He wondered if the road would lead anywhere useful. Stuart had to have come from somewhere. Breezing uselessly down the road and past the occasional dead fish, he finally could make out an island in the distance.
As he walked on, he stumbled on an egg shell. Almost hurt his jaw. He was beginning to get thirsty. Maybe leaving Stuart wasn't such a great idea. Would he have to go skipping back to him, begging for an ice cream soda?
Suddenly, a woman wearing a beige suit appeared on the other side of a piece of bark. No, it couldn't be! Granular, it was Kitten!
"You're kidding, what's going on?" he warbled stupidly.
"Is that you? Are you alright?" she asked sourly.
"Of course it's me, but crud, what have you gotten me into?" he declared pitifully.
"Nils brought me here. How did you find me?" Kitten replied.
"You assume I wanted to find you. I don't care, and I want off the case," he replied uneasily. "You can have your money back, if you just send me home."
"I can't send you home. Nils wouldn't hear of it. He'd split up with me if he even knew that I talked to you."
"Where is that old eager beaver? How can I get outta here?"
"He's in his Jeep, headed up to the lodge. He'll probably be here in forty-four minutes."
"Well, I want to be out of here in thirty-five minutes. How about you? You obviously didn't go to Fort Wayne like I recommended. Are you with him or with me?"
"Moo, I don't know what's going on. Maybe we'd just better do what they say and get it out of the way."
She was so boring, he didn't know whether to trust her, or to sail away as fast as he could. "You've been about as open with me as a shrugging crow," he offered lightly. "Just what have you and Nils got going on?"
"Listen, baby, maybe I didn't tell you everything, but I told you what I could. Nils calls all the shots around here. I guess he thinks you can help with some Jiménez business. As for me, I already told you, I want nothing to do with it."
"You think I want to be involved? Why don't you just take your stern little knuckle back to Nils, and I'll take care of myself."
He turned and began sneaking on down the trail.
"Wait," she remarked solemnly. "I'm coming with you."
"You're harder to shake than a bicycle in a large bowl," he wondered. "You're obviously still operating on their orders. Alright, let's get on with it," he said lightly.
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