The goose, the golden egg and the end of the world

Chapter 3

"This could be trouble," the Goose said to Robert after they had seen the interview, which they had watched while eating breakfast together on the sofa.

"How does he know so much about you?" Robert asked, lifting a spoon of Frosties into his mouth.

"You heard him, he's been zealously searching for clues about me for decades."

"Did you know about this church?"

"I did, but I had no idea he was so obsessed with me, given his obsession he'll be one of the candidates that the Raven looks at."

"The Raven?"

"My nemesis."

"Is this Raven powerful?"

"Very, it's powers of persuasion are unparalleled."

"What does the Raven want?"

"The Raven is also the custodian of an egg, the red egg, and its goal is to get the red egg to hatch into something that is more powerful than what hatches from the blue egg."

"Just when were you planning on telling me about this Raven?"

"When I had no choice but to tell you."

"You know that's very dishonest of you."

"I've found that it's better for my partner not to know everything about all of the obstacles that we're going to face along the pilgrimage."

"So how do we deal with this Raven?"

"We do the best we can to make sure that what hatches from the blue egg is strong enough to stop the Raven."

"The sooner we complete this pilgrimage the better then, so when do we begin?"

"In a couple of days, everything is set, there's just one thing that I'm awaiting confirmation on but I'll be receiving that later today."

In the short time that they had known each other Robert and the Goose had become incredibly close. They did everything together; Robert was open with the Goose about things in his past that he ordinarily kept to himself and the Goose was more open with Robert about the details of the pilgrimage than it had been with previous pilgrims that it had chosen. They spent almost all of their time on the sofa in the living room, eating, watching TV and talking. They did this for five days straight until they were paid a visit in the morning when they were eating their cereal. Robert got up from the sofa in his bathrobe and answered the door.

"You're..."

"Yes, I'm the Oracle."

The Oracle looked nothing like what she looked like when Robert first met. She was well dressed in a silver pants suit with make-up and coifed hair. She invited herself into the house and took a seat on the wingback chair opposite the Goose.

"Do you think you have the time to sit around eating cereal?" She asked the Goose peremptorily.

"A good day begins with a good breakfast."

"The Raven's made its move."

"John Lafferty?"

"Yes, he excreted the red egg a few days ago."

"Well, now that we know who we're dealing with we can begin."

"How much do you know about this John Lafferty?"

"He's a fanatic, he's spent most of his life researching stories about me, and it appears he's learned quite a bit."

"You've been careless, you've allowed yourself to achieve too much fame."

"Can I help it if I'm so spectacular?"

"How much does he know?"

"He knows almost everything: the eggs, the pilgrimage, he knows about all of it."

"And his resources?"

"Vast, he's the head of a church that's got millions of devoted followers."

"He seems like he could be quite troublesome."

"I don't think so; he's obsession is too extreme, he'll end up going down the same road as all the others."

"You also need to bear in mind that the Raven probably has other irons in the fire besides Dr. John Lafferty," the Oracle continued.

"We'll be able to figure out who they are once we get a fuller picture of what the Raven's plan is, for now we're going to focus on doing what we need to do."

"Where are you planning on starting?"

"Iowa, what's going on there can only be the goat's doing."

Satisfied that the Goose had a plan for how they would be moving forward, The Oracle left Robert's house to begin investigating possible associates of the Raven.

"It's unusual for her to involve herself this much," the Goose said after The Oracle had left.

"Why is she doing it then?" Robert asked.

"Because she's worried, which means that the Raven is more powerful than ever."