Scoot's Little Journey...

On Sunday morning I went out early to my car and headed off for church as usual. I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings as it was very early in the morning, and I had to be at the meeting early because the band were attempting a big number with the piano, an arrangement of Holy Holy Holy, and we needed the practise. I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I couldn't tell you if Jane's scooter, a.k.a "Scoot", was parked out the front of the house. But when I got home mid-afternoon I did register that he wasn't there in his usual parking spot. "Ah," I said to myself, "Jane's gone out." And I thought no more of it. It didn't even register later, when I headed up the stairs to 'see a man about a dog', and heard the TV in Jane's room. "Jane must be home," I thought. And again, thought no more of it. But about an hour later, Jane came bounding down the stairs, ready to head off to Kat's to watch the rugby. She went out to warm up Scoot - and he wasn't there. He wasn't down the side of the house, he wasn't on the street. He wasn't anywhere to be seen. It was as if the rapture had been and gone, taking him up to heaven, leaving his silvery cover in his place. No Scoot at all. Some blighter's gone and nicked 'im. Thus ensued a series of phone calls to the local constabulary to report Scoot's disappearance. "Madam, when did you last see your scooter?" Jane was asked. She could not recall, as she had not been outside the house that day. She asked me, but of course in my rush that morning, I hadn't noticed. The only certainty was that Scoot, practically devoid of petrol bar a few fumes, had been parked in his usual spot on Saturday night, and by Sunday afternoon was gone. The disappearance finally reported, there was nothing more for it, so Jane headed off to Kat's for the rugby and tried to, for the next few hours, put the whole sorry experience behind her. The next day, Jane had a flexi day from work, and ventured down to the High Street in search of groceries. She meandered home via several back streets, and lo and behold! There was Scoot, parked outside some blighter's house! Quickly, quickly, she rushed back to Chateau La Wavertree, grabbed her spare keys and raced back to rescue him from the den of thieves. Once Scoot was safely ensconced back at home, she phoned the police to alert them to his return. During the course of the conversation, she indicated that thieves had actually filled Scoot up - he now had a full tank of petrol. But how could they have managed to open the petrol tank without the keys? And why did Jane need her SPARE set to retrieve him, and not her usual keys? Elementary, my dear Watson - the keys had been in the ignition THE WHOLE TIME! Suffice to say, the lesson has well and truly been learned... all's well that ends well... this time...