Will's Galactic Adventure Read Online Free PDF Page B

would ‘ave worked it out for hisself in about ten seconds!”
    â€œFurthermore,” added Drych, who had been silent up to this point, “since Spiv told Will, you haven’t broken your oath, have you?”
    â€œSee? Can’t argue with that can you?” came Spiv’s smug voice. Before Mavis could get a word in he continued. “They don’t wear the full kit but they always wear something black: black skirt, black trousers, black top. In fact, I’ve been quite helpful to them there, even if I do say so meself. I can get hold of quite a range of black waitressing apparel to fit all sizes at very reasonable prices, see. Miss out the middle man. Get the stuff straight from the manufacturer. As luck would ‘ave it, ‘e went broke so I got the gear at cost price and did them a really good deal.”
    Will didn’t want to get side-tracked with more of Spiv’s wheeling and dealing. “Are you telling me that every waitress in a tea shop who wears something black is one of your intergalactic police force?”
    â€œWell, no. Of course not all of them,” replied Mavis. “We can’t actually stop anyone wearing black if they want to. If we tried that we would have to tell them why and that would sort of defeat the object, wouldn’t it? I mean, if we told them then they would know about us and once they knew about us they would sort of have to be one of us, wouldn’t they? I mean, they’d be in on the secret and have to take the oath and…” Mavis was starting to tie herself in knots with the logic of this argument so she finished weakly, “But they’re not all suitable, so we can’t tell them. Oh, and we’re not really a police force. We just, sort of, help.”
    â€œOK,” said Will slowly. “If you’re a Ninja Tea Shop Lady, why are you here in a spaceship with a dragon and, and…” He couldn’t think of the words to describe Spiv.
    â€œWiv, me you mean? Intergalactic entrepreneur, raconteur and wit. Also gourmand and bon vivant.” Then changing tack, “And you too of course. Don’t forget you’re here too.”
    Will was hardly about to forget that.
    Mavis continued her story. “The reason I’m here and not back in my tea shop is that I’m on the trail of two dangerous troublemakers.”
    â€œThe same ones that Spiv is chasing, or who are chasing Spiv, or whatever?” asked Will.
    â€œYes. Now, all of you, let me tell the story. It started a couple of weeks ago back in my tea shop. ‘Celtic Cooking’, it’s called. Actually, we’re branching out a bit. Not doing just teas anymore. We’ve got a couple of local artists who hang paintings on our wall and there’s a chap who makes amusing items out of driftwood. All very artistic. When we started selling the paintings and the wooden carvings they took off very well, very popular with the visitors, so we bought in some other things too. All tasteful handmade items, you understand, none of that plastic tat. And books. Local guidebooks, animals, Victorian recipes, that sort of thing. All starting to pick up rather well actually. Lavender bags too. And shortbread in pretty tins. Oh, and there’s a rack of jewellery that a nice lady in the next village makes out of all sorts of odds and ends.” Mavis’ eyes, at least, what Will could see of them through the folds of silk, started to glaze over as her thoughts wandered back to her shop. “Thinking of changing the name of the place to ‘Celtic Cooking and Crafts’. Give people a better idea of what they’ll find inside.”
    â€œDoesn’t sound very much as if it has anything to do with dangerous aliens,” Will suggested tactfully.
    â€œWhat? Oh, no. That wasn’t the problem at all. My suspicions were aroused by two chaps, middle-aged men, who came in one afternoon. One of them wanted a cream tea, the