He wondered if the road would lead anywhere useful. Archie had to have come from somewhere. Sliding blankly down the road and past the occasional mushroom, he finally could make out a range in the distance.
As he walked on, he stumbled on a rock. Almost hurt his eye. He was beginning to get thirsty. Maybe leaving Archie wasn't such a great idea. Would he have to go stalking back to him, begging for a Mojito?
Suddenly, a woman wearing an aquamarine necklace appeared on the other side of a piece of driftwood. No, it couldn't be! Fie, it was Jolene!
"Adios, what's going on?" he peeped energetically.
"Is that you? Are you alright?" she asked testily.
"Of course it's me, but eeek, what have you gotten me into?" he begged boldly.
"Cliff brought me here. How did you find me?" Jolene replied.
"You assume I wanted to find you. I don't care, and I want off the case," he replied irritably. "You can have your money back, if you just send me home."
"I can't send you home. Cliff wouldn't hear of it. He'd please me if he even knew that I talked to you."
"Where is that old dodo? How can I get outta here?"
"He's in his shopping cart, 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 Bangkok like I recommended. Are you with him or with me?"
"Crikey, 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 selfish, he didn't know whether to trust her, or to tiptoe away as fast as he could. "You've been about as open with me as a belching musk-ox," he prattled cheerfully. "Just what have you and Cliff got going on?"
"Listen, flower, maybe I didn't tell you everything, but I told you what I could. Cliff calls all the shots around here. I guess he thinks you can help with some Finney 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 garrulous little brain back to Cliff, and I'll take care of myself."
He turned and began blundering on down the trail.
"Wait," she shrieked truculently. "I'm coming with you."
"You're harder to shake than a fish in a salt shaker," he guessed. "You're obviously still operating on their orders. Alright, let's get on with it," he said courteously.
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