The Bell Curve

Fred had remembered the little piece of cloth. It may have been some sort of bookmark. He soaked in the water, and turned it over. It was not really the true shape of a bell. The bells he know were flatter at the peak. It was not really a mountain, either. But the knitting was not the work of an apprentice. In fact, when Fred looked closely at it, there was some extremely fine white threads within the outline. And then his eye caught something, or he thought it had. It was almost as if there was a thread at the beginning and end of the white curve - a short of extremely dark red. But he could not see it.

When he had finished has bath, and dried off, it was chilly. He still could not get his mind off that patch, though. He held it close to a candle. Still he could not find what he was looking for. He finally gave up, and went down to a late dinner.

The cook had retired for the night, but the youngest son of the innkeeper had a speciality of the place already prepared. Bits of salty meat and pototo peelings had been fried to a crisp in bacon grease. The boy gave Fred and Astra a large bowl, along with two mugs of wine and a packet of sugar. Fred paid the boy a silver piece, and took a handful of crisps. The snack was surprisingly good.

Fred told Astra about the patch, and handed it to her. Astra agreed that the seamstress did good work, and suggested that it was part of a slip cover for the book at one time. Fred thought that perhaps one of the victims of the dragon wore it as part of his or her clothing. But neither Fred nor Astra could connect this pattern with the native costume of any land that they knew. They speculated about the origins of Checkers and the fate of Belboz, and possible gold and treasure in the cave. But Astra said that escape from Belboz and the book that she had would be enough for her.

Astra thought that she might go back to Aqualaria after resting for a day in this town. She knew a lady of the temple in the capital city that could explain many strange things. Fred asked if she would consent to come to Suffex as his guest, and he honored for her role in the defeat of the dragon. Astra politely declined - she said plainly that she was not comfortable in the Havnheim, and with the dominance of men. But Astra then made an offer - Fred could be her guest for a couple of weeks, and enjoy the comforts of the Aqualarian civilization. Fred thanked her, and asked to sleep on his decision.

Fred knew that he had a mere four hours before the sun rose, but even with a glass of wine, he did not fall asleep right away. He extinguished his lamp, and tried to fall asleep beneath a heavy blanket. He fondled the soft, velvety square as he started to nod off to sleep.

1. And then, with all external sources of light cut off, he saw it.
2. He and Astra slept until a few hours after dawn. And this is where they were when the interrogation of Checkers and Belboz resumed.
3. Fred awoke to hear the sounds of Astra's door being opened, and footsteps.

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