‘So what you are saying is that we have travelled all the way to nowhere without moving, Rosie?’

‘If you like.’

‘If I like?! It’s not a case of if I like, if you really want to know, I don’t like!’

At that point George laid her hand on Elvis’ arm and said, in a quiet tone, ‘Steady Elvis, she saved our lives, talk to her civilly please. We owe her.’ 

‘You’re absolutely right, George,’ he said, ‘She deserves better than that. I do apologise, Rosie, old gal.’

‘I perfectly understand, Skipper, you are a bit stressed out right now, it’s been a long day.’

‘Quite so, Rosie but it would be nice if we had some rough idea as to our whereabouts. It’s very difficult to plan one’s next move without that vital piece of information, don’t you think?’

‘My scanners are still registering no difference in our location. I can reverse our ‘jump’ to a short time after our prior departure, if you like, though it is risky.’

‘That’s my girl, Rosie, do it. Hold tight everybody and be ready for anything, here we go.’

ZiP - Ding!

‘Screens on.’ Commanded Elvis. The bank of observation screens flickered into life and began scanning around the immediate terrain. All that could be seen, through a light mist, was a heap of cold congealed baked beans and one bent ladle. No sign of Beanz Benny.

‘Gas warning, vents closing.’

‘Smart Girl, Rosie.’ said a grateful Elvis. ‘It’s bad enough to be targeted by Baked Beans without the evil residue they leave, the real killer. It never fails to amaze me what levels our antagonist will sink to.’

‘You mean this Benny guy?’ asked George.

‘No, there’s much more to this than one maniacal frustrated cook, no, this has got to be the work of our old enemy whoever is behind the power of The Ringpull of Fordor! 

(‘DEN-DEN-DARE!’) (Dramatic music)

‘Eric, turn that damn radio off, we're having a serious conversation here, tut! You've been at my personal store again by any chance?’

Eric straightened up from his slouch by the radio console, ‘There’s more?’ he asked in delight. 

‘Good grief,’ groaned Elvis.

For a moment or two a heavy silence hung in the air, an uncomfortable silence, a silence with a little embarrassment mixed in, no one spoke, they all just sat staring out of the windows of Rosie at the swirling mist which seemed to be thickening and the temperature was dropping. Each one could sense the presence of evil, even through Rosie’s defences, it was there and it was growing in intensity. Dog began to growl, very low at first, growing louder and deeper. The hairs on his back began to form a ridge the length of his body. He stopped chewing his ball and stood rock still, looking dead ahead through the windscreen, sniffing.

‘What is it, Dog?’ said George in a quiet but firm voice.

‘Grrrrrruf’

‘He thinks we should move from this spot,’ said George, calmly but with a touch of urgency in her voice. By this time Elvis and Eric had learned to not ignore such a statement, especially from their canine friend.

‘Does he suggest in what direction, pray tell?’ asked Elvis, still struggling with the idea of a dog actually telling them what to do, isn’t that what dogs have been doing for centuries, ever since the taming of and subsequent domestication of the species. long with their fellow conspirators, cats. We won’t go there for now.

Slowly they began to move forward with the mist becoming ever thicker, with a familiar green tinge to it. Elvis was on high alert, his every fibre, every sense at maximum tension, like the strings of a bowman’s bow string when about to release its payload. In an instant, as if the entire universe was being split asunder, everything shook violently as the air was all but sucked away by a massive ear shattering explosion. Almost as this happened Rosie was speeding  ahead, dodging debris of every kind showering all around them. They went headlong towards a small shaft of light just visible through mist and carnage. They hit the light and everything in creation, so it seemed, decided to go AWOL. Every colour in the known spectrum and some flashed across their eyes, which felt rather like they were themselves spinning. All dimensions were stretched beyond reason, each individual experienced sensations they would later not only find hard to believe but impossible to describe and in Eric’s case, too embarrassing, poor lad. To cut a cliché short, passing out was the order of the day which they all duly did.

This was a new phenomenon for Dog who was usually in full control of all his faculties, most of which were still a mystery to George let alone anyone else, and of course his ball, which never left his mouth unless said organ was otherwise engaged in ripping apart his food or some poor miscreant. He was the first to come around from his enforced unconscious state and was very quickly out of the car and sniffing around.

Elvis was still busy surfing off Hawaii when he was rudely and roughly shaken to consciousness by George. 

‘Elvis, come on, wakey, wakey, sleep time over, put your teddy away.’

‘Wha? Who? Where?’ He gradually put his surfboard back in storage and was back in the present, which one he wasn’t sure of but it wasn’t as nice as the one he’d just been so rudely dragged from. ‘What the hell happened there?’ is all he could think of saying.

‘You passed out, we all passed out, I think we entered some time vortex’ 

‘Again?! Rosie, report please.’ Silence.

‘Rosie, report please, pretty please.’ Still silence. Elvis was worried and he wasn’t afraid to show it, his creation was not responding at a most critical time. He climbed out of the car and walked to the front and lifted the bonnet.

‘If you don’t mind, I’m rather busy doing some diagnostics, now please close the bonnet and allow me to get on with it, p-l-e-a-s-e-!’

To say Elvis was taken aback by this would be the understatement of the age. He had received a rebuff from his creation, his car!? George sidled up to him and placed her hand on his arm.

  ‘Now, now, don't take it personal, there was no harm meant and if she is busy with diagnostics like she says then I guess that’s pretty important, wouldn’t you say?’

‘You're absolutely right, of course. I’m not quite with it yet after that last jump to goodness knows where. Better take a look around, see what we can see.’ With this the two of them moved off towards where Rosie’s bonnet was facing, which was, straight ahead. With Dog by their side they walked only three yards from the car when they were faced with a long, gradual but steep drop from where they stood to a lush dark forest from where just beyond they could see the sea. From there, just the horizon line. They looked at each other then back at the view ahead, Dog was busy sniffing the air whilst chewing on his ball. He was emitting a very quiet grumbly kind of growl, he was not happy.

‘What is it, Dog?’ asked George. With this Dog shot off in the direction of the forest below, three bounds and he was gone, disappeared into lush greenery. ‘He definitely senses something down there. We had better proceed with great caution.’ said George.

‘You think, do you?’ said Elvis, not managing to disguise more than a touch of sarcasm in his tone.

‘Well don’t you think so?’ George replied, completely ignoring Elvis’ tone. And with this she began to move towards the drop.

‘Aren't you forgetting something, or rather someone, what about young Eric? Where is he, I haven’t seen him since we entered that last whatever it was we entered?’ Elvis was not wrong. There had been no sign of Eric since they escaped that last attack. They quickly returned  to  where Rosie was last seen. That’s right, she was not there to be seen anymore. She had vanished. Rosie had gone. At first Elvis was stunned, stuck for words, he stood in a state of shock and disbelief. He had never been separated from her before, this was a completely new experience for him. He felt suddenly very empty, a feeling of utter desolation engulfed him. George came alongside and helped to steady the usually rock steady iron nerved super sleuth for he looked ready to teeter over.

‘Better sit down, Elvis.’ George told him. ‘You've had a bit of a shock.’ 

Elvis just stared into space, his unseeing eyes seeing everything and nothing, he was in a state of shock and he knew it and couldn’t understand it, it was like he was two persons sharing the one experience. He then said, in a weak voice, ‘She’s gone?!’ A sombre looking little grey cloud hung over his head. 

It was then that Dog returned and started to tug at George’s sleeve indicating that she should follow him.

‘Come on Elvis, can’t sit moping here, Dog’s got a lead.’

‘About bloody time if you ask me’, said Elvis,  a smirk playing across his face and wafting away the little grey cloud for now. All three started down the slope towards the dark ominous looking forest below, growing darker the nearer they got. Dog was walking slightly ahead of Elvis and George, sniffing the air with every step until part way into the forest he stopped dead, Danger was near, very near. Then they all heard it, a faint rustling of feet through the undergrowth, an entity was coming towards them. Elvis and George squatted down alongside Dog and watched and waited, the only sound now was the rustling feet and their heavy breath. The feet stopped about two yards ahead of the crouched figures, there was hesitation before the scuffling of feet resumed, they were bustling feet if anything, thought George. They were not adult feet, thought Elvis. Just as they were speculating on who owned the feet a figure came into view, a diminutive figure suggesting a juvenile and it was clad in red. A red cloak with hood, white ankle socks and black plimsolls. The figure stood rock still for a matter of seconds before nervously moving off, this time at a quicker pace than before. Elvis, George and Dog followed, making sure to stay just far enough behind so as not to be detected. They followed the figure for about half a mile before arriving at a rundown looking cottage. The figure stopped at the door, looked nervously around before entering. The three in pursuit just managed to see the inner glow of the cottage before the door was slammed shut. They looked at each other then back at the cottage. It was Elvis who spoke first.

‘Did you see what I thought I just saw?’

‘You didn’t just think it, Elvis, we saw it too, and I think we all share the same thought that this has got to be a joke. It can't be real.’

‘Real!’ exclaimed Elvis, ‘what the hell is that’

‘Wruff!’ Said Dog.

‘You’re right there,’ said Elvis, ‘it sure is.’ 

As they were thinking what to do next the door opened again and the figure, this time discernible as a young girl emerged from the cottage and again looked all around her cautiously before moving off, going back the way she had come, which they reckoned was the coast. Dilemma, follow the girl or investigate the cottage. Before either George or Elvis could say anything, Dog was off in hot pursuit. They exchanged a quick glance and a nod of the head, then both approached the cottage, they knew someone or something was inside but who, what?