’ ‘I can only speak for myself, but…’ I began until Mel interrupted me. ‘Of course we would love to have a bite of breakfast with you, Mr. a..., Thantos, isn’t it?’ A tiny smile flitted at the corners of his pencil thin moustache. ‘Err, yes. Thantos. Dred Thantos.’ He extended his hand. His grip was firm, but I had never experienced a more fish-handed greeting. His cool and moist fingers were long and thin and immaculately cared for with trimmed nails and smooth cuticles. I suppressed a shudder. “Okay, then. To answer your question, we are here.” I turned into the parking lot and steered the van back behind the fence to the same spot I had parked in earlier. “I will stay out here to make certain that the van and luggage are safe. Go get what you want.”“No, you are coming in with us!” Ali was adamant. “You said we would be safe. Now you must make certain of it. I will tolerate these girls doing some… exploring. But I do not want to chance having anyone attacked. You are coming. ‘You have some really bad bruising,’ she said, ‘but no broken bones and no fractures. You were lucky.’ ‘I don’t feel lucky.’ She snorted. ‘A fall like that can kill. Take it from me, you were lucky.’ I sighed. ‘How long do I need to keep my wrist bandaged?’ ‘Three days. You will have limited motion for a week or so, but after that you should be OK. Make sure you stop at Boots on the way out and get these painkillers,’ she added, handing me a printed script. ‘You will need them for a day or. Melanie cracked up, her laughter infecting the rest of us.“Call it quits?” Mel asked Tina.“Yeah, even Steven,” agreed the Little Witch. “How good was my husband?”“He was going like a bull all night.”“Yours too.”“Then I guess everybody's happy.”“Ecstatic,” I agreed.“Hunky dory,” Jim offered.“Good, 'cause I've got plans,” Tina asserted.“Oh Christ,” said Mel.“Our plane doesn't leave 'til three,” the Little Witch continued. “It's now seven o'clock, so we can fuck 'til noon. I'm proposing continuous.