h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

*follows Amos*

I do love a day at the beach!

*ferckes inher pockets till she finds a beachmat, lays it out and settles down to making *

Tea on the beach, or espresso on the raft with that wavering shape over there? I'll take the beach.

/* Climbs out of the raft, while Zeppo jumps straight into the water. */

*lopes gently up to the Salonista's and dismounts*

Howdy

Anyone got a hoof pick ? Toby here's a little lame

Great to see you Red Dog and Redbeard


*Squints at the rider.*

Something about that rider is familiar. And how did he see us, anyway? The camouflage is still working, isn't it?

*Looks over the side and sees that the camouflage is still working, but the carpet has been cavorting in the breeze. When GL sees it, he scowls and the carpet instantly stops flapping around and slowly slinks back into the ship, still tethered with a bungee cord.*

Well, stranger, I would hazard a guess that one of your clues mentioned a red carpet and voices in the air.

*Gets out of the raft and steps onto the beach.*

*sits on the edge of the raft, looking at the espresso equipment and wondering whatever became of old...*

*wonders if sleep is a good idea*

*Gets out of the raft onto the beach. Walks up the beach to where the trees start and carves a bullseye into the trunk of one of the larger trees. Steps back 50 paces, takes careful aim and throws the knife. It lands just outside the centre of the bullseye. Gord shakes his head and retrieves the knife. His next throw hits the centre right on. He nods in satisfaction and retrieves the knife. He continues to practice.*

*stops watching Gobold's knife practice and nods a hello to Garius as he steps onto the beach*


If you're wondering about how I recognised you well it was a matter of expecting you rather than spotting you. If you know something should be there then it's a whole lot easier to see than if you're not expecting it. Here see for yourself.


*hands GL what is left of the old parchment showing the depiction of the raft and it's occupants*


Know anything about horses ? This one is very valuable to me - he comes from a breeding line established by my father from some stock we acquired from one of the colonies. He's almost irreplaceable

*Looks at the old parchment. Eyes widen.*

Why, look at that! It shows us arriving in the raft. *Frowns* And there's the red carpet waving about.

Say, what's that dark shape in the bush, just about...*looks up from the parchment*...there. *points*

*The bushes rustle where GL points, then go still again.*

The is ready and I've found some iced buns in a tupperware box in a pocket.

Thank you, Caer. I do hope that tree is not one of the sentient kind, or a descendant of the christmas tree we are returning to the forest. Er, *trying* to return to the forest. I don't think we are doing very well or keeping to the task at hand.

*walks over to the horse and runs her hand down its legs. She finds heat on the front of the off fore cannon*

Bucked shin.

Best thing right now is for it to stand in the river water, up to its knees. But let me check the feet first. *goes round the horse, lifting its hooves as a blacksmith would, inspecting the frog and the clenches on the shoes*

Yup, feet seem to be ok. No stone bruises or problems with the shoe nails.

Why thank you Lil, I'm very grateful for your advice - I wouldn't be wrong to say you had some considerable expertise in these matters would I ?

*leads Toby into the cool river shallows and gets some alfalfa out of his feedbag for him to munch on*

Familiar Voice-*whispered to Witty* I've been watching you. For quite some time, as a matter of fact. I've been watching /all/ of you. Do you remember being watched?

So, this guy is good to go?

*GDZ, Red Dog is a seasoned hootoo adventurer and quite mad. We're all pretending to act casual about his reappearance because we haven't seen him around the site in absolute AGES *

Well, he needs rest -- the sheath of the cannon bone is probably a bit inflamed. Been escaping across hardpan desert by any chance? He's a good horse, and he'll recover completely.

Would you care to join us for tea? Then you can tell me how you know my name.

Caer, you are just the BEST tea lady in any dimension!

(Un)Familiar Voice-*Whispered to GDZ*You know, I must admit that your face is new to me. Quite a pleasure to make your....aquaintance, if you can call it that. Some of your friends here might know me as FACE....

Thanks, Lil.

Nice to meet you Red Dog, Toby too.

I do hope our horses are all right.

*looks around as the hairs on the nape of her neck stand up*

I do have the feeling we are being watched.

*Shivers ever so slightly*

I get that feeling myself. Hello Red Dog.

Hi everybody - good to be back amongst you and not disguised as a webjello or Apachello this time , and yes Lil there was a lot of hard riding to get from the Tallgrass Prairie to here . Nice to meet you as well GDZ


*nods to GDZ and smiles *


Well Lil, you'd be right to be curious about how I know you but if you look at the parchment that Garius is holding you'll see your likeness on there. The text next to you was hard to translate but it made it clear that you could only have been Asteroid Lil. I think I still have it in my notes .....


*consults notebook*


.... ah yes here's the passage. "Seek the flying star, the Flower of the west at the end of days. When darkness and deep shadow overwhelms the light then there she shall be".

I never did get all of it translated and a lot of it still isn't obvious to me what it means. Maybe it'll become clearer later on. Now how's that coming along ?

The last word was probably "tea." It doesn't matter what we seek or where and when we seek it, there's always tea.



The "Familiar Voice" must not be watching very closely. Witty isn't here, she's still in the forest. With Affy.