1.
Bear pointed to LP, and said to Red, “Why don’t you go over to the Kombi and cheer up LP? I think he’s got the grumps for having to do most of the cooking
2.
LP asked if he understood what he had been talking about the night before
3.
Just before they left, LP pointed over to the Bora Ring
4.
The guys looked to where LP was pointing, and saw a rolled-up parchment
5.
Bear asked LP to get the scroll and put it in the Kombi
6.
LP did as he was asked, but was of the opinion that they had smoked too much pot around the campfire and it was screwing with their heads
7.
LP was driving, and was not impressed as the van started to fill up with smoke
8.
LP wound down his window, grabbed the front door with both hands, and stuck his head out the window
9.
LP jumped into the driver’s seat and clicked her over
10.
This Kombi could run on the smell of an oily rag,” said LP
11.
“No, they said to pay at registration on arrival,” LP replied
12.
“Yep, that’ll do,” said LP
13.
“We could make a living out of this, LP!”
14.
“These things are nothing more than false idols that people will stand and worship at in expectation of a greater gain,” said LP
15.
LP collected the five hundred dollars, and they headed out of the club and over to the Kombi
16.
LP returned with two cartons of Resches beer, and Cassa carried the three pizzas
17.
LP climbed into the driver’s seat
18.
LP signalled the ‘all okay’ by raising his hand
19.
As LP drove away from the police station, he looked in the rear-vision mirror and saw Cassa running
20.
LP yelled, “I’ve spotted Cassa; we can’t leave town without him
21.
As they sped away, LP looked in the rear-vision mirror, and saw the bikies in hot pursuit
22.
They were too bulky, so that left LP and Red
23.
It wasn’t long before LP had put some distance between the bikies and themselves
24.
LP switched channels, searching for the news and weather
25.
“I thought the change of government from Liberal Country Party to Labour stopped the Vietnam War,” said LP
26.
LP entered the water with the other surfers, and paddled out to find the best spot for the perfect wave
27.
LP lined up for his first wave, and started paddling for it
28.
LP needed another nine or a ten from the five judges to win
29.
Again, LP dropped down the perfect wave, and again there was a dolphin leading and finding the most power in the wave
30.
He followed it up and down the wave, then the tube covered both LP and the dolphin
31.
Covered by water, with the sun shining through, LP thought there was no way out
32.
Just then, the dolphin made a noise, and LP thought, whatever the dolphin does, just follow
33.
The dolphin had made an exit in the lip, and LP flipped out and over, still standing
34.
Someone in the crowd said, “That LP cheated
35.
LP was the winner!
36.
When LP ran up the beach with his surfboard under his arm, all the guys gave him high fives
37.
“I’ll carry on the goat hide,” said LP
38.
After the plane had landed, LP walked into Brisbane’s airport terminal and greeted his wife, Ingrid
39.
LP said to Ingrid, “We got out of there just in time
40.
I’d better contact Bear and the old gang,” said LP
41.
LP turned off the road and parked his car
42.
LP had been having flashbacks, and was not in a talkative mood
43.
LP reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile phone
44.
LP rang Brownie and Red, and explained the situation
45.
Both agreed with Bear that it was all well in the past and LP was just being paranoid
46.
The next morning, LP was up early, and watched the 6 a
47.
Meanwhile, LP watched the events unfolding on his TV screen, wondering what was being said between the Queensland police commissioner and the leader of the Bad Meadows bikie gang
48.
LP realised that his worst fears had come true
49.
LP was trying to remember what had happened to the coins
50.
They had all been pretty naïve back then, but LP now realised how valuable the coins would be in today’s dollars
51.
LP found Brownie and Red, and filled them in on the unfolding saga
52.
As Nutter and Porky went back to their mates, Bear, Red, and LP stood looking out at the sea of bikies in front of them
53.
Red and LP turned the oven on as they raced out through the kitchen, with thirty seconds left of Nutter’s ultimatum
54.
Then he took a deep breath and followed LP and Red through the doorway
55.
LP said, “Where to now?’
56.
LP said to the receptionist, “We’re here to see Mason
57.
LP put out his hand and gave the man a secret Mason handshake, then they went on their way
58.
LP replied, “Internet, mate; whatever you want to know, just look it up there
59.
“Don’t you think that was a bit extreme, blowing up our holiday house?” asked LP
60.
LP said, “They must be after the bikies
61.
“George, that’s not a crime,” LP said
62.
LP remained back at George’s property, and had watched everything that had happened on the surveillance camera, which were positioned at the cul-de-sacs
63.
LP had placed it face down on George’s scanner before giving it to those religious fanatics
64.
LP remembered more about that night
65.
LP picked up the laptop, and said to everyone, “We should keep George’s website up and running to keep the bastards honest – it’s what he would have wanted!”
66.
Cyclones, wildfires, terrorism, tsunamis, and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not enough to shake the resolve of LP and the others, who still believed New Year’s Eve would be a fitting tribute to George, if nothing else
67.
LP reminded Bear about the dreadlocked, sandy haired hippy with a glass eye, named Billy
68.
Red had shared a joint with Billy on the beach back at Bells, while LP had been winning the contest
69.
LP pressed ‘send’ one minute earlier than he should have, but he had no choice; the signal disconnected and could not be reconnected
70.
Brownie, Mason, and LP raised their stubbies and cracked them together in celebration, knowing that the scroll, as foretold, was now in cyberspace
71.
LP took several mouthfuls of beer and then stood motionless, staring out into darkness
72.
LP replied, “I hope you’re right mate, because that’s the worst vision I’ve ever had
73.
But LP was looking forward to the New Year for more reasons than one
74.
Although Christmas was only six weeks away, LP was preoccupied with thoughts of what happened back at the bora ring, and on George’s mountain, all those years ago
75.
” LP and Ingrid heard the announcement and joined the queue to start their brief seven day holiday travelling through the South Island of New Zealand
76.
Seated in the aisle seat G3, with Ingrid in the centre, LP looked across to a young lady with the window seat
77.
LP had been strip searched for drugs, and a knife was jabbed into a crack in his surf board and twisted to see if any white powder came out
78.
LP and Ingrid sat chatting about their itinerary
79.
LP looked around and saw that every seat on the plane was taken
80.
As the seat belt light turned off, LP reached up to turn his reading light on
81.
LP asked for a coldie of VB
82.
LP did a quick calculation and handed her a New Zealand twenty dollar note
83.
LP breathed deeply a couple of times as he looked out into the darkness
84.
LP pulled the bags off the conveyor belt and they headed over to the customs checkpoint
85.
One officer stepped forward and indicated to LP to step aside
86.
LP stepped out first, helping Ingrid down the step
87.
Walking over to collect their luggage from the driver, LP handed him three ten dollar New Zealand notes, and said thanks and goodbye
88.
While LP made the phone call, Ingrid made conservation with a gentleman carrying a wrapped up burger and chips
89.
LP heard the conversation as he waited on the phone and said, “Look, you don’t have to do this, we’ll wait for a cab
90.
He could have been an axe murderer, thought LP, but his experience of New Zealand folk from his previous visit was they were very friendly and helpful folk
91.
With that advice coming from a bloke with good connections in the horse racing industry, the words struck a chord with LP as a SHAW BET
92.
LP was standing next to other punters all looking for a win on roulette
93.
LP was ready to beat the odds with his winning strategy
94.
With the red ball rolling and the wheel spinning in the opposite direction, LP watched as the ball bounced past his numbers
95.
LP placed ten dollars on his same lucky numbers, this time doubling his wager, but without a win again
96.
LP had crunched the numbers and the probability dictated that this was the winning spin
97.
LP thought to himself, “Bloody angels weren’t listening
98.
Pushing twenty chips as a split bet over zero and double zero again, LP waited for the wheel to spin
99.
All eyes turned to LP as he dragged in one thousand seven hundred dollars
100.
LP now pushed across his chips to be changed into higher denominations