Something to Read

Astra tested the bed by lying on it, and it was firm and comfortable. The mattress was stuffed with a fine straw. Before going to sleep, she wanted two things. She needed a weapon to defend herself with if something hostile found its way into this room. She remembered seeing a poker by the fire. She took it and put it by the bedside, hoping that she would not have to use it.

She also wanted something to read. She found it much easier to get to sleep by reading something - a letter, a pamphlet ... anything, really. She started to look around. Was it possible that the farmhouse did not have anything at all? It was very possible - one did not need to be a scholar to run a farm. An accounting book might be all that her hosts might have needed.

After looking around the house for ten minutes, Astra found

1. that as she had thought, there was nothing to read.
2. that the pickings were slim. There were a handful of didactic booklets that one might use to instruct children.
3. a collection of seven large books. These were a collection of the Voyages of Captain James T. Shirk. Voyage #3 was "Captain Shirk in the Land of the Amazons."
4. a newspaper.

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