Easy As Falling Off A Bike pt 624

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Wellington Dustbags
(aka Bike)
Part 624
by Angharad
       
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Mr Dunstan was in the kitchen doing his best. He tried to chase me out but I pulled rank and he finally agreed we could work together. He was doing haggis. I thought for a moment he was joking, but sure enough, there were two of the things ‘bilin’ in a pan, as Tom would have said. I helped him peel potatoes and then with the neeps, or Swede as I usually called them.

In getting something from the fridge I noticed there was a large piece of beef in there, why couldn’t we have eaten that, not this traditional fare. If they do porridge in the morning, I shall scream.

I thought Burns’ night was in January not April, “Is this some strange form of St George’s day dinner?”

“No, ma’am, it was what the Laird suggested we ate.”

“I can’t guarantee my girls will eat it.”

“It’s an acquired taste, like whisky.”

“One I haven’t acquired nor intend to.”

“It’s good it’s not Burns’ night, the whisky is almost obligatory.”

“Yes, it is good. Mr Dunstan, did you see where Prof Agnew went?”

“I think he was walking his dog around the courtyard.”

“I’m surprised you don’t have a dog here.”

“We do usually, but they’ve all gone off with the staff.”

“All? How many do you have?”

“Three usually. Two labradors and a cocker.”

“If anything starts, they might get in the way.”

“I don’t know, they have better hearing than we do.”

“That’s true, but we still have Kiki,” although she can sleep through anything.

“That’s fine then, we’ll have warning if there’s anyone about.”

Between us we laid the table, a huge refectory type made of oak, I think. The dining hall, because it was a very large room was exquisitely decorated, with painted walls depicting murals of Scottish mythology and history. It could take all day to get around the whole castle and see just the ornamentation. It was so over the top it was verging on delightful.

We laid ten places. The children would sit either side of me. Then after mashing the tatties with butter and doing the same with the neeps, Mr Dunstan banged the gong and within a few minutes people were assembling for the meal.

Tom stood opposite me at the table, and Henry asked me to move up so I was next to his seat at the head of the table. “As the only lady here, you must sit here next to me. Protocol dictates it. Meems sat next to me, and Trish was seated opposite me, then Tom, who could do his granddad bit and help her with anything she needed.

Mr Dunstan walked in with a tureen of Scotch broth, my eyes must have been as big as saucers. It wasn’t cooking in the kitchen while I was out there. He smirked at me and whispered, “Microwave.” I sniggered.

Apparently, I was given the honour of ladling soup into dishes and passing them along–a variation on ‘being mother’ when pouring teas. Oh well, I could live with that. The soup was fine as was the roll accompanying it. The girls ate theirs, so they must have been hungry.

Then he brought in the salver with the two haggis on laid out side by side, like two skinned piglets. “Och hurdies,” said Tom.

“What?” I asked.

“Buttocks,” said Henry quietly.

“What are buttocks, Mummy?” asked Trish in voice loud enough to be heard in Glasgow.

“Yer bum,” answered Grampa Tom. We then had two giggling girls on our hands.

“Doesn’t look like my bum,” said Trish, which had Mima almost convulsing with laughter.

“Mummy’s bummies,” said Meems, and Trish fell about laughing.

I clapped my hands, “Right children, that's enough.” I glanced sternly at Tom, who was pretending he wasn’t there.

“Mummy, would you care to serve?” called a voice from down the table, which had everyone laughing but me.

Mr Dunstan placed a pile of plates in front of me and I was required to spoon neeps and tatties and couple of spoonfuls of the meat and oatmeal mess that oozed from the haggis skin once it had been slit open. These were then passed down the table. To the girls I gave a small amount, because I didn’t think they’d eat it.

I tucked into mine pretending I knew and liked the taste, preparing to soldier through what I wasn’t at all sure was my idea of delicacy–the Scottish equivalent of sheeps’ eyeballs. However, I was pleasantly surprised and the savoury taste was quite nice, although I wouldn’t want to eat it very often.

Once again the girls proved me wrong, and ate theirs with gusto. The pudding, which like the soup, I wasn’t party to, was lemon meringue. I was full anyway, which was an easy get out, I don’t like meringue in any shape or form, call it Pavlova if you will, I still don’t like it.

Instead Mr Dunstan brought me some fruit, so I was quite happy. The wine we drank made me feel mellow and for a short time I began to forget the reason we were in this stronghold.

Dusk fell and I started to feel uneasy. If there was an attack, it would be by night. I still had the image intensifiers with me, but I’d try and sit this one out if I was allowed to.

As the party broke up, Tom took the girls up to bed and read them a story, when he came down, Henry was distributing flak jackets. “Do I get one?” I asked feeling somewhat left out.

“No, Cathy, you and Tom are designated to go to the hidey-hole if anything starts. Your job is to protect the girls, we’ll deal with the rest.”

“Fine, wake me up when it’s all over,” I’m off to bed.

I rose from the table and all the men stood up until I left. I kissed Henry and Tom goodnight and went up to my room. Tom’s was apparently next door to mine. I suppose they thought he was too old to fight, which tended to indicate that they didn’t know him as well as I did. He was a dab hand with a shotgun and held his own against the mafia once before. I left him with the other men to sort it out for himself, I was too tired to care.

Once in bed, I began to think about Simon. Henry hadn’t told me where he was, despite intimating he had a good idea of his son’s whereabouts.

I tried to remember the conversation we had earlier. It seemed Simon hadn’t been sent away to save his skin, he was doing something, but what and where?–I had no idea.

Then I recalled a conversation I had with Simon months ago, after the attack on Tom’s house and Stella’s kidnap. “I wonder,” I said to myself and drifted off to sleep.

I was fast asleep when there was a blinding flash in the sky. Instead of it vanishing immediately, it held for a minute or two. I realised it was a flare, there was the odd popping noise going on as well. I leapt out of bed, and got the girls grabbing their clothes and some of my own, I shepherded them into my room and thence the little room by the fireplace. Trish grabbed the book Tom had been reading them earlier.

I dashed into Tom’s room, knocking as I opened it. He was fast asleep with a shotgun across his chest, it was ‘broken’ open so I was in no danger. I lifted it off him and shook him. He was out to the world and a strong smell of whisky emanated from him. I dragged him off his bed and wrapping him in his duvet, pulled him under his bed and hoped he would be safe there. He was still fast asleep. I locked his room as I left it and took the keys with me, along with the shotgun and the box of cartridges I found by the side of him.

I shut the girls in the little room, making sure they could get in and out but to open it to no one they didn’t know. They had their bedding with them and I hoped they went off to sleep. I went out onto the veranda and in the fading light of the flare I donned the image intensifier and crouched down watching and waiting.

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Comments

The action doesn't stop...

It's one thing after another for Cathy and family. Let's hope there are a few resolutions in the not-too-distant future.

A cocked gun ...

... is very dangerous, particularly in the hands of someone asleep. If it's a hammer shot gun it means the hammers are pulled back ready to be released by the trigger(s) and is ready to fire. I used to play with old shot guns as a lad and they were all old-fashioned hammer guns with barrels that were anything but safe to the user :). I think you mean the hammers were released.

The only 'haggis' I've ever tasted was a vegetarian one which was delicious. I can only imagine waht a real one tastes like - black pudding perhaps or, even worse, tripe.

More alarums and excursions? Cathy seems to be defending herself and her family against a very flamboyant foe - all for our entertainment.

thanks

Geoff

Sorted…

I noticed that as I was editing for Ang and her about it her about it. She meant it was broken open and so safe whether it was a hammer gun or hammerless. She asked me to correct it for her.

Haggis is made from bits of sheep mixed with oatmeal and spices and is not like black pudding which is made from pig‘s blood and stuff. An expertly made haggis is a ‘rare treat’ for many people, and not just Scots. It is absolutely nothing like tripe. Eeeewwww! :(

Gabi

(Not a tripe lover)

Gabi.


“It is hard for a woman to define her feelings in language which is chiefly made by men to express theirs.” Thomas Hardy—Far from the Madding Crowd.

Alarming!

> A cocked gun ... ... is very dangerous,

Did I miss something? The only reference I saw was near the end of the the part, where Tom was asleep. It may well have been cocked (opening an internal hammer double also cocks the hammers) but it wasn't dangerous, as it was "broken open", meaning the breach was unlocked and tilted open. It takes a brief, but rather deliberate motion to close the breach, at which point it would be ready to fire.

> More alarums and excursions? Cathy seems to be defending herself and her family against a very flamboyant foe

All we "know", so far, is that there was a flare. Yes, it could have been sent up by a foe who wants to see what they are attacking. But it just as easily could be a perimeter alarm. A fairly easy to set up alarm can be arranged by setting a marine flare with a line attached. If someone snags the trip line, the flare goes up - not only warning of an intrusion but making them quite visible.

Deni
(who apparently did learn something during those years of employment in the service of "Uncle Sugar", despite not being allow to participate in combat.)

Cocked gun

I read it almost as soon as it appeared. By the time I got finished and wrote my comment, it had been edited. The initial post said it was cocked so I was safe, or whatever it read, but a quick edit caught it and changed it to broken open.

And now that I think of it, would the attackers alert every one around that they were there by firing a flare like that? Seems more likely the defenders did it, but why? Maybe its the cavalry arriving and used that as a means of warning they were coming in instead of something simple like a radio or phone? Maybe they saw something and had to warn the castle? Oh, well.....we'll find out.

edit......Ah, I know now. It is Simon and his elite SAS squad and they have the bad guys in a pincher between them and the castle walls.

Properly prepared,

I found Hagis quite palitable. That said, it doesn't take much to ruin it!

Somehow, I get the impression things won't go quite as planned - with Cathy out there on the balcony!

Thanks,
Annette

P.S. Microwaves - what'd we do without them? LOL

Microwaves

without them we would plan our meals better and longer in advance and heat stuff the traditional way.

Friendship is like glass,
once broken it can be mented,
but there will always be a crack.

Never a dull moment

Cathy seems to have been blessed or cursed by that old Chinese saying, "May you live in interesting times".

Yuri!

Yuri!

It was "broken open"

That would indicate it is probably a double barrel. Since the family is fairly well off and old, that would indicate it is probably one of those oh so sweet English doubles, probably by Purdy, or one of the other fine gun makers over there. No wonder Tom was able to do so well with it. Hope the batteries don't run out on that intensifier before she really needs it, and I hope no one else drops a flare while she is using it. The resulting damage can make her seem blind for quite a while as the optic nerve is over loaded, and could cause real damage if the light it bright enough.

edit. I am surprised though, that Tom is so lightly impressed by the situation, that he drank enough to be so out of it she was able to stuff him under his bed without waking. Guess like Kiki, he can sleep through anything.

second edit.....
It has always amazed me that for being so anti-gun throughout the whole British empire, their gunmakers made some of the finest in the world and are still the standard many guns are measured against.

The British are not "anti-gun" in a general sense...

Puddintane's picture

As their armed military adventures around the world have repeatedly shown. Indeed, they're very skilled in the use of such weapons. Read about the Battle of Rorke's Drift sometime if you doubt it, or examine the skill and heroism of British troops in any war since.

They're (typically) against having military weapons suited only for murder (the quintessential military trade) ready to hand for use by undisciplined and untested civilians, which seems fairly sensible, all in all.

Puddin'

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

Purdeys

Purdeys are the exemplars of hand-made craftsmanship

A good friend of mine was one of the craftsmen who built shotguns at Purdeys. The firm basically makes the gun for the individual. My friend was responsible for making the stock of the gun. It was fitted to the individual the way that a Saville Row tailor fits a suit. When a gun is handed on down the family, the new owner comes in and they make a new stock to fit the new owner (and if necessary other parts)

Hmmmm..

You get the feeling Cathy is going to have a busy night?

PB

Yeah, very interesting night

But the shotgun may not have the range and certainly not the stealth of her arrows. Should have taken her pistol along from the fortified room.

I went out onto the veranda and in the fading light of the flare

I donned the image intensifier... Hoping that "veranda" is more of a battlement. Cathy's going to need some cover I'm afraid.
.
So when does the queen recognize her for her heroics and give her a knighthood (or whatever is in style now).

Why Do I Have The Feeling That

Simon will arrive with the calvary?

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Cathy needs to take some

Cathy needs to take some serious precautions, as the other side could also have night vision goggles and see her out on the balconey. Would be a good target for a sniper. Can Cathy tell if the flares are from her side or the bad guys side? J-Lynn

The veranda...

Puddintane's picture

Well, let's look at the other side of the fictional ancestral seat of the Camerons:

http://bookwoman.org/hide/Manor.jpg

Note for dial-up users, this picture is 2.7 megabytes.

Assuming that it more or less corresponds to the structure already shown from the other side, there is plentiful cover to be had and she's already demonstrated her caution -- plus, she's had ample practise in sneaking up on dormice, who are probably more skilled at detecting potential enemies than your average assassin, who tend toward strongarm tactics used against unsuspecting victims.

Puddin'

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

I smell a rat

Obviously, someone has been giving the mobsters inside information, and the informant must be highly placed in order for the malefactors to have pulled off the kidnapping, not to mention the assault on the police station so quickly as the situations developed. There are two readily apparent sources for a leak: the police or someone close to Sir Henry; then again there could be two informants, but that is less likely.

When Cathy arrived at the estate, it was said that Monica was shopping, but she didn't turn up for dinner. Hmm... is she somehow involved in with the baddies. She is the 2nd wife and step-mom and spends a lot of time away from hearth and home and she isn't around now. OTOH, it would almost certainly take someone inside the police to know where the transfer point of Cathy Tom and the kids would be, given how fast the situation developed after the attempted murders by hit and run drivers. Unless... Monica is in it as well as someone in the police- but that isn't likely, so where is Monica and why isn't she with Sir Henry?

On the other hand...

Puddintane's picture

Since the Russian "mafia" had already encountered the police by that time, it wouldn't take much skill to surmise that the associated "cop shop" might be a good place to look for their target. Likewise, the ancestral seat of said targets, known to be fortified, wouldn't be much of a stretch for even the dimmest thug to guess at, assuming that they can read the local guidebooks and have a roadmap.

If the Camerons had gone to ground in Tunisia, and the Russians showed up that afternoon, *then* I might suspect an informant. Traitors are surprisingly hard to find, and are usually already associated with the criminal sorts, since those with that mindset tend towards unsavoury behaviour generally, not as a passing whim after an otherwise blameless life.

Puddin'

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

Monica?

Was shopping while it was still daylight. She didn't turn up for dinner. Now its bed time for the kids, and Tom had enough time to enjoy his whiskey and get soundly to sleep. That should be well into dark. Cathy had pulled out her night vision stuff. And still no Monica. I hope Henry sent her out with enough body guards to be safe. Hope she wasn't kidnapped and tortured like Stella. Especially since I seem to remember someone saying many other family members had been taken out. Seems like the good guys are finally starting to take the bad guys seriously. Hope they were in time.

This can be a trial

... or an opportunity for our heroine.

She is after all the Presumptive Lady Muck and it will serve her well if she shows her mettle in the battle that seems to be looming. After all, she will at the very least be also the Chatelaine and thus she will be in charge of protecting the manor while the Lord is away.

But where is her bow ? !

Kim

Bow?

The cops still have it in evidence if I recall, and she doesn't seem to have found one around the castle yet. I know I am the ugly american, but I kind of figured a castle would have plenty of suits of armor around, along with the famed Scottish Claymores and long bows. Guess I watched too much TV as a child. Even Scotty had a claymore in his cabin on the Enterprise.

Longbows...

Puddintane's picture

Assuming that they had one laying about as a medieval relic, the average longbow hefted by the (mostly) Welsh archers at Agincourt had a draw weight of 150 to 200 foot pounds, 680 to 900 Newtons. Whilst Cathy can undoubtedly handle a modern bow with a draw weight suitable for a modern woman, it seems doubtful that too many guests go out hunting with bows and arrows. Unlike shooting, archery is not a typical "gentleman's sport," and it requires enormous skill to be able to humanely kill anything worth eating with an arrow. Cathy was enormously lucky, or skilled enough to knowingly pierce a man's heart, which seems unlikely to have been her deliberate intention, to have eliminated an opponent without a weapon which delivered enough power (those pesky foot pounds) to the target to stun or kill through the force of the blow itself, not a "lucky" shot through an artery or eye socket.

Puddin'

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

Longbows

I agree fully. I seem to recall her stating that she had used a longbow, and preferred her recurve (which was a 40 pound draw weight if I recall....Not all that much, really) but the recurve was much easier to assemble than a compound. I would have thought she might find a crossbow around, maybe a more modern one even. And while she is a bit "daft" at times, I just don't see her trying to climb into a suit of armor, as mentioned in the other post. ( I really thought it weighed more, actually) I just thought there might be all kind of nifty stuff around an old castle, as decoration if nothing else. But then the "Laird", in this case Henry, probably has goodies around that suit his interests, and Henry seems very modern in his tastes.

Oddly enough...

Puddintane's picture

Medieval life is something I know a bit about, as I was a enthusiastic member of the Society for Creative Anachronism when I was much younger. I still have some of my gowns, all designed and sewn by me, and one of these days, if I have the good luck to encounter a tapeworm, will be able to fit into them again.

For other reasons entirely, I was at the time quite skilled with both foil and épée, and rashly assumed that this would be ample "sword" practice to be able to play with the big boys. After climbing into borrowed armour, and hefting a borrowed sword of rattan, I was almost instantly overwhelmed (but not hurt too badly, other than my pride) by a smug bastard who'd *told* me that I was out of my league to begin with. Mind you, with a weapon I could actually use, a foil or épée, and bound by the complex rules of the salle d'armes, I could easily defeat *most* men, and once bested the captain of the Ohio State men's fencing team (several times at one contest) although he *may* have been taking it a little *easy* on me.

Medieval warfare with claymores was more like championship wrestling with lethal weapons, and sheer power and weight made a *huge* difference.

Medieval knights trained from childhood to be able to "wear" a suit of armour, just as modern soldiers are trained at great length and cost to march and fight with heavy battle gear. It's not something one can "pick up" through observation, or by watching a few Robin Hood or Richard Lionheart films on the telly.

Puddin'

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

>> 40 pound draw weight

Puddintane's picture

As it happens, when I took archery lessons, my bow was 35 pounds, but I suppose Cathy has had more practise. In either case, that's *plenty*, according to my teacher. You have to be able to *control* the arrow fully-drawn. Some of the guys chose 65 pound bows or better, to show off one supposes, as I could shoot with better placement of the arrows than most of them could, despite their bulging muscles.

Puddin'

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

Show off? Not necessarily.

Back in the days when I was swimming 5-7km a day, I pulled a 70 lb bow. I had issues with lighter bows - they were so easy to pull, I tended to over-pull them. Also - if the arrows weren't the correct length, I over pulled such that the tip was behind the bow - NOT a good or safe thing! I COULD pull a heavier bow back then, but the extra power wasn't needed for the target shooting I did... I really wasn't shooting at a range where the extra power was needed to flatten the arc for easy shooting.

So - it depends on your form of exercise and your strength - not just arm - but shoulder and back are also very important.

Cathy's in good shape - but she's not really described any major upper body work. Cycling helps SOME, but not enough to make her need a heavier bow.

When I was taking lessons - the instructor said the weight you should pull was a combination of factors - it was LESS than the maximum you COULD pull. It was MORE than what you could pull by arm strength alone. That's all independant of the length of the bow and the length of the arrows.

Annette (who probably couldn't hit a target with that bow, if she could still pull it after 30+ years)

It's also dependent on the size of her bones...

Puddintane's picture

She's already been described as smallish and very slight...

http://www.huntersfriend.com/draw-length-weight.htm

Part of the difference in that table is the more prominent "knobs" on many male skeletons, which give their muscles a greater mechanical advantage.

As a swimmer, you'd obviously already developed upper-body strength and power, so could profitably use a "heavier" bow.

Puddin'

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

Armour and claymores...

Puddintane's picture

Whilst she might well have fit into a suit of armour (those antique knights tended to be small by modern standards) it's by no means sure that she'd be able to stand up in one and move about with any facility, since they weighed about twenty-seven kilograms (sixty pounds), and were fairly heavy for those not used to carrying such burdens, as was the typical claymore, claidheamh mòr in the Scots Gaelic, and not the sort of thing one flings around with ease, as they weighed around two and a half kilograms, or five and a half pounds. Try waving a five-pound ham around like a hanky, and then stop one hurled at you with the full power of a strong and angry man behind it, and perhaps one might rethink looking about for one unless one is already skilled in the use of such implements of murder and warfare.

Much more sensible to stand back at a great distance, as the archers at Agincourt did, and inflict damage from far away.

Cheers,

Puddin'

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

Aye ,, I agree...

That is why I like a good sniper's rifle with a 12 to 18 power scope and the nice 172 grain match grade ammunition for it.

The flare bothers me in two ways... the first is that it is a feint to cause the defenders to go a sleepless night as well as the previous and following day thus opening them up to a potential raid which they are unlikely to be capable of defending on the following night.

The night vision goggles are now nearly useless as the 'enemy' will have learned of them and there are many easy ways to render them unusable including high levels of infrared emissions toward the castle from the surrounding countryside. The ultraviolet goggles are not in wide use and are EXPENSIVE... The ones she gleaned from the University would be the IR type.

I was glad to note that Cathy did not attempt either the wonderful Long-bow nor the cross-bow since both have a significantly difficult draw even though many cross-bows had a 'crank' to aid cocking them. I remember something about a 40 pound draw on the bow she was using which should compound to about 120 effective... I used to use a 110 pound draw elm and it was a handful but I could put a hunting arrow through four 2 inch phone books so it was worth every penny.

Our family trained the girls as well as the boys in self defense.

Wonderful story, well put together and I am drooling for more... anyone have a towel I may borrow for a moment?

God Bless You...

1955-12y5m.jpghugs.jpg

King Henry VIII

Angharad's picture

was 6'1", Edward I had a huge two handed sword, which is now in St Georges Chapel, Windsor, so he had to be over six feet tall.

Angharad

Angharad

There have always been extraordinarily tall people...

Puddintane's picture

Even Mary, Queen of Scots, was about six feet tall, one is given to understand, and Edward VIII was known by his contemporaries as being very tall, whilst today he'd have trouble getting on a high school basketball team. Saul (from the Bible) was supposed to be very tall, and one of the Viking Chieftans, Gange-Rolf (more commonly known as Rollo, the guy who conquered Normandy) was supposed to be so big and tall that no horse could carry him, hence the name. Gange-Rolf means "Walking Rolf," a typical Viking joke. But the fact that Edward was seen as extraordinary because of his height argues that many were much less. Louis XIV, across the Channel, was only five foot one or so, and wore very high heels to make up for his lack of height, so they can't have been *very* short either, since Louis might not have minded so much if he'd been an average man of his day.

The Vikings were supposed to have been quite tall for the age, so of course the imported Norman nobility may have retained their ancestor's height advantage over the British.

It's hard to document what people were really like, because diet plays so large a role, so peasants may have been somewhat smaller than the nobility.

Most of the armour I've seen *seems* to be made for short people, but I'm quite prepared to be proven wrong. It's entirely possible that the armour that *survived* (and therefore remained available to be seen by me) was that of their teenage years, which probably saw less use and may have remained in good (museum-quality) condition whilst their adult armour was bunged up and hammered into scrap metal.

Puddin'

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

Reference

When Cathy says, "Then I recalled a conversation I had with Simon months ago, after the attack on Tom’s house and Stella’s kidnap," which chapter is she remembering?

Anyone already tracked it down before I go hunting for it?

somewhere around 254 I'd think...

Puddintane's picture

That's where they're talking about the aftermath of Stella's kidnapping. I don't remember the exact conversation you mention.

Puddin'

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

One of my posts went away...

Puddintane's picture

Probably my fault. I found a bit in 205 where Simon talks about what they did and how they did it. Might that be it?

Puddin'

-

Cheers,

Puddin'

A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style

256?

My best guess is in 256, where Simon says, "I had to bring some business acquaintances to assist the boys in blue to deal with these ruffians."

52 Dozen!

I can't believe no one else noticed this yet; but this is the 52 dozenth chapter in this epic tale! Congratulations to Angharad on achieving yet another milestone!

It would seem that our heroine is once again being thrown into the line of fire! I can't wait to see what happens to her next!

Jenny

Cathy

She gets shot?

I cheated, but it wasn't on purpose, the chapter links are messed up.

The castle's defenders have pump shotguns

The Battle of Bourke's Drift is done accurately in the movie "ZULU" (Michael Caine's first movie)
A double broken open is very safe, even if loaded., better if unloaded!
The baddies are in trouble now, task force Watts is out and armed, and looking for trouble.

Cefin