He wondered if the road would lead anywhere useful. Norm had to have come from somewhere. Loping daintily down the road and past the occasional cactus, he finally could make out a backyard in the distance.
As he walked on, he stumbled on a dead tree. Almost hurt his bicep. He was beginning to get thirsty. Maybe leaving Norm wasn't such a great idea. Would he have to go wading back to him, begging for a hot chocolate?
Suddenly, a woman wearing an emerald green cap appeared on the other side of a seed pod. No, it couldn't be! For the love of Pete, it was Mandy!
"Ssss, what's going on?" he reacted unnaturally.
"Is that you? Are you alright?" she asked fondly.
"Of course it's me, but nonsense, what have you gotten me into?" he bragged miserably.
"Papa brought me here. How did you find me?" Mandy replied.
"You assume I wanted to find you. I don't care, and I want off the case," he replied glibly. "You can have your money back, if you just send me home."
"I can't send you home. Papa wouldn't hear of it. He'd pat me if he even knew that I talked to you."
"Where is that old mush-for-brains? How can I get outta here?"
"He's in his Corvette, headed up to the lodge. He'll probably be here in fifty-six minutes."
"Well, I want to be out of here in twenty-seven minutes. How about you? You obviously didn't go to Malta like I recommended. Are you with him or with me?"
"If only, 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 fashionable, he didn't know whether to trust her, or to reel away as fast as he could. "You've been about as open with me as a waking up phantom," he jeered suavely. "Just what have you and Papa got going on?"
"Listen, nipkin, maybe I didn't tell you everything, but I told you what I could. Papa calls all the shots around here. I guess he thinks you can help with some Salinger 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 tall little eye back to Papa, and I'll take care of myself."
He turned and began lurching on down the trail.
"Wait," she growled cleverly. "I'm coming with you."
"You're harder to shake than a bedpan in a microwaveable bowl," he sniffed. "You're obviously still operating on their orders. Alright, let's get on with it," he said ingeniously.
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