Three weeks had passed, and Melbourne had lost his bet with Andrea miserably. Ursula had kept her bargain with Sam by making the arrangements and payments herself... he had put her in charge of a budget. Melbourne now had two sheep dogs, and two, two year old mares, for draft. In equine terms they were mutts, and Sam had been careful to explain that the hereditary of the Mustang lacked inbreeding for the same reason. Melbourne's gratitude had been so profound as to embarrass them both, and they had narrowly avoided tears over the phone.
Sam was now in receipt of a mailer post-marked from Perth, containing the particulars of the relevant wire transfer. Ursula would have to make it her business to know Andrea's measurements and preferences. Her taste was desert ranch, and would fit in with ranchers the world over.
Now for the fun part... the surprise. His best research showed that Land Cruiser was the best bargain to be had local to the Darwin area, and he proceeded to make arrangements for it to be delivered unannounced. He composed his thoughts. "Mel," he began, "I was shopping for Range Rovers in Tasmania, and came across a batch of Land Cruisers for a song. Could you take this one off my hands, and point out a couple of deserving buddies, to take two more off my hands? You'd be responsible for shipping and handling, but the matching funds from the Paris to Dakar rally entries should adequately cover costs." Hmmm... Melbourne was a master of verbal sleight of hand. If he even suspected, there was no telling what would happen. Maybe the "matching funds," should become "the winner's cup," with Mel responsible for paying a proportionate fraction of the taxes? Yeah, that ought to do it. He squared his shoulders and addressed the keyboard. It was going to be an EX-Cellent day!
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