Cat's eyes flashed, drawing a big open mouthed gasp when Frankie suggested stealing a camera. "Frankie!" she play slapped his arm. "There will be none of that. I don't need a camera that badly. But a cheap plastic camera sounds like it would work. I wonder if they have those here. I'm sure I can stuff just one more little thing into my pack"

Frankie laughed. "Hey-oh, miss, easy with the violence! Hot coffee here," he chided Cat, jokingly, when she swatted him. Again, the New Jersey accent really bled through when he said 'cawfee.' And 'here' (the 'R' was so relaxed, it was barely there.)

He recalled her bag and wondered if she really and could truly fit one more thing in it. Looked like she should've stopped fitting 'one more thing' in it a couple things ago. The first time he ran away, he hadn't really packed light either. The more time you spend on the streets, the less things you lug around though.

"Oh, sure ya can. Cram it in between everything and the kitchen sink." He smiled because he was only teasing. His eyes slid over Nina. As their defacto guide, maybe she didn't like the thievery talk. "You know where she could get one of 'em? I ain't sure how to ask around the shops, I don't speak a lot of... Uh, Belgium." 

"I'm sure there's a little shop in the station." Cat tossed her head about, looking for shops. She wanted to laugh at his Belgium comment, but stopped herself. She had a suspicion that he wasn't joking. "I can ask myself. Je parle un peu français." Cat affected a reasonably good French accent with only a slight Scottish lilt.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:36, Thu 07 Apr 2022.

In reply to James (Jimmy) Colson (msg # 17):

Desmond was finishing off a glass of orange juice.

"Between waiting for new joiners, we need to do some shopping. Some bread, water, beer, stuff like that. We've got a long drive ahead of us and motorway service stations can be a rip off in any country. Especially when they charge for you to use the loo. So someone to help me carry some stuff might be useful. Also, how are you with a car jack?"

Anais Gautier, sitting reading a left-wing journal (printed on poor quality paper on someone's home printing machine) someone had left lying around, looked up.

"Is something wrong with the van?" she asked.

"Bit worried about one of the tyres. Might be going a bit bald and the last thing we need is for any gendarmes to ding us for that."

In reply to Frankie Messina (msg # 20):

"Not going to get anything here... but in any event, you want something proper, not one of those cheap disposable ones. One of the Kodak Instamatics would be right up your street. There's a photography place a couple of streets away. We'll go over there once we've finished our coffee."

Once they had finished, Nina led them across the street, stopping in time to avoid an idiot breaking the speed limit and driving through a red light. They walked down an avenue as trams, a sight gone from London and pretty much all of Britain, ran down the centre. Soon they found themselves at the entrance to a small shop called "Photo World", with a hand-painted sign and a wooden door that rang a bell when they stepped inside.

It was like going into Aladdin's Cave. Or rather the camera section of it. Cameras and associated equipment filled shelves, were propped up against the wall and even turned up on the floor in places. You had to be careful to avoid tripping. A beaming old man with a moustache came out, his hands wide open.

"Greetings, Nina!" he exclaimed. "How can I help you today and please introduce me to your latest friends!"

"This is Basil," Nina said. "Anything he doesn't know about cameras is not worth knowing."

Not waiting for the introduction, Cat squeezed forward, with usual bright smile. "Hello Basil, I'm Cat. I want a small camera that I can take on our upcoming journey. I don't have a lot of money, but I would like something that will take pictures worth the effort."

Frankie finished his coffee and followed along to the shop. Even the parts of the streets that were fairly mundane, he studied like they were strange and exciting. The a-hole speeding through the red light wasn't really a new sight either. He reflexively shouted "WATCH-IT-JERK-OFF!" at the back end of the car. It wouldn't slow the guy down. But it made him feel a bit better.

He entered the store and was careful to not trip over anything. "How ya doing, man. Frankie," he introduced himself. He flashed an easy smile but otherwise let Cat chat up the shopkeep.

Frankie doubted he could afford a camera. He didn't know a whole lot about them, anyway. He was content enough to just hang out and check out the shelves.

In reply to Cat McLaughlin (msg # 24):

"Well, my dear," Basil replied. "You want something small?"

He walked over to one of the shelves and pulled out a silver camera that would fit into someone's pocket.

"Kodak Instamatic 100. Got a flash and a viewfinder, so you can see what you're taking. 1/90 of a second exposure time, so no need to worry about blurring. Uses a dedicated cartridge, so you don't need to worry about unravelling all the film, just pop it and take it out. Can get those pretty much in any city."

He grabbed another camera that looked like it wouldn't be out of place in the hands of James Bond.

"Halina 202. Made in Hong Kong. Also cartridge based. I can do the Kodak for 500 or the Halina for 400."

In reply to GM (msg # 26):

Cat was fascinated by the cameras, having never owned one. She held each, turning them over in her hands and then putting them up to her eye. She didn't know which was better, or if it even mattered. She was about to ask when Basil told her the price.

"Did you say 500?" Cat blanched. She bit her lip as she processed that. "Oh way. Yes. I forgot where I was for a moment. That's in Francs. Okay, soo...." She looked up as she calculated in her head. "So, that would be about £25. Hm. It does seem a bit expensive, though it would be a shame not to get pictures." She shrugged. "I'll take the Kodak. And 5 film cartridges. Please and thank you very much. I hope you can take traveler's cheques."

"I do in fact. Tell you what, because you're such a pretty lady, you can have the film and batteries gratis."

Basil took a fresh box with a Kodak camera in over to the till, along with a pack of batteries and five film cartridges, placing these into a plastic carrier bag from somewhere called Aldi.

Grabbing a biro and a carbon pad, he started to fill out a receipt for Cat, making a point of writing it in French and English.

"Do you want a camera too, Frankie?" Nina asked. "Trust me, there is a load to take photos
of."

OOC: The plastic carrier bag was invented in 1959, basically aiming to save the environment by reducing deforestation for paper bags... So yeah...

Aldi did enter the UK until 1990, so the Brits might not have heard of it. Des and Nina having lived there previously would have.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:47, Sun 17 Apr 2022.

Cat hopped with excitement when Basil offered the film and batteries for free. No one had ever done that for her before, but then again her last neighborhood wasn't exactly a well of generosity. "Thank you so much. I truly appreciate that. It might be the best gift I've received in years."

After sorting through her traveler's cheques, handed over the closest approximation to the total and accepted back a small amount in change. As Basil put all her new goodies in a plastic bag, she again bounced with another jolt of excitement. Placing her hand through the handle she took it from the counter and practically hugged it against her body. "Thank you again Basil."

When basil handed her the receipt, Cat looked it over briefly and slipped it in with the camera. She heard Nina ask Frankie if he wanted a camera, prompting her to step aside, not wanting to get in the way of any transaction. Clutching the handle of her bag with both hands, she let the bag hang in front of her as she waited happily.

This message was deleted by the player at 17:08, Sun 17 Apr 2022.

In reply to Desmond Weaver (msg # 12):

Nobody seemed to be paying any attention so he rang the bell on the side loudly to see if he could get some response. To his surprise it did not make much noise but bounced off the desk onto the floor.  A man reading a paper laughed, "Looking for someone?" he said.

"I was told to meet a group of travellers who are going across Europe and beyond in a van" said Paul

 "Are you Paul Winter by any chance" he asked

"I am indeed" said Paul relieved that at last somebody knew who he was."Do you know where the rest of the group is?"

Frankie browsed the shelves while Cat made her purchase. He glanced over at Nina when she called him and blinked a few times. He'd been distracted by all the equipment.

"Me? Hmm, I dunno... Maybe." He straightened the cuffs of his baggy sleeves. "I'm kinda worried I'd break it."

Kind of a weak excuse, but it felt better than announcing his not so great financial situation. He was not remotely a pretty lady, so he was sure the gratis deal didn't extend to him.

"I ain't trying to be a cheapskate, but do the cameras have a similar deal on for kinda ugly guys?" he asked Basil and flashed a goofy smile. The self-deprecation was mostly joking. "Otherwise, I dunno, I might have to talk to my people, move some liquid cash around, y'know."

Again, more dumb jokes. Like he was some big investment guy. Sometimes if he made people laugh they'd cut him a deal though. Kind of how he scraped through life so far.

In reply to Paul Winters (msg # 31):

Desmond nodded.

"Some of them are out now doing some shopping and picking up people from the station; you probably just missed. We are about to head out ourselves. I'm Desmond Weaver. Please call me Des."

At that point, a middle aged woman entered the common room, a cigarette in her mouth and with a perm that wouldn't look out of place in any bingo hall in England.

"Guess you're another one of the hippies!" she declared in a Central European accent. "Well, you'll need to fill out the register and I need to see your passport. For the police, you understand."

This was not something that Paul had encountered in Britain before, but the mainland Europeans had things like identity cards that the British had got rid of after the war.

She handed him a fountain pen that looked like it was leaking and the hostel register, open to a blank page.

****

Basil laughed.

"You're not ugly. I can do the same deal for you. Equality of the sexes is in now, right?"

Paul took the pen carefully and began to fill in the details "I suppose we can expect a lot of this paperwork on our travels" he said to Des.

Paul looked round the room which had seen better days, there were a few sofas but he could see springs poking out of one of them so he went to a wooden bench. It looked the safer option he thought

"Yeah, equality!" Frankie all but cheered. "Thanks, man. Sir, I mean. I'll get one of them little ones, too, then."

Frankie would make his purchase. Other than that, he didn't have any more business to conduct in the shop. He hadn't meant to conduct any in the first place but when in Brussels or however the saying goes.

In reply to Paul Winters (msg # 34):

"Depends on where we are, but bureaucracy and multi-country travel are synonymous with each other," Desmond replied. "Especially when it comes to visas. Fortunately, we won't need one of those, as British people, until Iran."

"Do you want a cup of coffee or something?" the manageress replied, in a voice which clearly had no indoor setting. "Got some cheap from the market."

Hearing the offer of cheap coffee Paul realises he has not had anything to eat or drink since breakfast so he accepts and says to Desmond "I am going to have a coffee can I get one for you too?"

"Carrying stuff sounds within my realm of talents, and car jacks are no problem - been working on vehicles of one sort or another since I was a kid on the farm...then in the T.A."

Just then another likely candidate entered the hostel, and Desmond seemed to recognise him as one Paul Winters. While those two asked for coffee James introduced himself.

"Hello Paul! I'm James, or Jimmy. Where did you get here from?"

Cat unboxed her camera and loaded up a film cartridge. As Frankie went through the process of purchasing his camera, she took pictures, occasionally asking everyone to look over and smile.

In reply to Cat McLaughlin (msg # 39):

"Don't use them all at once," Nina reminded her. "There's only 36 exposures in each of those and once they're gone, they're gone. If you're not careful, you end up with photos of orange juice at funny angles."

Basil rang up Frankie and also appeared in a couple of Cat's photos.

"Send me a postcard!" he called out as they left.

In reply to James (Jimmy) Colson (msg # 38):

Desmond waited for Paul to answer the question as the manager went off to get the coffee.

In reply to James (Jimmy) Colson (msg # 38):

"Pleased to meet you Jimmy" "I came from London by train and Ferry then train again.  I was heading for the hostel but leaving the train I saw what looked like the van we might be using and heard English voices and here I am"

In reply to Paul Winters (msg # 42):

OOC: That van was Nina's one, but I'll assume she directed you to the hostel.

"Then I assume you've met my wife Nina" Desmond replied. "Lovely lady, good in a crisis. Which we might of course have. But hopefully it won't be a major crisis."

The manageress came back with the coffee. It was very strong - if you weren't wide awake already, you already would be.

"I got a telegram for you, Desmond," she said, handing him an envelope. He opened it and read the contents.

"Looks like a mate of mine got into a car crash in Dubrovnik and broke his arm. We'll need to pick him up when we get there."