Victims Of Time

Hoo! says the owl from Mount Compass.

He is not asking who.

But Terence is not to know that.

Me, says Terence, sitting up in the dark wet grass next to Baby Pierre.

And me, says Baby Pierre, sitting up likewise.

I was not asking who, says the owl. But since you are here, and I am, perhaps you could give me directions.

Sure, says Baby Pierre. We know where the van is, and the paintball.......

And Best and Menta, says Terence. In Barcelona. That's where I got these shorts from.

Remind me not to go there, says the owl from Mount Compass. Those shorts are rubbish.

Aztec-warrior feather-shorts are not rubbish, says Terence. We do blood sacrifice wearing these. Not in the night though.

Why am I not trembling? says the owl from Mount Compass.

Because you didn't KNOW, says Terence. And it's night time. You birds are dopey.

Are you going to give me directions or what? says the owl from Mount Compass. I have news for the Bad Rubbles. Where might I find them?

They're in prison, says Baby Pierre. Inside a chimney. For badness.

There's no such thing as badness, says Terence.

That's true, says the owl. Only victims. Where is this chimney?

Down the road, says Baby Pierre, pointing. What's the news? Is is about Mrs Burr, and Sarah?

So you know? says the owl from Mount Compass. Blow me. I thought all stones were the same. Out of touch and slow on the uptake.

We do know, says Baby Pierre. But tell us. You might have it wrong.

It's old news, says the owl from Mount Compass. But we owls, we like to disseminate information. It all happened long, long ago.

Wow! says Terence. How long?

Over a century, says the owl.

Woo! says Terence. That's ages.

Idiot, says Baby Pierre. For stones it's a drop in the bucket.

Yes, agrees Terence.

How about two years? says the owl from Mount Compass. That's how long it took them to find her.

Hoo! says Terence.

He is not asking who.

But the owl is not to know that.

Little Sarah McHarg, says the owl. She kept Mrs Burr company. Mrs Burr was the wife of the Deputy Surveyor. Mrs Burr didn't like being alone. Sarah came every day. Someone would bring her, and someone would take her home in the evening. One day she had to walk home alone, and got lost in the forest. They found her bones two years later, at Mount Compass, thirty kilometres away. She was holding a bible.

What's a bible? asks Terence.

I don't know, says the owl. But in it she'd written a note to her sister.

"Grieve not for me, for I am resigned to my fate".

She must have had a pencil, says Terence.

Annoyed, the owl flies off into the night to search for the  Bad Rubbles' chimney, using his special owl radar.