He wondered if the road would lead anywhere useful. Damien had to have come from somewhere. Barrelling angrily down the road and past the occasional piece of bark, he finally could make out a village in the distance.
As he walked on, he stumbled on a fern. Almost hurt his chin. He was beginning to get thirsty. Maybe leaving Damien wasn't such a great idea. Would he have to go jogging back to him, begging for a cup of cocoa?
Suddenly, a woman wearing a sea green kilt appeared on the other side of a tree branch. No, it couldn't be! Silence, it was Wanda!
"Golly, what's going on?" he noted offhandedly.
"Is that you? Are you alright?" she asked woodenly.
"Of course it's me, but verily, what have you gotten me into?" he judged solemnly.
"Xavier brought me here. How did you find me?" Wanda replied.
"You assume I wanted to find you. I don't care, and I want off the case," he replied deftly. "You can have your money back, if you just send me home."
"I can't send you home. Xavier wouldn't hear of it. He'd argue with me if he even knew that I talked to you."
"Where is that old dirty dog? How can I get outta here?"
"He's in his pickup, headed up to the lodge. He'll probably be here in twenty minutes."
"Well, I want to be out of here in two minutes. How about you? You obviously didn't go to Springfield like I recommended. Are you with him or with me?"
"Gawwwleeee, 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 witty, he didn't know whether to trust her, or to straggle away as fast as he could. "You've been about as open with me as a twitching manatee," he expressed steadily. "Just what have you and Xavier got going on?"
"Listen, light of my life, maybe I didn't tell you everything, but I told you what I could. Xavier calls all the shots around here. I guess he thinks you can help with some Marks 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 freakish little kidney back to Xavier, and I'll take care of myself."
He turned and began tumbling on down the trail.
"Wait," she offered bravely. "I'm coming with you."
"You're harder to shake than a book in a sandwich bag," he inquired. "You're obviously still operating on their orders. Alright, let's get on with it," he said slowly.
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