‘What is the matter, lord?’ the hooded man asked me, his attitude soured significantly since our introduction. The crowd that had formed around us watched nervously, unsure who to linger their gaze on. My car, sensing the tension in the exchange, revved its engine nervously. I patted its chassis to calm it, and it settled into a quieter gear.
‘The matter, sir,’ I said, playing indifferent, ‘is that I find you braggadocios and rude. I shan’t be requiring your services to find your fabled Adelaide mechanic any longer.’
He let out a barking laugh, filled with venom, and shook his shadowed head. I turned my back on him and began to walk away.
‘Coward!’ he called out. I felt my blood rise, and my feet halted without my telling them to do so. I turned on my heel, to regard the man in the cloak. The crowd shuffled away from us.
‘Cowardice, is it?’ I asked him. ‘Because I no longer need you to help me find a mechanic that does auto repair around Adelaide?’
‘Because you called me a liar!’ the man spat. ‘Besmirching my good and treasured name!’
‘Such a place does exist, then?’ I arched an eyebrow. ‘Pray, then,’ I turned my voice to the crowd, ‘have any of you fine folk been to this mechanic? Seen this mechanic around your town? Have any of you even heard of such a man?’
‘Of course, they haven’t,’ the hooded man said quickly. ‘None here possess such a steed as your car! They wouldn’t know the first thing about maintaining such a vehicle. Now, my mechanic… he truly is the best mechanic for car maintenance in the Adelaide area!’
‘And so the fable goes,’ I laughed. ‘Should such a character exist, he sounds a fine fellow. But I find myself unable to believe you any longer.
‘Liar it is then,’ the man growled.
‘Indeed,’ I nodded. ‘It would seem so.’
The crowd pushed even further back, as we began to circle one another.