After a fitful night I was up early, rounding up Tailspin and Doctor Vonn Krupp was no problem as they seem to be sharing Tailspins bed ?. I suggested DVK should wear 'that' nurses outfit, only because Peveral may be injured....well! that and the fact it is THAT! nurses outfit. We then went looking for Stan in the Paintshop, the small guy might come in handy in a mine, if we encountered any small, tight spaces. When we couldn't find him I phoned Gloria's niece Truly Wellstacked in HR, she informed me Stan had taken the day off to visit the grave of his six brothers, in St Barnabus' grave yard, a journey he makes every year. Well it would just be the three of us and Gloria if she was up to it. In the canteen, over a 'full English', I recounted Gloria's tale and informed Tailspin and DVK we were going into the mine to look for Peveral....if we happened to find a huge black diamond in the process...bonus! Stopping only long enough to grab weapons, food and a change of underwear, we drove to Wellstacked Manor. Gloria was already up....at least her body was up....her brain was lost in the painful Rothschild induced fog of the previous day. "Morning!" offered Tailspin, in an overly cheery tone, while repeatedly clinking two empty wine bottles together. Glorias mumbled answer was almost unintelligible...but it definitely ended with "K OFF!!" After several mugs of strong black coffee Gloria was more alert, DVK had been deep in thought about something ever since we left The Plant, now she spoke. "This...Sneewittchen Mine.....it wasn't mined by....Dwarves.....was it?....say....seven.....Dwarves!" Tailspin and I began to giggle until Gloria said "Yes!....originally....and yes it is the origin of the story of Snow White". Tailspin sprang up "Hang on a minute, I'm not messing with any witches or magic mirrors," now Gloria giggled, "That part was made up to frighten little girls and Test Pilots you dolt! Snow White was the maiden name of the first Lady Wellstacked. She befriended the Dwarves and having slept with each one in turn, she arranged unfortunate accidents for each one, until the mine fell into the hands of the Wellstacked family." Tailspin was enraged "The murdering bitch, killed all seven of the little guy's just to get..." Gloria interrupted "She only killed SIX, the seventh signed over the mine and left...ALIVE!" Tailspin now began to wonder which one survived, he hoped it was Doc or maybe Dopey, Gloria stepped in again "They had proper names idiot! not those stupid Disney ones, the survivor was called...STAN!" My jaw dropped as I turned to Tailspin and DVK, we all turned to Gloria, "Yes!.....Stan.....from the Paintshop.....he's nearly 900 years old...didn't you know all this?" Tailspin let out a low whistle, "No wonder he's so good with a paintbrush". Gathering our gear, we set off for the Ornamental Garden, a mostly pleasant trek....across the croquet lawn, through the Hundred Acre Wood...where Tailspin bagged a rabbit and an owl to supplement our dry rations. He also shot a donkey just because he didn't like it's annoying "Eeyore, eeyoreing", "besides" he said "it looked bloody miserable". We then had to negotiate the cow pat minefield of the lower paddock, then through the rose covered arbour and into the Ornamental Garden, stopping off at the coy carp pond to wash our boots.. We were all struck speechless by the sight that greeted us, this was no fibreglass cave, this mine entrance had been hidden by hundreds of years growth of underbrush and razor sharp brambles. I was impressed Peveral had managed to clear all this.....while naked! It was now mid afternoon, with several hours of daylight left and no time to lose, we elected to pitch camp, have dinner, go skinny dipping, a few beers and a sing song, then bed and we'de make an early start into the mine in the morning.......