4338.211 · July 30, 2018 AD
Salt, Feathers, and the Cheeseslaw Conspiracy
It started with a goat named Vincent and a woman who couldn't walk away. It ended with three people, a tub of cheeseslaw, and a secret they kept from the camp. In between: a moral standoff over livestock, the most expensive chicken coop in history, a failed mission to find a missing dog, and a chip shop on Oxide Street where someone in a hood was watching. Some days in Clivilius are stranger than others.
Beatrix only stopped for petrol. She left Yunta with a goat in the backseat and half a dozen hens in the boot.
What followed was a chain reaction that stretched across three locations and tested the patience of everyone involved. Paul met Vincent with disbelief. Karen met the chickens with a chase that left her sprawled in the dust. Glenda's BMW—leather seats, climate control, the works—became the most absurd henhouse ever conceived.
Then came the chips.
Sent back through the Portal to Broken Hill, Beatrix discovered Rags on Oxide Street and a regional delicacy called cheeseslaw that would change everything. She also discovered a hooded figure watching her from the shadows—but that mystery would have to wait.
When she returned to Clivilius, exhausted and carrying warm bags of golden chips and pale, tangy cheeseslaw, something shifted. Paul and Karen were waiting. The three of them sat together in the fading light, greasy fingers and easy silence, and made a decision without speaking it aloud.
They didn't share it with the camp.
Some moments aren't meant for everyone. Just for the ones who've earned their place beside you.
