I need to check a couple of things.”

George shook his head in exasperation, then nodded “Sure - you know where the other stairs are. Oh yeah - key…” he patted through his pockets and handed over a key. “We’ve a couple of guests, but they’re all out now. Although two of them are only out as far as the beer garden.”

The other nodded, and vanished quietly up the other stairs. George shrugged, and went back up the normal stairs, and noticed a very obvious tourist being obnoxious at the bar. Great, he thought, the brewery man is here, too.