A Sheep Called Pepito

"Don't come back until you've got some really good ones." He leaned closer until he was only inches away from Noel's ear. "There's a tenner in it if you find some."

Noel brightened. "Serious? I'll hold you to that, mate! You are going to be ten bucks poorer in about ten minutes."

"Happy hunting," Ray said as he watched Noel disappear down the long hallway, around a corner and out of sight. He gave up his own search for sounds and went back to his email. A dozen spam letters, mostly requests from opportunists who apparently had exorbitant bank accounts and who were willing to part with most of it for a safe haven in Australia and all he had to do was give them his bank account details.

Wow, what a great idea, he thought. Why didn't I think of it?

One email heading was titled "New litter of kittens arrived", and Ray thought in the light of current relations with Glandman that it was best to delete this immediately. Besides, temptation may have got the better of him and he might do something that Sue would not understand, such as come home with another cat.

Ray read the final email about an hour too late.

Dear Ray, could you please confirm our appointment for....

Shit! Nine o'clock today! Shit! Ray checked his watch, but he needn't have.

Chuck Halsdorf was standing at the door to his office. Short, wide, bald, wearing an immaculate black suit with a matching black briefcase by his side. He looked a million dollars and was probably worth double that. He sat the briefcase on the table and took Ray's hand, giving it a hearty shake before helping himself to Noel's vacant chair. It looked to Ray as if Halsdorf needed to take a seat urgently. His big, burly frame was carrying about seven stone more than it could handle and his face was a glowing mesh of red and white blotches.

Halsdorf produced a silk handkerchief from his coat pocket and dabbed at his forehead. "So," he said with a heavy American accent, "I get to meet the mysterious Ray Bender after all this time."

Ray admitted that it was his fault that they had not met sooner. Negotiations via email had been going on for about three months and Ray cursed himself for not remembering this appointment; a crucial one at that.

Halsdorf was chief executive officer and primary sales representative for Wally's Shearing Products in the United States; a major player on the scene, but a company, that until recently, remained largely unknown in Australia. Despite this, the rest of the world could vouch for the company by declaring that its reputation for producing the highest quality products was without peer. The main reason for the company's low profile in the country was due primarily to the lack of distribution outlets and the proliferation of local companies who had more or less captured the domestic market with local products of equally high quality. It was true also, that shearers generally preferred the local product to anything imported, but nobody could deny the fine quality that was to be found in a Wally's product. Their range extended from shearers combs and cutters to clothing and sheep hygiene including health products and vitamin supplements, and Halsdorf had arrived to talk business with Ray: a lucrative contract that would see the Gazette receive new and upcoming products before anyone else in the country whereupon they could write reviews and so increase readership numbers, and as well as this, the company was offering a payment bonus.