Roscoe's van rolls onto the end of your dirt road around 8 o'clock, then rolls into town and picks up someone you only vaguely know, another old burnout called Fornam. Roscoe tells you that Fornam was a promoter in San Diego during the golden age of West Coast punk. That's slightly less interesting than the burrito Elton gives you, which you eat as you roll east over the bridge. The van retraces your last trip to Hadley to investigate Jasper Heaney as Fornam plays a CD of local metal bands from the '90s.
"Normally," Elton says, speaking quietly so Fornam doesn't overhear, "I'd want to patrol these lands in lupus form. We've neglected them for too long. Also, you need practice running across a footbridge when bicyclists aren't using it. But I don't want to miss the show."
Nonetheless, as Roscoe turns onto a badly paved road, Elton peers out the window and says, "Stop the van."
You roll to a halt; Elton snarfs the rest of his burrito, then pulls the van door open and almost instantly disappears among the trees.
"What's up?" Fornam asks.
"Stay here," Roscoe tells Fornam as you follow Elton into the woods.
Next