Griselda had spent the evening of England’s fixture completing a full audit of the Tournament Operations manual, specifically the section on adverse weather protocols. This had been on the agenda for some time. The timing was coincidental. The audit took two hours and forty-five minutes, which was, Griselda noted, approximately the duration of a football match plus pre-match coverage, and this was not something she had calculated in advance.
Gwendoline had been drafting the communications strategy for the Tunnel fixture. It was important work. She had drafted seven versions and had found, upon reflection, that the television in the corner of the office showed football when left unattended, and had therefore attended to it, by facing her chair in the opposite direction. The Tunnel communications strategy was now eight versions long and very thorough.
Gertrude had been in the seed store. The seed store did not have a television. This was, Gertrude felt, one of its significant advantages as a workspace. She had counted everything twice.
Greta had not been in the building at all during the England match, for reasons that remained her own. She had returned afterwards. She had looked at no one. She had placed a single sheet of paper on Griselda’s desk. The paper said: 0-0. Whether this constituted a communication or simply an administrative deposit was a matter on which Gerbil World Cup HQ had not yet reached a formal position.
The gerbils were either not bothered that England had drawn, or very much bothered. It wasn’t clear which was the case.
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