GAWAIN

Walking in opposite directions, an elder & a young man came upon one another on a forest glen path one morning.

In passing, the elder noticed that the young man was seemingly distraught, looking downtrodden & with a worried look upon his face. And, although the elder had nodded & smiled at the young man in greeting, the young man had paid no notice.

As the distance between them began to increase, the elder stopped, turned around & said in a low voice, “Excuse me.” The young man, seeming not to hear him, kept walking. “Excuse me”, said the elder, a little louder this time.

The young man stopped & turned around. “Are you talking to me?”

“Who else would I be talking to? You’re the only person around.”

The young man shrugged.

“If I may….,” intoned the elder. “Far be it from me to pry into your solitude but I couldn’t help but notice that you seem troubled or forlorn. We’re both out here on a beautiful morning with the sun shining, the birds singing & the leaves whispering above our heads. Yet you pay no notice. May I ask why that is?”

The young man just stood there silently, as if deciding whether to speak or to turn on his heel & keep walking. Several seconds passed. Then, “I, uh….” & said nothing more.

The elder raised his brows questioningly as if to encourage the young man to continue. He nodded once.

“Well, if you must know – & there’s really no reason for you to know – I’ve been having some issues, lately.”

“Issues?” The elder moved a step or two nearer the young man.

“It’s nothing, really”, came the reply. “Just a number of things that have been rather upsetting & confusing. And they’ve all seemed to come upon me at once, like a relentless tide.”

“Care to explain?” The elder cocked his head a bit.

“No. Not really.”

“Sometimes”, said the elder, “just expressing your feelings – your issues – out loud helps you to gather your thoughts. Try one of them. Just say it. That is, if you feel it may be helpful. Why not start with your name? That’s an easy one.”

The young man shrugged & said, “Merlo. My name is Merlo.”

“Well, I’m pleased to meet you, Merlo.” He didn’t give his own name. “That’s a good start. Now, tell me – what’s the biggest thing that’s bothering you?” He looked up suddenly as two squirrels chased each other around a tree trunk high overhead. He gave a hint of a smile.

“Well”, said Merlo, not noticing the squirrels, “I guess it might be that too many things are happening that I don’t like & I have no ability to change them – they’re too big.”

“Name one.”

The young man thought for a moment, then said, “Okay, here…..I don’t like the way my village’s mayor is running things. He seems to make a mess of everything he touches. Things that were once running smoothly are now in disarray. And it keeps happening & things seem to be getting worse all the time. It really bothers me a lot.”

“I see”, said the elder. “And what can you do about it?”

“Well, nothing, really. He’ll be the mayor for the next few years & has surrounded himself with people who willingly do his bidding, no matter how outrageous his ideas are.”

The elder just nodded. After a moment: “What else? What else is bothering you?”

“Well…..”

“Come, let’s sit”, interrupted the elder. He waved his hand in the direction of a fallen log, slightly off the path.

“But I’m rather in a hurry”, said the young man, somewhat torn. “I have to deliver an eviction notice to a family in the next village.”

“An eviction notice?”, asked the elder.

“Yes. I work for a man who owns many buildings – homes, mostly – here in the valley. And he makes his money from peoples’ rents. Sometimes, the people don’t pay & my employer evicts them. That’s a part of my job.”

“Why don’t they pay – the renters?”

“Well, usually, it’s because they can’t. They don’t have the money. As you probably know, things are tough in the valley, right now. A lot of people can’t find work that pays enough.”

“So your employer just throws them out if they can’t pay?”

Merlo shrugged his shoulders & nodded.

“Do you like being the messenger for such situations?”, asked the elder.

“No. I hate it. It’s usually people with families – you know, with young children. And I see the looks on their faces & feel their desperation. There are always tears. So I rush out of there as soon as I’ve delivered the notice. It breaks my heart every time.”

“Yet you still do it.”

The young man gave a little nod & stared off into space.

“Why, may I ask?”

Merlo thought for a moment, then said, “I don’t really know. I guess it’s because I’m paid quite handsomely. See, I don’t have a family of my own & I live very comfortably. I have my own house – & it’s a very nice house. I have new clothes. I even have a woman who comes to clean my house each week. I’m what you’d call a rather large success in my village. Especially at my age.”

A few moments of silence ensued, then the elder asked, “Does that make you happy, Merlo? Being considered a success?”

“Why, sure. I guess. After all, isn’t that the measure by which we’re all judged? Ever since we’re children? To work hard, make a good living & live in comfort?”

Suddenly, the elder looked off into the woods on the other side of the path. He began staring intently, craning his neck a little. Again, a hint of a smile came onto his lips & his face lit up a bit.

“What?”, asked Merlo, trying to follow the old man’s gaze. “What are you looking at?”

“Shhh….Over there – look over there”, said the elder quietly, discreetly lifting his chin toward a stand of trees. “And don’t move. See? It’s a doe with her fawn. And the fawn is nursing.”

As he spotted the duo, Merlo’s mouth fell open. “Wow”, he whispered. “I’ve never seen anything like that & I’ve lived in these parts my whole life.” The two men continued to watch. Then, the doe pricked up her ears & turned. The two deer ran off, once again, into the forest.

The elder turned to look at Merlo & asked him, “Why haven’t you seen such a thing, Merlo, especially considering you’ve lived here your whole life with the forest right here?”

Merlo said, “I don’t know. I guess I’ve never taken the time to look. I guess I’ve always taken the forest for granted as something that just is, you know? It’s just the forest.”

“You’ve always had something better to do, something more important than the forest.”

“Well, yes. I guess.”

“Something that will aid you in continuing down your road to success.”

A few moments passed in silence.

“Where do you see yourself in the future, Merlo? Five or ten years down the road? Will you still be collecting rents & serving eviction notices & still dissatisfied about your local governance & other parts of your life?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.”

“Will you marry? Have children of your own?”

“I haven’t thought about that, either. I hope so, I guess. I do think that would ground me a little better than I am & help to fill that empty spot in my heart.”

“Those are outside influences, Merlo. You know that, don’t you?”

“What are you talking about? Raising a family isn’t an outside influence. It’s the core of our society.”

A moment passed. Then, the old man said, “What I mean, Merlo, is that you have to be happy with yourself, first, before you can love another. You have to have a solid grounding in who you really are. You. Merlo. A wife, a loved one, children – none of those will truly satisfy you unless you’re happy being you to begin with. Furthermore, finding a life partner without having a satisfied inner soul of your own can lead to division &, perhaps, ultimately, unhappiness on both of your parts.”

“I think I know myself very well & who I really am”, replied Merlo, with more than a hint of defensiveness in his voice.

The elder just nodded & the two men fell quiet once again, the only sound the leaves whispering in the breeze.

“So you say”, said the elder, breaking the silence between them.

“So I say what?”

“So you say that you know yourself & who you really are. Yet you seem dissatisfied with many of the aspects of your life, right now.”

“It’s just the way it is”, replied Merlo.

“Ah, yes, of course. But it doesn’t have to be.”

“What do you mean?”

The old man didn’t speak for several seconds. Finally, he nodded as if to himself & said, “Do you have a few extra moments, Merlo? By that, I mean, is it imperative that you deliver that eviction notice now? Or will an extra little while be of little or no consequence?”

Merlo shrugged & said, “Well, I guess an extra few minutes wouldn’t hurt, as long as I deliver these papers before midday.”

“Good. Now, if you will, walk with me. There’s something I’d like to show you.”

“What?”

Standing up, the elder said, “You’ll see when we get there.” Seeing the somewhat skeptical look on Merlo’s face, he smiled & said, “Don’t worry – it’s certainly not something bad. As a matter of fact, it’s something quite good & I think you’ll enjoy it. Maybe even get a little something out of it.”

“Okay, I guess”, said Merlo, standing. “Where to?”

“Just walk with me.”

The two men walked down the path in the same direction that Merlo was headed. After a couple hundred yards, the elder turned to his right & entered what looked like nothing but an animal trail, perhaps a deer trail. “This way”, he said.

The trail didn’t seem like much of a trail to Merlo, just a hint of a pathway between trees, bushes & brambles. The men kept having to push branches out of their way. “Be somewhat careful, Merlo – some of these branches have thorns on them.”

Soon, they were completely immersed in the forest. Merlo noticed that the sounds of the birds grew louder. “Wow”, he said, “the birds are really loud in here.”

“That’s because this is their home, unsullied by the hand of man”, replied the old man.

Soon, they came to a slow-moving stream, perhaps twelve feet wide & about a foot deep. In the stream were several large flat rocks leading from one shore to the other. The tops of the rocks were dry.

“Just walk on the rocks”, said the elder.

“It’s a wonder that those rocks are there”, said Merlo. “It’s almost as if someone put them there deliberately.”

The elder just winked at him.

“Was it you?”, asked Merlo.

“Let’s just say that necessity is the mother of invention.” And the men started across the rocks.

“Look”, said the elder, pointing toward a somewhat deep eddy in the water near the shoreline.

There was a fish, plump & of a good length, lazily swishing her tail back & forth over a depression in the creek bottom.

“What’s it doing?”, asked Merlo.

“It is a she. And she’s laid her eggs & is helping to improve their fertilization as well as protecting them. Also, it helps to oxygenate them. That process has taken place since time in memoriam. Perhaps soon, many will hatch & join the land of the living.”

As he’d been speaking, the elder had glanced at Merlo & noticed that the worried look that had been upon Merlo’s face earlier was gone. It had been replaced with a look of inquisitiveness, if not a form of wonder. The elder nodded to himself.

Past the stream, the path widened a bit so the two men could walk side by side.

“How much further?”, asked Merlo.

“Maybe five minutes. We’re almost there.”

“Don’t forget”, said Merlo. “I still have to deliver my notice by midday.”

“I haven’t forgotten.”

A moment or two passed as the men continued up the path when Merlo said, “You haven’t told me your name.”

“Ah, that I haven’t”, replied the elder. He stopped & stared into the forest for several seconds.

“You can call me Gawain.”

Suddenly, there was a loud rustling emanating from the woods to their right. The sound seemed to be coming closer.

As both men looked toward the sound’s origin, a huge wolf came crashing through the brambles, bounding onto the path & running straight toward them.

“Ah!”, screamed Merlo & he pivoted as if to run away back down the path. Gawain reached out & caught his arm in a strong grip.

“Wait”, he said. “It’s fine. Just relax.”

As the wolf got to within a couple of feet of the men, it jumped up on its hind legs, appearing to attack Gawain. But, nearly crashing into him & almost knocking him down, it simply placed its front paws on Gawain’s shoulders & began licking the elder’s face.

Gawain, laughing, said, “Easy, now, Lobo….easy, boy. And, yes, I’m happy to see you, too.” He playfully rubbed both sides of the wolf’s face & continued, “There’s a good boy. There’s a good boy.” After a few seconds, he said, “Okay, you can get down, now. There….there….good boy.”

The wolf settled down onto all four & rubbed its face against Gawain’s leg while the old man continued to rub its neck.

“Merlo, I’d like you to meet Lobo. Just stick out the back of your hand – let him smell you.”

Merlo, naturally, was rather reluctant to do so. After all, it was a huge wild wolf. He uttered, “Uhhh……”

“No, go ahead – do it. It’ll be fine. I give you my word. Lobo, say hello to Merlo.”

Merlo tentatively stuck out his arm. The wolf approached his hand & sniffed it for several seconds. Then it put its head down, raising it again to Merlo’s palm.

“You’ve been accepted”, said Gawain. “Now pet him & say hello.”

Merlo began rubbing the top of the wolf’s head & he said, “Hello, Lobo. I’m pleased to meet you…..I think.”

Within seconds, Lobo was rubbing his face against Merlo’s leg &, buoyed by the wolf’s peaceful attention, Merlo began petting his head with increased vigor.

With a look of astonishment on his face, Merlo uttered, “How…….how…..”

“How did I become friends with a wolf?”

“Well, yes.”

“It’s a simple story, actually. You see, I came upon him in the forest when he was just a pup, merely weeks old. It was fairly evident that he was alone in the world, his mother undoubtedly killed by a hunter. Very sad.” He paused. “I took him home with me & cared for him from that moment on. We’ve been together for over six years, now.”

“Does he live with you? In your house?”

“Oh, yes. Always has. He goes out & about, now, & finds his own food. He has a rather large hunting range & the forest is quite accommodating. He’s always home by dark, though. And I must admit that I sometimes augment his food with meat that I have procured one way or another. He’s quite spoiled, aren’t you boy?” Gawain reached down & scruffed Lobo’s neck.

“Plus, he makes for a wonderful guard. He can be quite intimidating when he wants to be.”

“That’s putting it mildly”, said Merlo.

“Oh – he didn’t bare his teeth nor growl at you, Merlo. And the hair didn’t stand up on his back. That is a sure sign for an interloper to turn tail. Come – we have only a short bit to go.”

And, with that, Gawain started down the trail again, saying, “We’re going home, Lobo. Please lead the way.” Lobo happily trotted ahead of the duo, obviously knowing where they were going.

“Home?”, asked Merlo.

“Yes. Come on.”

In only a few hundred yards, the men rounded a curve in the trail & suddenly the forest itself seemed to open up. A fairly large meadow lay ahead, surrounded on all four sides by the forest’s trees. The meadow seemed almost out of place, but there it was. And, in it, Merlo noticed two cows, a horse & three llamas, all grazing upon the grasses at their feet.

Gawain, following Merlo’s line of sight, said, “Ah, yes, more of my family. The cow on the left is Ethel & the one on the right is Agatha. The horse is named John. The llamas are Drake, Benjamin & Doris.”

“They’re yours?”, asked Merlo.

“Well, they’re my family members but I wouldn’t call them ‘mine’. They’re free to leave if they wish but they seem to like it here, so they stay. They’ve been with me for years. Come.” And he pointed to their left & began walking along the tree line, with Lobo leading the way.

“There”, he said.

And, in an area that had been obviously cleared to a degree, sat a small cabin, somewhat surrounded by three or four enclosures, a couple of which featured wooden fence railings & a couple very tall ones that appeared to have wire mesh reaching nearly twenty feet high. There were animals in all of them. Three peacocks strutted freely around the area, pecking at the ground as they moved.

“Welcome to my home”, said Gawain.

“Wow”, uttered Merlo, obviously not expecting to see what he was seeing.

“Come, I’ll introduce you to some more of my family members.”

Over the next few minutes, the men wandered around several enclosures. In one, three skunks waddled around, sniffing at the ground. “Skunks?”, asked Merlo. “Umm…..”

“Fear not, my son. They will not emit their noxious spray unless they’re threatened. And here, they are not.”

Another large enclosure, this one fashioned with wire mesh reaching up into the trees, held a couple of hawks, an owl or two & a number of smaller birds. The enclosure, which was open at the top, surrounded two or three tall trees & the inhabitants were perched on various branches & limbs. “I found all of these injured upon the ground – broken wings or legs. That one”, he said, pointing to one of the hawks, “had lost part of his beak.”

“He obviously can still eat, though”, observed Merlo.

“Oh, yes, he just can’t hunt on his own, anymore. They all can still fly a bit, but not too far or too well. Occasionally, they’ll leave their home & forage around or hunt for food but, if the truth be told, they’re not too good at it. I feed them generously.”

As they moved through the yard, the men came upon another pen, this one also surrounding a couple of trees, some bushes & a large rock formation. However, no animals were evident. “Is anybody in there?”, asked Merlo.

“Oh, yes. A couple of bobcats & a lynx”, replied Gawain. “They sleep in shady crannies in the rock during the day. All three are missing a leg, having been caught in hunters’ traps.”

“You saved them from the traps?”

“I did. In each case, it took months to nurse them back to health & it was touch & go for each of them. None of their situations were pretty ones. But, over time, they recovered as best they could & they now live comfortably. Maybe one of them will stick his nose out, now that they hear us. Then again, maybe not.”

The peacocks were curious of the newcomer & came over to inspect, but stayed well away from the men, preferring to perform their inspections from ten feet or so away. Lobo was wandering around, sniffing here & there, all but ignoring the other animals.

“Let me ask you a question, Gawain”, said Merlo, looking around. “How do you feed & care for all of these animals? They all eat different things – & probably a lot of it.”

Gawain pointed over next to the cabin, where a two-wheeled wooden wagon sat.

“There”, he said. “I hitch John to that wagon &, every few weeks, go into town. I take some of my fruits & vegetables – I have a rather large garden over there on the other side of that stand of trees”, he continued, pointing. “And I barter the produce with the owner of a general store in return for some of the old meats that he feels no longer safe in selling to his customers. I put it in a cool underground cellar where it won’t spoil quickly. I feed the meat to our carnivores. The others fend for themselves, other than my feeding some of the birds some extra seeds I may have on hand from the garden.”

“What about you?”, Merlo asked. “What do you eat?”

Gawain chuckled & replied, “Oh, I purchase what I must but, of course, my garden provides much of my sustenance. I am rather self-supporting.”

Merlo nodded in understanding, then began wandering around the enclosures & pens. He came upon one he hadn’t seen earlier. “You have pigs, too?”, he asked over his shoulder.

“Only two. Sadie passed late last year. Of natural causes. Very sad.”

“They seem to like the mud.”

“Oh, very much. I pour water from the stream into their pen every morning. That one on the left is Mortimer & the other one is Lancelot.”

“Lancelot? That’s quite a regal name for a pig.”

“He’s quite a regal pig.”

“I see.”

Approaching Gawain again, Merlo inquired, “That’s all you do here? Take care of these animals?”

“Somebody has to, Merlo. I guess it has fallen to me.”

“And you’re okay with that? Just caring for animals?”

“Isn’t that enough?”

Just then, Lobo trotted over & sat at Gawain’s feet, earning him a good scratching on his neck. “Good boy. There’s my boy.”

Merlo: “Do you live here by yourself? I mean, are you alone here?”

“Yes. Well, I have all these family members around me but if you’re asking if there’s another human present, the answer is no.”

“Why?”

“I’m quite happy with the way things are. I see no need for others. Well, other than to encounter nice people like you on the trail or in town every once in a while. A great while, actually.”

“Can I ask you how this all happened, Gawain? I mean, why this all happened? What made you decide to live this way?”

Gawain looked at him & asked, “Don’t you have to be on your way fairly soon, my boy? After all, you have people to evict.”

Merlo looked around him, thought for a minute, reflecting, then said, “Another few minutes shouldn’t hurt.” Then a thought hit him that he uttered aloud, “I really don’t want to pry, Gawain. I’m just rather fascinated by it all.”

“If that’s your wish, Merlo. Come – let us go sit.” And he indicated a good-sized log that was sitting on two stumps.

Because they’d neared the large bird enclosure, the hawks screeched a few times. “Hello, my friends. I have no food right now & we’re not going to bother you so just settle down. My friend & I would just like to sit & talk for a short spell.”

Gawain began, “I haven’t always lived here, Merlo. No. I was once very much like you. My life was quite akin to yours. I had a fine home, fine clothes, ate fine foods. I even had a wife. I made a good living – very good, actually. And this went on for many years. I became more & more successful.” He paused.

“How did you earn your living?”

“That’s immaterial, Merlo. But let’s just say that I was caught up in the seemingly all-encompassing cause of capitalism & its unending quest for more.” He paused & looked down between his feet.

“The truth, Merlo? The truth is that it caused my downfall – my spiritual downfall. A number of things befell my life – things that you don’t need to know – & I lost everything: my wife, the home, the fancy clothes, the fine living to which I’d become accustomed. I was at a bottom & I didn’t know what to do. It was a very sad & difficult time.”

Transfixed, Merlo prodded him, “What happened? What did you do?”

“I wandered, Merlo. I wandered from town to town, to villages far & wide, attempting to find whatever purpose in life that would satisfy my soul & make me happy. And nothing in my wanderings nor my interactions with others came close to soothing my soul. You realize, of course, that the entirety of my life had been occupied by what is called ‘striving for success’.

“Then, one day, I sat upon the ground, resting my back against a tree, contemplating whatever future I might have. As I was sitting there, a mother skunk & her three young offspring passed me by, not ten feet from where I sat. The mother glanced in my direction & I in hers, as if we were acknowledging each other but neither bothered by the other’s presence. And that we were just passing spirits upon the earth. That struck a chord. That, just maybe, my views & beliefs in the natural world were underdeveloped & that I should explore it further.”

By now, the peacocks had come rather close to where the men were sitting. Lobo, lying at Gawain’s feet, shooed them away with a quick move, as if he were going to chase them. They moved away slowly & peevishly.

Gawain continued, “Having nothing of value & very limited funds from whatever small & insignificant jobs that I found, I decided upon moving to the forest, to live among the natural order of things & to learn all I could about it. Over a period of a couple of years, I was able to build my cabin. I admit that it was a trying time for I spent many a night hunkering in a lean-to. When it rained, I got wet. When the sun came out, I got dry.” He shrugged & became silent. Then he continued, “The important thing, Merlo, is that I found that in beginning to understand nature I was beginning to understand myself.”

Merlo was silent for a moment contemplating what he’d just heard. Then he asked, “But all these animals”, he indicated with a sweep of his arm, “how did that come about?”

“It just happened rather naturally, son. First, I found an injured bird & nursed it back to health. Then, a bobcat caught in a trap. Then I found John – the horse – wandering through the forest with no identifiable owner’s name upon him. I thought that someone would come looking for him. No one ever did, so he’s remained with me ever since. And, of course, Lobo. All of these other animals – & more before them – have found their way into my life & I know that our paths were destined to meet & that our lives would be spent together.

“In short, Merlo, I know that I’ve found my calling, that the real purpose of my life is to save & nurture those that have been injured or, in some way or another, lost or neglected. My job is to help them live the best lives that they can, to be as happy as they can be.” He looked at Merlo & said, “That’s it. That’s as simple & as complicated as it seems.”

He stood.

“Now, my friend, you must be on your way. An eviction awaits.”

Merlo slowly stood, still rather mesmerized by what he’d seen & heard. He picked up the envelope that contained the eviction notice.

“I have no words”, he uttered.

“None are needed.” And he smiled.

“Why, though, Gawain? Why have you brought me here today? Why me?”

“The look upon your face as we first passed, Merlo. That look of consternation. It was a look that I carried upon my face for far too long. I believe I saw some of my earlier self in you. And I thought that a little enlightenment, if that’s the proper word, may do you some good.”

“I see.”

“Do you, Merlo? Do you really see? Do you see that there are many paths upon which we can tread in our lives? And that when we come to a fork in a path that we are free to choose which direction we want to travel? And that if we choose the wrong fork, the wrong path, we can either keep going upon it, unhappily, if you will, or we can retreat back to the fork & take the other path? Or find another which will eventually suit us?”

Merlo stood there, silent, for several seconds. Lobo arose, ambled over to him & rubbed his face on his leg. Merlo reached down & absentmindedly rubbed his neck.

Gawain smiled & said, “Do you see that, Merlo?”

“See what?”

“That the first time you encountered Lobo, you were horribly frightened by him. And, now? Now, you’re rubbing his neck without even thinking about it.”

Looking down at the wolf, Merlo smiled, nodded & said to Lobo, “Good boy, Lobo. I’m really pleased to have met you. And I apologize for my earlier fear of you.” Lobo rubbed his face on Merlo’s thigh.

“Can you find your way back to the original trail?” Gawain asked. “It’s a fairly simple route.”

“Oh, I should have no problem, sir.”

“’Sir’ is unnecessary, son. I am not Sir Gawain & you are not Sir Merlo. We are equals. And I believe that, now, we’re friends.” He stuck out his hand.

Merlo took it & they shook.

“You have a fine grip, my friend”, said Gawain. “That is important.”

“Will I see you again?”, asked Merlo.

“You are more than welcome to visit whenever you’d like, Merlo. As a matter of fact, I wish you would. It would probably be good for both of us. Otherwise, if you find yourself too busy going about the business of your life, perhaps we’ll meet again on one of life’s paths.”

“You’ve given me much to think about, Gawain.” He looked around at what he was beginning to think of as Gawain’s sanctuary. “Very much to think about. And I can’t thank you enough for it.”

“Look at me, Merlo. Look me directly in the eye.”

The young man turned & stared Gawain full in the face.

“I see possibilities in you, Merlo. Perhaps great possibilities, perhaps not for the world but for you, personally. Just remember that sometimes in the wheel of life, from birth to death, our wheel will develop damage, making our ride uneasy. We must take the time & energy to repair the damage or we will ride uncomfortably through the remainder of our lives.”

“You’re saying that, perhaps, my wheel may have some damage.”

“It is not for me to say. That determination is upon you.”

“Of course”, Merlo said, understanding. There was a moment of silence between the men, then Gawain said, “Go. Go now. Be on your way. And may your journey be a safe one.”

“I’ll definitely be back.”

“As you wish”, & he nodded once.

“Thank you, Gawain.”

“You’re welcome, Merlo. And thank you.”

Merlo turned & started down the path. After a few dozen steps, he turned around to wave at Gawain & Lobo.

But they’d already disappeared.