'Are you OK?' asked Norma.
'Not really,' replied Captain Bill,'...I threw my hat away!'
'I know,' said Norma,'Horace saw you.'
'There didn't seem much point in keeping it,' replied Captain Bill,'not now.'
'It was only one question,' said Norma,'I thought you did really well apart from that and before they left they did say that you could re-apply after a year.'
'I'm not sure I'll bother,' said Captain Bill who was looking down at the ground.
And for while there was silence.
'We brought you some cake,' said Norma at last,'it's your favourite, lemon with extra thick icing on top.'
And Cyril coughed slightly.
'Well a bit of the icing has gone,' said Norma.
And Cyril coughed again.
'Actually most of the icing has gone,' added Norma,'but I couldn't have carried it all this way and it's taken us a long time to find where you were.'
'It's very kind of you,' replied Captain Bill,'both of you. Perhaps if you leave it up there I'll have a bit later on.'
So Norma and Cyril left the cake at the top of the dip and then said their goodbyes...
...and Captain Bill settled himself back into the long damp grass and watched the clouds drift slowly across the sky.
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