The truth was that he would rather have stayed in the quiet of the Pig and read his book, but that was not possible, or rather it was, but it was not the sort of thing that he could do to the people who were trying to give him a good send off.
Luckily for Craig the party could not go on as long as it might otherwise have done, because the next day was August the 12th –
the queen’s birthday and Mothers’ Day al rol ed into one and the drinking of alcohol was prohibited by law on this day and the king’s birthday. It was also Lek’s birthday, but he didn’t know that.
However, Beou kept the bar open until she received a warning from the local bobby on the beat at about one a.m.. That was late enough for most people anyway. Many of the people partying were professional bal oon
