A Horse Is Not A Vehicle

Where are they? asks Terence.

Hard to say, says Roo-kai.

Find them! says Terence.

Right, says Roo-kai. Look for footprints.

Nachoos don't have footprints, says Terence.

Not their footprints, your footprints, says Roo-kai.

Why? asks Terence.

They'll lead you to where you buried the Nachoos, says Roo-kai.

Terence starts looking.

There are some footprints. Big ones and small ones and some going backwards.

They lead down to the water and then disappear.

They must be here! says Terence.

Not here exactly, says Roo-kai, but under the water. I'll go in and poke around in the sand.

He steps into the sea.

The waves wash around his thin legs.

His orange beak pokes into the sand.

Swop! Swop! Ding!

I heard a ding! says Terence.

Probably a Nachoo, says Roo-kai. I'll dig it up, and the other one must be close by.

Roo-kai digs up the first Nachoo, and pokes about for the second.

A cuttlefish floats past.

Taking back the Nachoos? asks the cuttlefish.

Yes, says Roo-kai. We can't leave them here, littering.

They weren't littering, says the cuttlefish.

We would have been littering, says Roo-kai.

Swop! Ding! he locates the other.

Those Nachoos were like shipwrecks, says the cuttlefish. They were Jean and Carl's vessels. They should be left where they are.

Well, they won't be, says Roo-kai. Terence, come and take this one!

Terence plods into the sea.

A bad move for Terence. 

His feet sink into the sand.

He leans forward to grab the Nachoo that Roo-kai uncovered.

And what about the first one? It has already floated away.

Disaster! says Roo-kai. We lost one, and now you're sinking.

I know, says Terence. What I need is a horse.

Are you still going on about horses? asks Roo-kai.

What's a horse? asks the cuttlefish, who is still there, watching.

It's a vehicle, says Terence. With four legs and a tail.

It's not a vehicle, says Roo-kai. Can you move your feet?

No! says Terence. What happens if I keep sinking?

It'll serve you right, says the cuttlefish.

Wah! cries Terence.

He thinks about what might happen.

Sinking is one.

Then he won't get a horse.

Or Gaius might come looking, and save him.

Then Gaius will feel sorry for him.

And he might get a horse.

Or at least a good present.