No. 26
Amy and Lance come in the back door, Amy sighing:

AMY: How could he run off like that?

Lance suggests that they don't panic, but Amy cries that Sarah's going to *kill* them. There's suddenly a knock on the front door. Lance opens it to find Joel on the step. He tells Lance and Amy that he's returned all the animals, but there's no sign of Bob.

AMY (upset): We've checked every single street for the past three blocks...
JOEL: Little dogs can really motor; he could be *ten* blocks away by now. We might have to widen the perimeter.

Amy turns to Lance, looking worried.

Ramsay Street
A short time later, Amy and Lance are riding down the driveway of No. 26 on their bikes, Lance telling Joel that if Sarah asks, Bob's with him and Amy. As the two of them head off down the street, Joel notices Toadie climbing the tree across the road, trying to retrieve the missing ironing board! No one, however, notices Bob hiding in some undergrowth nearby, watching!

No. 28
A while later, Libby is saying to Joel that she takes it Sarah doesn't know about Bob being missing. Joel is on the 'phone to the pound. He says unhappily:

JOEL: Yeah, hi. I'm ringing about a little dog...

No. 30
Sarah is in the kitchen when she hears a clattering by the front door. Toadie then comes in with the old ironing board and smiles:

TOADIE: Who ever said ironing boards don't grow on trees?!
SARAH: Oh, you got it down, did you?
TOADIE (sarcastically): No, no. I'm doing this with mirrors!

Sarah smiles in bemusement that he's so brave! Toadie asks for a kiss as compensation, but Sarah just tells him that he should take *that* up with Karen!

TOADIE (sighs): I haven't even *heard* from her since that 'wonderful' dinner party. She won't even let me grovel and beg. You seen Alex?
SARAH (grimly): No... much the same.
TOADIE: Oh well - at least we've got an ironing board.
SARAH: *Three* ironing boards!
TOADIE: Oh joy! An embarrassment of riches! Who needs a girlfriend?!

Sarah suggests that they keep one of the ironing boards and give the other two to the op shop. Toadie, however, tells her that they could be devious and give the *old* ironing board to the op shop and take the new one back for a refund. Sarah smiles that that's very clever! Changing the subject, she then says:

SARAH: So... any other news around the place? Anything on the big reconciliation?
TOADIE (warily): Karl and Susan, you mean?
SARAH: Has there been *another* enormous bust-up in Ramsay Street I don't know about?
TOADIE (warns): Forget about him, Sarah.
SARAH (indignantly): I only *asked*...
TOADIE: Yeah, but it's over, all right? Worry about the future.

Sarah snaps that she knows it's over; she's just curious, OK? Toadie tells her that he hasn't heard a thing.

No. 28
Joel hangs up the 'phone and tells Libby that Bob is definitely not at the pound. Libby comments that Sarah isn't going to be happy with Amy and Lance... She then asks Joel what he's going to do tomorrow and he replies that he's going to go to look at aquariums. The front door suddenly opens and Billy comes in from work, saying he's starving. He asks if Toad's been around, but Joel replies that he hasn't seen him. Libby asks Joel what type of aquariums he's going to be looking at.

JOEL: I thought maybe saltwater, but they cost heaps to maintain. Your mum said it's cool; do you want to come?
BILLY: You mean for fish and stuff?
LIBBY (rolling her eyes!): No, he means for kittens. He's going to buy a saltwater aquarium and keep a whole pile of kittens in there!

Libby then smiles at Joel that she wouldn't mind coming along. The front door opens again and Toadie comes in. Joel heads off to do some measuring for the fish. Toadie comments to Billy and Libby that he's seen their dad's car round a bit: is everything going OK?

BILLY: It's hard to say.
TOADIE: Come on... you can do a bit better than that!
BILLY: Mum and dad have been seeing each other a bit, that's all, trying to work out stuff.
TOADIE: Excellent!
LIBBY (frowning): I can't see that it's anybody else's business but *theirs*. It certainly shouldn't be telegraphed through the streets - *or* to housemates...
TOADIE: Chill out - I'm not telling Sarah *anything*. I'm stuck in the middle, remember?
LIBBY (pointedly): Well that's where you put yourself.

With that, Libby heads to her room. Toadie asks Billy what's wrong with her.

BILLY (shrugs): I don't know. She's more hung up about them getting back together than *they* are. It doesn't make sense.

Billy then suggests that he have a shower and he and Toadie hit the pub.

Outside No. 30
It's dark in Ramsay Street. Lance is about to knock on the front door of No. 30, and he sighs at Amy that they can't put this off any longer.

AMY (worriedly): What's she going to say?
LANCE: Maybe she'll understand?
AMY: Or maybe she'll kill us both?

Lance goes ahead and knocks. After a few seconds, the front door opens and Sarah comments that she was *wondering* where the two of them where.

LANCE (sheepishly): Actually, we've been *everywhere*, Sarah.
AMY: Yeah... out and about.
SARAH (looking puzzled): In the *dark*?
LANCE (seriously): We've really tried.
SARAH: Yeah, and you've done a great job. Just, next time when you bring Bob home, can you tell me, and not just leave him in the back garden?

With that, Bob runs up and appears at Sarah's feet! Lance looks at Amy in surprise.

SARAH: He seems to have had fun, so same time next week?
AMY (quickly): I don't think so.
SARAH (looking surprised): Why not?
AMY: Today was just a trial run... We'll get back to you when we've made some final decisions.

Sarah accepts this and goes to hand over $10. Lance tries to refuse it, but Amy says to him quickly that they might as well! They then head off down the front path, leaving Sarah looking puzzled.

Lou's Place
Standing by the bar with Toadie, Billy comments that everybody's so uptight at home; he's been thinking about moving out. They go and sit down at a table.

TOADIE: You know what would be great? If you moved in with *me*!
BILLY: Not possible.
TOADIE (realises): Sarah?
BILLY (nods): Sarah.

Toadie tells Billy that the noticeboard at uni always has places; this idea is very doable. Billy points out that he's only *thinking* about it. Toadie, however, tells him that he'll make a list and pick him up tomorrow lunchtime!

BILLY: Will you slow down a bit, please?!
TOADIE: There's no harm in looking! You don't have to commit yourself, mate!

He then adds:

TOADIE: Flying solo, mate: it's fantastic! Before you know it, you'll be a fully-independent individual. Trust me!

No. 28
The next morning, as Billy eats breakfast by the kitchen counter, he asks Joel if he did all the measuring he was going to do last night. Joel nods that he's got everything he needs. Libby joins them and Billy heads off. Joel asks her if she's still on for the aquarium.

LIBBY: I am if you are!
JOEL: Great! I thought afterwards maybe we could go to the beach.
LIBBY: Raiding the rock pools, kind of thing?
JOEL: Oh no - you have to *respect* the ecosystems.
LIBBY: OK - that sounds great!

No. 30
Toadie is sitting working at the kitchen table when Sarah comes in and tells him that she's got a split shift today, so she'll be home early. She then asks how Billy is.

TOADIE (shrugs): Same as always.
SARAH: What did he have to say?
TOADIE (curtly): About *what*?

Sarah doesn't respond. Toadie sighs heavily and says:

TOADIE: Apparently things are going OK. Karl and Susan are seeing each other a bit.
SARAH (mutedly): Good. I'm glad for them.

Sarah then tells Toadie genuinely that she knows it's a difficult situation for him, but he's the only one who understands.

SARAH: I appreciate it; I know it's a difficult situation for you.
TOADIE: Yes, it is: Libby wants to shoot me as a spy and *you* want to pump me for information.
SARAH (indignantly): I've *never* asked you to spy.
TOADIE (pointedly): When mum left Erinsborough, I moved into the Kennedys'. They took me in. I owe them a lot.
SARAH (insists): It's *over* between Karl and I. Finished. So you can relax, OK?

Toadie doesn't look convinced.

Corridor at Erinsborough High
Lance is telling Amy that she still owes him five bucks for helping her walk Bob yesterday. Amy just retorts:

AMY: Later, Lance.

Looking surprised, Lance asks what's wrong. Amy sighs that it's her Media Studies: Miss. Hicks showed them other people's folios: they're *so* good and *she* doesn't stand a chance - especially not in photography.

LANCE (assures her): Yes you do.
AMY: But you haven't seen their work.
LANCE: I'm sure yours is just as good.
AMY: No. I need *new* shots. Something *different*.
LANCE (quickly): Yeah, well, I'm not taking my clothes off again!

Beach
Joel and Libby are walking along the beach, Libby looking around and commenting that nature is remorseless: hard and unforgiving. Joel smiles that it's just nature; *people* are hard and unforgiving.

LIBBY: Meaning *me*?!
JOEL: No, of course not!
LIBBY: I think I *am* a bit. I'm slow to get angry, but slow to calm down, too.

Changing the subject, Libby then comments:

LIBBY: You haven't had a very good day, have you?! You didn't get your aquarium... you're stuck walking along the beach with a hard and unforgiving woman who doesn't know *anything* about marine biology...!
JOEL: Yeah... but you're interesting in your own way! And as for the aquarium, I guess I can keep saving.

They stop and look around. Joel then points out some rock pools and the two of them run over to them.

LIBBY (knowingly): I hope there aren't any sea urchins...
JOEL (looking surprised): Sea urchins?
LIBBY: I hear a mutual friend of ours had a bit of a run-in with one...
JOEL (looking surprised): How did you hear about that?!
LIBBY: I'm a journalist; I have my sources!
JOEL: Don't say anything to Amy; she'll kill me!
LIBBY: You're going to have to stay on my good side, aren't you!

Joel then bends down and picks up a shell from a rock pool. Handing it to Libby, he says:

JOEL: There you are: a present from the ocean.
LIBBY: It's beautiful. Tell the ocean 'thank you very much'!

Libby puts the shell to her ear and then says:

LIBBY: It's talking to me!

Handing it to Joel, she adds:

LIBBY: It's for you!

Coffee Shop
Toadie sits down with Billy, hands him a bag of sandwiches and says:

TOADIE: There, get that into you. We need to be out of here.
BILLY (wearily): Yeah, right - to inspect another small crappy dump with mould in the bathroom, filthy lino and a hundred thousand roaches.

Toadie asks him if he wants to go upmarket.

BILLY: Yeah... but who's going to pay?

Toadie suggests that he get a two-bedroom place, talk to the guys at work and find someone to share with. Billy says he doesn't know if he *wants* to share. Toadie insists that it's great

BILLY (sighs): This is all a bit of a challenge for you, isn't it: get me out of home and into a flat. 'Rebecchi does it again.'
TOADIE: Mate, if it's what you need, what's wrong with that?
BILLY: Pressure. *Pressure* is what's wrong with that.

Beach
Joel picks a starfish up from a rock pool and shows it to Libby, telling her that they're found along the eastern seaboard of Australia. As Libby examines the creature, neither of them notices a guy a couple of hundred yards away - until he suddenly starts firing a gun in the direction of the water. Joel doesn't hesitate, and immediately leaps up and starts chasing after the man. He tackles him and brings him to the ground. After rolling him over in the sand several times, he wrestles the gun from the man's hand.

Beach
A short time later, the man Joel tackled yells:

MAN: What's this supposed to be: some sort of a *joke*?

Joel and Libby look up to where a film crew is standing, watching. The man then snaps at Joel:

MAN: Back off, Tarzan - you mucked up the shot.

He storms off. Libby looks at Joel with a smirk on her face!

A street
Billy and Toadie approach a white clapboard house, Toadie telling Billy as they do so that he wants too much.

BILLY: Glass in the windows is too much?!

Billy then adds that he knows what he wants and he's not going to be bulldozed into what *Toadie* wants.

TOADIE: But you're too *close* to the problem, mate; you're too *involved*. If you just let *me* make the decision, then it saves all the aggravation!

Billy puts the key in the front door of the house and the two of them head inside. Billy looks more impressed. He peers out the window, telling Toadie:

BILLY: It's exactly what I had in mind - and knowing *my* luck, I'll lose it, too.
TOADIE (sighs): There you go again. It's available; why would you lose it?
BILLY (retorts): Because the rent is too high for one person?

The two of them head into the kitchen, where Toadie says:

TOADIE: Hey, you know what would be great? The two of us living together.

Billy reminds him about his lease with Sarah.

TOADIE: Don't worry about Sarah, mate: she'll see it my way!

Beach
As the film crew packs up, Libby smiles at Joel that they got their shot; they're happy. Joel just asks flatly if they can go home now.

LIBBY (looking surprised): Why are you so upset about it?
JOEL: Apart from making a total fool of myself in front of a beach full of people, I can't think of a single reason...
LIBBY: A couple of actors and a film crew is hardly a beach full of people.

Joel just asks if they can go.

LIBBY (sighs): I hardly *ever* get to the beach. I think we should stay and build a sandcastle.
JOEL (tersely): Libby, I can't *take* sandcastles right now.
LIBBY: And *I* don't want to go home. Come on - I'm hungry: let's get something to eat!

No. 26
Amy is trying to photograph a bowl of fruit on the kitchen table while Lance holds an angle-poise lamp over it. Amy, however, mutters:

AMY: Still life is *boring*.
LANCE: No it's not.
AMY (snaps): Yes it is. Annie Leibovitz didn't take photos of bowls of fruit. She got world-famous shots because she thought of something *different*.
LANCE: I think we should just *forget* about Annie Leibovitz.
AMY (smiles): Why - because she got John Lennon to take his clothes off?
LANCE: I'm *not* taking my clothes off!

As Lance then puts an orange into his mouth, Amy appears to be struck by something, and she comments:

AMY: Hey, *that's* not a bad idea...

Beach
Joel and Libby are sitting on the bonnet of Joel's car, fish and chips open on unwrapped paper beside them.

LIBBY: You know, what you did was seriously brave.
JOEL (retorts): What I did was seriously *stupid*.

Libby, however, insists that he's a hero. A smile crossing his face, Joel says:

JOEL: So, um, if you're not doing anything this evening, do you feel like having dinner with a hero?
LIBBY: And can we see a movie with heaps of guns and violence?!
JOEL: Give me a break! I don't mind the occasional chick flick!
LIBBY: I'd love to see a movie, but I've got a date with Mike. Sorry.
JOEL: That's cool.
LIBBY: But I've had a great time today. Thank you - it's been fun.

A look of disappointment crosses Joel's face.

No. 26
Lance is lying on the coffee table in the lounge room, naked apart from strategically-placed items of fruit placed on his body! Amy is running around him, taking photos and adding and removing pieces of fruit! Lance has a look of incredulity on his face! As Amy leans in to replace one piece of fruit, she leans too far and falls on top of Lance. They start kissing passionately!

No. 30
Sarah is ironing in the kitchen, and she comments to Toadie as he comes in that she doesn't know how she put up with the old board for so long! Toadie then says:

TOADIE: Look, I've got a question: how would things actually work about breaking the lease if one of us wanted to move out?
SARAH: Look, you can relax: I realise that I *said* that, but it's just not an option financially.
TOADIE: No, that's not what I'm talking about.
SARAH: Yeah, and you were right about that too: running away would be a mistake. If Karl decides to move back home I'll just have to face it - so I *have* to stay. It's good to know *you're* here, though.
TOADIE (looking surprised): Why? Having me here would make no difference whatsoever.
SARAH: Yes it would! You *understand*; someone else wouldn't. It would be hell living with someone else. I'm really glad that you're here.
TOADIE (uncertainly): That's all right, then. Look, I've got to go and see Billy for a while.
SARAH: OK. See you later - and I don't want to hear a word he has to say!
TOADIE: Liar!
SARAH: I'll leave it up to you!

No. 28
A short time later, Toadie sits down with Billy at the Kennedys' table. Billy asks Toadie what Sarah said when he told her.

TOADIE: Actually, I *haven't* told her yet.
BILLY: Mate, the application's *in*. I can't afford this on my own. You're not going to bail out on me now...?
TOADIE (insists): I said I'm in, didn't I?
BILLY: So why haven't you told her?
TOADIE: You ever heard of timing? You know women: you time it right and you're sweet, otherwise things can get very ugly.

Billy points out that timing is one thing they don't *have*. Toadie insists that he's on the case. The 'phone suddenly starts ringing and Billy goes to answer it. He listens and then tells Toadie quietly that it's the estate agent, for Karl. Toadie asks what they want. Billy asks the caller and then relays to Toadie that they're checking references. Toadie takes the 'phone, telling Billy to watch and learn. As Billy looks on in concern, Toadie says to the estate agent:

TOADIE: Hello, Doctor Kennedy here...