Stage three. Even hotter.
Belle is at Snapper Point, waiting, with drinks.
Can I have one? asks Terence.
Yes, says Belle. You must keep hydrated.
Vello and David approach and slow down.
Belle hands out the drinks.
Ahh! I needed that, says Vello.
Me too, says David.
Sweezus speeds by, without grabbing a water.
He is trying to catch up with Richie, before Willunga Hill, where catching up will be hopeless.
Ageless and Captain Baudin are standing nearby, under a red and white striped umbrella.
Go and offer them drinks, says Belle, to Terence.
He goes.
Ageless is talking.
We would have won easily, but we were disqualified, says Ageless.
On what grounds? asks Captain Baudin.
Starpuss was declared dead, says Ageless. Starpuss was our secret weapon.
Dead? says Captain Baudin.
He is only half listening, watching out for Gaius.
Yes, says Ageless. We were never quite certain. We pulled her behind us, in a box on wheels.
Unusual tactic, says Captain Baudin.
It was the weight on the downhill, says Ageless. Would have given us a huge advantage.
I see, says Captain Baudin. But one should not use the dead in that way.
She was floating, in water and occasionally produced bubbles, says Ageless. We weren't to know she was dead. She was Decco's girlfriend.
Want a drink? asks Terence.
No thanks, says Ageless.
So she too was a lobster? asks Captain Baudin.
No, a particularly muscular starfish, says Ageless.
In spite of, or perhaps because of its strangeness, Captain Baudin likes this story.
....
Meanwhile as usual Richie is powering up Willunga Hill like a demon.
At the top, his team mate Luke Plapp, just behind him, starts clapping.
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