Why Am I In This Bottle?

It's Arthur.

Arthur gets out.

Proust is sitting on the sand, talking to a girl in a black polo cap.

Arthur! says Proust, spotting him. Over here!

Arthur comes over.

This is Albertine, says Proust. I was just telling her about our projected adventure, but she's sceptical.

I'm not sceptical, says Albertine. Now your friend Arthur is here.

Proust is not sure whether or not to believe her. Is she simply one of those people who must always be one step ahead?

For example the diatoms and dinoflagellates she claimed to have seen, which he had not expected.

But now she is talking to Arthur, who is showing her a key.

The Movile cave! says Albertine. Hardly anyone's been down there! It must be amazing.

We'll find out tonight, says Arthur.

Tonight! It's the first time Proust has heard of this time frame.

Whose adventure is it, anyway?

So you've taken the key, says Proust. Are they still down there? And is that Cristian's Jeep?

Yes, says Arthur. I thought I'd come back and show you that I had the key.

But, says Proust, you'll be giving it back to them.

I was going to say that I'd lost it, says Arthur.

Albertine can't believe what she's hearing.

Why don't you just get one cut?

Too much bother, says Arthur. So, who's coming?

I am, says Albertine. But tonight, not this afternoon. There's something I have to do first.

Okay, says Arthur. Meet here at nine thirty. Bring a bike.

Yep! See you, says Albertine. She walks away, without looking back.

Proust is jealous.

Not of Arthur. Well yes, somewhat of Arthur, who has just breezed up and made a date with Albertine. But of the SOMETHING THAT ALBERTINE HAS TO DO FIRST. What is it?

He remembers what she was saying when she stumbled over his diving equipment.

Something about someone called Daniel.

.......

In the Jeep:

Proust: The OTHER Daniel, she said. There were two of them!

Arthur: What are you talking about?

Proust: Albertine is unfaithful.

Arthur: You should get used to it.

........

In the underground Movile cavern:

Gaius has captured the spider that dropped, and placed it in a bottle.

Yes, says Rich. That's definitely one of those related to a species found in the Canaries.

Miraculous! says Gaius. The Canary Islands are 4000 kilometres west of here. And this cave has been isolated for millions of years. How did the animals get here?

(In the bottle, the spider is asking himself the same question. What? I have relatives in the Canaries? And I live down HERE?)

One theory, says Cristian, is that five million years ago the Mediterranean dried out, forcing the animals to seek refuge in the sulphurous underworld.

(Oh right! thinks the spider).

Think about it, says Cristian. Constant warmth, no predators or competitors, rich source of food. But it's difficult to prove. They could simply have fallen in and become trapped when the limestone cast dropped, sealing the cave. Different animals may have arrived at different times. The snails have only been here for 2 million years, for example. Of course, they're trapped for good now....

(Really? thinks the spider. Then why am I in this bottle?)