Get Me Out Of Here

Belle, Arthur and Rosie have found the Royal Yacht Britannia. They regard it from the dock.

Twelve pounds! says Rosie. You probably don't want to spend all that money.

Arthur reaches into the depths of his badly mended pocket.

You're not thinking ......? says Belle et Bonne.

No, says Arthur. One of my gold coins has disappeared.

I knew it! says Rosie. It must have happened when you pulled out that bandage! I bet it's on the river path near where we saw the otter. Let's go back there.

They make their way back to the spot beside the river where they saw the otter.

This is where we saw the otter, says Rosie. Look there he is again.

The otter pops his head above the riverbank. He has a belly ache. He vomits in the grass.

There's your coin, says Belle et Bonne. The otter must have swallowed it and now he's sicked it up. How lucky is that!

Not lucky at all, says Arthur. I'm not touching it.

Oh come on, says Rosie. Don't tell me you've never had to retrieve something from vomit.

Not an otter's, says Arthur.

What we need, says Belle et Bonne, is a big bucket of water, to slosh over it.

They cover the vomit carefully with grass and head for Leith Walk.

It takes a long time to find a bucket, and then it feels like time for morning coffee. They sit down at a table outside a cafe and take in the picturesque nature of the street.

Something untoward seems to be happening. A crowd is gathering outside one of the shops.

Rosie is the only one who knows the shop is Elvis Shakespeare. Perhaps she should say something to the others. Their lobster and his bookish friend may need a rescue.

But the coffee hasn't come yet, and they have ordered macarons, which are her favourite. So she says nothing.

The coffee and three macarons arrive. Red, yellow, green. Arthur eats the green one.

I suppose we should go back to the riverbank before we meet Ageless and Kobo at the bookshop, says Belle et Bonne. But they might be wondering where we are. Why don't you two go, and I'll head off to Elvis Shakespeare. Where exactly is it ?

There, says Rosie, pointing to the fracas.

There? says Belle. Where the crowd is? Oh my goodness. I bet Ageless has done something reprehensible. Poor Kobo! You guys go. I'll see you later!

She dashes down the road to Elvis Shakespeare.

She pushes through the crowd into the shop, expecting chaos. Overturned bookstands, CDs and DVDs strewn across the floor, ripping paper, cracking vinyl. Ageless Lobster on the counter near the cash register singing Love Me Tender. Kobo wailing Get Me Out Of Here.