“You know, that’s the first sensible idea I’ve heard in the last half hour,” Tananda sez, stretchin’ a bit herself … which would be fun to watch if I wasn’t still thinkin’ about the problem at hand.
“Good thinking, Chumley,” Nunzio sez.
“Right.”
“Sounds good to me.”
With everyone in agreement, the party breaks up and we all start to drift off to our rooms.
“Nunzio,” I sez, as soon as the others are out of hearin’ range. “Are you thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’?”
“That we should figure on getting up a little early tomorrow?” he sez.
“… Because if anyone goes for the queen, it’s gonna be us,” I declare.
“… And if we leave it to the group to decide, someone else might get the job …” he adds.
“… Whereas if we simply present them with a fait accompli, it’ll be too late to argue,” I finish. “Right?”
“Right,” he answers.
Like I say, though Nunzio and I sometimes have our differences, we work together pretty well when the stakes are high … which is why we are both smilin’ as we wave good night to the others.
Chapter Nineteen:
“We must hurry … it’s almost over!”
-P. FOGG
As I MENTIONED, Nunzio and me have brought along a few accessories on this assignment which we stored at Big Julie’s for fear the army might be less than appreciative if we showed up to enlist already equipped … especially as our personal gear tends to be of a much better quality than that which the army issues.
Bein’ true professionals, we spend considerable time sortin’ through our travelin’ kits for items which would be of specific use for the job at hand. The knuckle dusters, sawed-off pool cues, lead pipes and such we set aside , . . as they would normally be used for much more subtle ventures, and attemptin’ to apply them in a fatal manner would be both time-consumin’ and messy. Though it broke our hearts, we also decide to leave behind our lolo crossbows. While they are great in an open confrontation, they are a bit bulky to be considered as concealable weapons which counts against them as whatever we use will have to be carried in under the noses of the queen’s guards. While these deletions shorten our equipment list somewhat, we are still left with a fair assortment of tools from which to make our final selection.