......saturday to monday .......the second quest

sir stephen of nagsfold and sir tony of wark embarked upon their second quest - the coasttocoast..... they had slayed this beast many times before so they knew what awaited them when they were collected by their stagecoachman sam. their trusty steads geetee and le claude were tethered to the back of the stagecoach and they sat up front with stagecoachman sam. sam was a relentless driver driving the stagecoach on with ever increasing speed. sir tony of wark was concerned that the speed at which they travelled would result in some catastrophe but coachman sam held the horses firm and steady and they made it to a place known by the locals as "haven of white". there they came upon a group of other knights also embarking upon this great quest. they were led by king steve and the band numbered another three, sir brian; known fondly as bernie, sir spike, a devilishly daring rider, and sir david who was known to find solace and rest sleeping in baths.

they set off for penrith with king steve and sir spike scouting ahead, sir stephen and sir tony residing in the middle, and sir david and sir brian protecting the flank of the group. a tragedy befell our brave riders when sir spike's horse was frightened by some playing children and threw him from his mount. bruised and battered he regained control of his beast and the crew soldiered on. eventually they came to their hostelry where inkeeper leon and his serving wench the beautiful debbie, assisted our intrepid knights, bedding down their mounts and refreshing them with a brew known only as stella. they ate lavishly and drank heartily and retired to bed to prepare for their next day.

waved off by leon and debbie they embarked to find hartside and garigill. and they did and they were hills that were long, steep, and arduous. at the top of garigill with king steve, sir david, and sir spike breaking for home, sir stephen's mount geetee became lame and could not venture further. he was collected by coachman sam and taken to meet the other knights where, after supping of ale, they all boarded sam's stagecoach to return to the hostelry of goodly leon and debbie. on the journey sir stephen was plagued by a vexatious curse that made him sick of stomach. his maiden christine has informed him this is a fairly usual response to engaging in ale on an empty stomach!!

their final day saw sir stephen's mount reshod and made well for the last day of the quest. and off our journeymen went. they travelled from allenheads to rookhope where they embarked upon a test of endurance that would break the will of most men but our intrepid knights made it over boulders the size of dragons heads with great and wholesome effort. fed and watered at a place named parkhead station they set out for home. sir stephen's mount was plagued by more problems, some say caused by the ample weight sir stephen set upon its back, so this confirmed the course of action that sir stephen and sir tony were considering... namely... to conclude their quest at chester-le-street rather than the coast for verily coast to chester-le street and coast to coast could both be given the same acronym "c2c" therefore they feel their quest was still complete to a satisfactory conclusion.........

sir stephen has particularly felt the physical torment of this second quest coming so soon after the first and is giving serious consideration as to whether he can embark on the third quest known only as lykewake.......