Service With Freedom

Phil Bustard and Rosie arrive back at the Herriot Museum three hours later.

Chaffinches, Nuthatches, Great Tits and Coal Tits have been spotted. Sprigs of heather have been picked and discarded. Rosie has learned a few things about veterinary science.

Phil has learned that the Twitcher is an unusual bird-eating cuttlefish, and that Arthur is Arthur Rimbaud.

If I'd known who he was, I might have relented, says Phil.

No, you did the right thing, says Rosie. He was in a bad mood, after that message written in blood by the vicar, and the police may be looking for him too.

Dear me, says Phil. Well, here we are. The phones are recharged. I expect you'll be wanting to hurry off and catch up with Arthur. He sounds like a bit of a handful.

Rosie picks up the phones. It looks like Arthur has a message from Sweezus. It's Gaius's number.

She keys it into her phone.

..........

Arthur has arrived in Pocklington. It does have an old market square. He sits down on a stone wall wondering what to do next.

He has no phone. So he can't send the photo to Gaius. And he doesn't remember the route. Which boring old town is next? He will have to wait for Rosie. She will think he's being reliable. Phones are are like crab nets, he thinks.

A woman walks past him. She trips on a cobblestone, dropping a sheaf of papers on the ground.

Shit, mutters the woman. Must get those cobblestones fixed.

She sits down on the wall next to Arthur, rubbing her ankle.

Would you mind picking them up, she says, pointing at the papers. They might blow away.

Arthur picks them up, one by one. They look like the minutes of a meeting. They are on council letterhead with the Pocklington Armorial Bearings at the top. The bearings consist of a shield, crest with helmet and mantling, badge and motto. The motto is SERVICE WITH FREEDOM.

Service with freedom, says Arthur. What does that mean?

It means, says the woman, an end to slavery, and the beginning of service. William Wilberforce was from here.

Service? says Arthur. Like what, paid employment? That's your motto?

A proud motto, says the woman. I am the mayor of Pocklington. My name is Ann Cox. I take it you are unemployed.

Yes, says Arthur. I am unemployed.  I am waiting for Rosie to arrive. Until then I have nothing to do.

Wait here, says Ann Cox. You can make yourself useful.

She hobbles off, and comes back with a spade.