Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Funny thing about my husband
, I ruminated, instantly cheered by his supportive
words,
when the chips are down he always comes good. Maybe our adventure would con-
tinue after all
.
First things first though, I needed to see to the dogs. Now whining and keen to comb
the area for ogres, invaders and guardians, I let them out of the car to have an in-depth ex-
ploration. I was confident that this wouldn't be a problem because there wasn't a soul about
and the guardian, now some way away, had scurried back to his television the moment we
left.
I rejoined the men who had successfully gained entry and found ItsWill busily reading
yet another version of his blurb and Jack scanning the surroundings interestedly.
“Well, this really is
most
unusual,” said ItsWill.
“What's the problem?”
“Well, the information put together by my assistant, Anton, who is usually
most
reli-
able, tells us that there is an apartment. But, apart from the outbuildings, I don't see another
habitable residence here,” he said. “Do you?” he added, peering vaguely at a wall.
“No, I don't but hanging around here isn't going to help us find it, is it?” Jack replied
pointedly.
“Quite
so,
Jacky…”
“What? No, absolutely not. The name's Jack, just
Jack
.”
This snapped retort seemed to have slightly confused ItsWill because he paused for a
moment clearly trying to work out where he'd gone wrong. Evidently still nonplussed, he
stumbled on.
“Right,
right,
of course it is old chap. Now do follow me both, come along now. I
say,
one could have an absolutely splendid game of hide-and-seek in this place! What fun,
haw
haw
!”
The door we passed through appeared to be a utility side-door-cum-workman's en-
trance. The reason I guessed this was because we found ourselves standing amongst a
jumble of odds and sods which included steel toecap boots, hard hats and fluorescent jack-
ets. There were also several small items of machinery, the kind one would normally find in
Jack's workshop, the difference being that we were
in
the house.
We were in the process of navigating the assembly of
bricolage
when suddenly there
came a shuffling sound from behind me followed by a clatter.
“Oh shit! Ow
owww
!”
Turning quickly I saw Jack writhing around on the floor clutching his leg in agony.
“Are you alright? What's happened now?” I asked anxiously.
“I stood on that bloody bootjack and it flipped up and cracked me on the shin,” he
groaned. “God, this place is a
mess
!”
“Never mind, could have been worse. It could have been a rake and broken your nose!
Just give it a rub and you'll be fine,” I said cheerily.
