Another fine day in the mountains.
Tiny is off with Belle, hunting for strawberries.
Terence and Baldy watch the teams roll out of La Mure.
Look happy, says Terence.
Holly? says Baldy.
HAPPY! says Terence. The clowns are dead. Your mum killed them.
Baldy looks proud of his mum.
Copy, says Baldy.
And stop pointing, says Terence.
Baldy didn't know he was pointing. But his finger is up.
His finger points directly at Marcel Kittel for a moment, as Marcel rides by.
Grolly, says Baldy.
NO! says Terence. GREEN, not Grolly.
Green, says Baldy. He is still pointing. But now he is pointing at Michael Matthews.
(Remember these things).
.......
In their hospital beds in Le Puy-en-Velay:
Grimaldi: I had a dream last night.
Pickelherring: What was it?
Grimaldi: A visitation.
Nurse: You two look much better. You'll be discharged this morning. Here are your clown shoes, and your silly costumes.
Pickelherring: Mine isn't silly.
Nurse: Not as silly as his. Are you going to wear that red cockscomb?
Grimaldi: What! Where is it? I thought I still had it on.
Nurse: Well, you didn't. Here it is.
She drops it on the bed and goes to answer a buzzer.
Pickelherring: What about this visitation?
Grimaldi. It was the Virgin of Puy. She'd lost her baby Jesus. She was pointing at me. It was distinctly a threat. I felt my life was in the balance.
Pickelherring: A baby Jesus! We must find Terence!
Grimaldi: Yes. We must find Terence.
They get out of bed, dress in their clown clothes, and discharge themselves straight away.
They hire two motor bikes, and head for La Mure, with their trick suitcase.
.......
Terence is not there. Belle has dropped him and Baldy at the finish.
The clowns follow in the wake of the riders.
They pass Marcel Kittel, in green. He is struggling with pain and mental anguish.
He has various injuries. His shoe is broken. And so forth.
The clowns pass the gruppetto, and then the main peloton.
They pass Alberto Contador who is making a valiant effort to catch up with a breakaway.
No one stops them, because they are clowns.
They pass Michael Matthews, on whose face is a mixed emotion, having learned that Kittel has abandoned.
They reach the finish before anyone else does.
They are there to see Primoz Roglic of team Lotto Jumbo ride solo to the finish. A Slovenian!
And to see Rigoberto Uran come second. Followed by....would you believe it! Froomey.
But this interests them not at all.
Their lives are in the balance.
They must find a baby Jesus. Any baby Jesus will do.
It is at this point they spot Terence and Baldy.
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