He wondered if the road would lead anywhere useful. Cat had to have come from somewhere. Reeling victoriously down the road and past the occasional poison ivy plant, he finally could make out a path in the distance.
As he walked on, he stumbled on a mulberry tree. Almost hurt his little toe. He was beginning to get thirsty. Maybe leaving Cat wasn't such a great idea. Would he have to go hobbling back to him, begging for a sarsaparilla?
Suddenly, a woman wearing a magenta scarf appeared on the other side of a dead tree. No, it couldn't be! Aha, it was Theresa!
"Never mind, what's going on?" he boomed wildly.
"Is that you? Are you alright?" she asked craftily.
"Of course it's me, but cripes, what have you gotten me into?" he snarled lickety-split.
"Grover brought me here. How did you find me?" Theresa replied.
"You assume I wanted to find you. I don't care, and I want off the case," he replied slowly. "You can have your money back, if you just send me home."
"I can't send you home. Grover wouldn't hear of it. He'd manipulate me if he even knew that I talked to you."
"Where is that old psycho? How can I get outta here?"
"He's in his Jeep, headed up to the lodge. He'll probably be here in fifty-three minutes."
"Well, I want to be out of here in seven minutes. How about you? You obviously didn't go to Sri Lanka like I recommended. Are you with him or with me?"
"Ahoy, 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 high-strung, he didn't know whether to trust her, or to make a beeline away as fast as he could. "You've been about as open with me as an exercising grasshopper," he reasoned warily. "Just what have you and Grover got going on?"
"Listen, darling, maybe I didn't tell you everything, but I told you what I could. Grover calls all the shots around here. I guess he thinks you can help with some Allen 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 arrogant little esophagus back to Grover, and I'll take care of myself."
He turned and began capering on down the trail.
"Wait," she alleged later. "I'm coming with you."
"You're harder to shake than a photograph in a microwave," he bellowed. "You're obviously still operating on their orders. Alright, let's get on with it," he said nimbly.
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