Stage eight. Team Crustacean feels a little bit brighter, leaving Tomblaine. Last night Freud tried something different.
Louttit: He just came right out with it. "Your wife's name was Mary Ann".
Louis-Claude: And you nearly died.
Ageless: Not what I would have expected from the great psychologist.
Louis-Claude: Is that not his usual method?
Ageless: No. Everyone knows he just sits there and lets you talk until you come out with something.
Louis-Claude: I didn't know that.
Louttit: It wouldn't have mattered how long I talked. I wouldn't have remembered.
Ageless: Nonsense. He must have been in a hurry.
Louis-Claude: Eh bien! It's good that you now know her name. What is it again?
Louttit: Mary Ann.
Louis-Claude: Was she pretty? Was she clever? Like my Rose....my dear sweet beloved.
Louttit: She was seventeen when we married. Mary Ann Kelly from Portland. Yes, very pretty and clever, and good at baking....
Ageless: I never married.
Louis-Claude: But you have had many lovers?
Ageless: Oh yes of course... but the love of my life is cut off from me due to exceptional circumstances.
Louttit: Don't tell me. She's a clam.
Ageless: Worse. She's a fossilised clam. Her name is Kobo. She's blind and only loves reading. We used to correspond by email. Click click. Uh! She was soft, soft and creamy.......
Ageless rides on mechanically, his head full of Kobo, of whom he has not thought for ages.
Louttit and Louis-Claude exchange glances which say: His story is inconsistent, but he is the captain, so let us refrain from further comment and be tactful.
This is a sign of good teamwork.
.........
There are some tough climbs at the end of this stage.
Perhaps it will alter the standings.
Sweezus is up near the front again, riding with Unni. The weather looks bad.
Unni: The weather looks bad. Rain's coming. I hate it. Sometimes I wonder why I'm even doing this.
Sweezus: Yeah, me too.
Unni: Yeah, but at least you've got other motivations. Save the Cuttlefish. And your new business. How's that going?
Sweezus: Everyone's into burgers, and fair trade coffee. And I can't get a regular supply of cuttlies.
Unni: Oh I get it. That's why you want to save them.
Sweezus: Geez! I'm not that mercenary. You always were such a......
Unni (sharply): What?
Sweezus : Nothing. How's your dad? And how's the Blaxland congregation?
Unni: He tried to get back with mum. But she blew him off. He's back in Blaxland and.... bugger the congregation.
Sweezus: Ha ha. We've all got cracks.
Unni: Pardon?
Sweezus: Wisdom from Ageless.
Unni: Hmmm.
She drops back level with Arthur.
This is shit, this race, says Unni. And look, fog!
I like fog, says Arthur.
How annoying Arthur can be.
They are passed by Alberto Contador, who is good in the mountains and quite used to fogs.
And there goes Blel Kadri, a French rider from Ag2R La Mondiale, riding skilfully.
Whirr! there goes Richie! What is fog to Richie? His head is full of Middle Tang poetry:
"Tell me, where do you live? Near here by the fishing pool? Let's hold our boats together, let's see if we belong in the same town".
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