( or The Crazy Gang and the Curse of the Sacred Tooth )

Crazy But Cool

Day 1. 27 July 2003

Sunday. Shortly after 3pm I was joined at Gatwick by Vicky – as promised from the Gatwick Express – and shortly after that by Steven (who I was vaguely aware of propping up a nearby column, listing it seems to names of people with suspicously conservation holiday type rucksacks) who has picked us out from the crowd and approached us with the tentative “BTCV” enquiry. We nod – and introduce ourselves. Now we are three.

Jane joins us moments later with a more confident and assertive “You must be Vicky!”. There’s supposed to be a fifth person – Tim – joining us around here but there was some confusion about a connection from Manchester and whether or not he would make it in time, and he did say he was an erstwhile international leader and would probably be wearing a BTCV T-shirt and we can’t see any of those around – so we decide to check-in. Jane and I trust our luck that our bags will join us in Tallinn as they are suffiently outsize to need to go through the outsize baggage which is currently broken. And so, having already sussed and dissed the elusive Tim as nice but dim, we head through passport control in search of last minute reading from Books Etc and a coffee.

Over coffee, Jane predicts that our flight will go from Gate 28 (reasoning that it will be one of the ones with the longest walk) and we settle back to introduce ourselves properly, enjoy a cup of coffee, and watch the departure board though Jane’s binoculars for news of our gate number. It duly flashes up. Gate 28.

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