Logic Of A Trickster

Now, says Gaius. Take this into the bathroom, and give it to the man. Tell him it's green.

It was red, says Terence.

It was pink, says David.

Now it's white, says Terence.

Tell him it was a green one, says Gaius.

Terence heads for the bathroom.

The Reverend Griffith Hughes looks up.

He is taken aback for a moment.

It's the infant Jesus holding an apple! A vision!

He falls to his knees.

This is a green one, says Terence.

You ning-nong, says Baby Pierre. What does that mean?

I don't know, says Terence.

My deliverer! cries Griff, ignoring the colour.

See. He knows, says Terence. Gaius said you had to eat this.

And what do YOU say? asks Griff humbly.

I say, it used to be red, says Terence. David says red is pink. Gaius says green. It only looks white because Gaius is an idiot.

White is the colour of purity, says Griff. I accept it. Give me the apple.

Terence throws him the apple. It lands in the bath, next to Ageless.

It is at this point that Griff sees the infant has a claw instead of a finger.

.......

In the kitchen, Gaius is explaining his jape to David Hume.

Griff claims he only eats green ones, says Gaius. Let's see if he can tell the difference.

How shall we know? asks David.

If he eats it, says Gaius, it means he can't tell the difference.

Not necessarily, says David, unused to the logic of a trickster.

They tiptoe to the bathroom.

Just in time!

Griff is forcing Terence's head under the water.

Terence is struggling and shouting:

My blood brother's got my finger. This is his claw!

It's TRUE, says Baby Pierre. It's a bristlebird claw .

Griff is in no mood to look closely at a sign of the devil.

He puts extra pressure on Terence's head.

Save him, Ageless! cries Baby Pierre.

And Ageless rises to the occasion.

Stop this! says Ageless. You win. I have finished moulting. I am ready to come out now. No, leave the apple. When do we leave for Barbados?