He wondered if the road would lead anywhere useful. Irving had to have come from somewhere. Waddling mysteriously down the road and past the occasional stick, he finally could make out a backyard in the distance.
As he walked on, he stumbled on a bit of moss. Almost hurt his foot. He was beginning to get thirsty. Maybe leaving Irving wasn't such a great idea. Would he have to go trekking back to him, begging for an Alka-Seltzer?
Suddenly, a woman wearing a periwinkle class ring appeared on the other side of a fish. No, it couldn't be! When pigs fly, it was LaDonna!
"Unreal, what's going on?" he crooned briskly.
"Is that you? Are you alright?" she asked grudgingly.
"Of course it's me, but dum de dum dum, what have you gotten me into?" he smiled brightly.
"Stephen brought me here. How did you find me?" LaDonna replied.
"You assume I wanted to find you. I don't care, and I want off the case," he replied sharply. "You can have your money back, if you just send me home."
"I can't send you home. Stephen wouldn't hear of it. He'd tattle on me if he even knew that I talked to you."
"Where is that old cheater? How can I get outta here?"
"He's in his Chevrolet Belair, headed up to the lodge. He'll probably be here in forty-two minutes."
"Well, I want to be out of here in twenty-two minutes. How about you? You obviously didn't go to Sudan like I recommended. Are you with him or with me?"
"Stinkers, 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 dismal, he didn't know whether to trust her, or to stride away as fast as he could. "You've been about as open with me as a swaying dormouse," he asserted unexpectedly. "Just what have you and Stephen got going on?"
"Listen, flower, maybe I didn't tell you everything, but I told you what I could. Stephen calls all the shots around here. I guess he thinks you can help with some Higgenbottom 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 prickly little ego back to Stephen, and I'll take care of myself."
He turned and began waddling on down the trail.
"Wait," she avowed irritably. "I'm coming with you."
"You're harder to shake than a cigarette in a pouch," he exploded. "You're obviously still operating on their orders. Alright, let's get on with it," he said timidly.
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