Francis Jane Elwood wondered if she was in the correct place.

She was invited to the weekend at the home of Bargain Bazaar millionaire Stephen Acroyd, who lived on a luxury property somewhere behind Manly  which is a small suburb of Brisbane on Moreton Bay.

“I’m quite sure the arrangement was that I would be met at this bus stop at 9.00 o’clock” She mused.

Her bus had arrived at 8.50 and she had waited at the bottom of Cambridge Parade for a whole hour and nobody had shown up.

She had amused herself watching small boats coming and going across the harbour. . She had also been looking longingly at the hotel across the street. She watched as the men gathered and stood beside the double doors.

As she watched the doors opened and the crowd pushed inside.

“It must be 10 O’clock.” She told herself. This made up her mind for her. She crossed the road to the, predictably named, “Manly Hotel” and went inside.

The combination of a hot day and being Saturday meant that the bar was crowded. She pushed her way the to bar.  A barman plonked a beer in front of her.

Francis, better known as Boo-Boo, looked longingly at it for a while. She figured that it had been put there by mistake but thirst got the better of her.

“Consequences later.” She told herself. She leaned against the bar and enjoyed the feeling of cold beer relieving hot belly.

“You want to pay for that?” The gruff voice brought her back to her senses. She drained the glass.

“Yes.” She replied, “and I another have I will.”  She took some money from the pocket of her jeans and put it on the counter. The barman gave her a puzzled look but said nothing; He swooped up the money and the empty glass and replaced it with a full one.

“Excuse me.” She said,, but he was gone.

She sat and sipped her drink and gazed at old pictures which lined the walls. The buzz of mingled talking had a strange calming effect on her. Odd pieces of conversation broke through without disturbing her.

“—-and then I told the misses—-“

“—-then he had the hide to tell me—-“

“—Last train was cancelled last night, but my wife wont—–“