Me: Where is Dave? He didn’t come upstairs for Morning Cuddles.
Nell: I’m afraid he is on duty and cannot be distracted.
Me: What is he doing?
Nell: Looking out for Beefies in knitted waistcoats.
Me: Of course. Silly me.
Nell: The waistcoats have proved rather popular.
Me: Is Dave counting them then?
Nell: No. He is waiting for the return of Sven Gully.
Me: That sounds like a movie title.
Nell: This is not a joking matter. Staring at the sky is not something anyone wants to do with Gully around.
Me: No, of course not.
Nell: We didn’t want to worry you with all that was going on in your life but Alejandro went under for a while when Gully was here.
Me: Under where? The table?
Nell: Under the influence. Alejandro wouldn’t fit under the table.
Me: What happened?
Nell: We all wore sunglasses as planned and tried not to look him in the eyes.
Me: Good.
Nell: When the waistcoat was finally fitted Gully flew off with Horst. We’ve heard nothing since.
Me: What about Alejandro?
Nell: We only realised there was something wrong when he started speaking Swedish.
Me: Oh no.
Nell: He refused his usual enchiladas and asked for ‘surströmming‘.
Me: What on earth is that?
Nell: Sour herring. Fortunately Knitwear Wolf spent some time in Sweden and understood him.
Me: What did you do?
Nell: Obvious you can’t just ferment a herring. The horrible stuff takes six months. So Poppy suggested a Rollmops.
Me: I meant about him being hypnotised.
Nell: The Great Mutliano brought him back after a few sessions but he still craves fish.
Me: Shouldn’t Dave be wearing glasses?
Nell: Do you mean he isn’t? David is in danger. Why didn’t you tell me before?
Me: I didn’t realise. Sorry.
