You wake up gasping in your desk chair.

  "Oh God—" you say. "Oh God— Oh—" You touch your face, your chest, your arms and legs and feet, just to make sure they're there. You feel unshakably it should be dark outside, but it's just barely beginning to dim.

  You are not entirely sure what just happened.

  ?Hello.? Richard gleams in the half-light in front of you. ?Give it a minute. The adjustment is always difficult.?

  What was before this? You were sculpting (the model is still there, quarter-finished, on the desk), when Richard said— he said—

  Oh, there it comes. You slump back in the chair. Your mouth tastes like an indiscriminate mix of fruit. "God, how long was that? What time is it?"

  ?Six hours, on the dot. An hour later, on the dot. Early evening.?

  The thought of another hour of daylight makes you sick to your stomach. "Oh."

  ?Far from an optimal spanner, but that will have to be improved.?

  You're not listening. You're thinking about all the things you should do, but don't want to. Like going back to the cave. Like going through Ellery's tent while he's…gone.

  ?All a profound waste of time, you realize.? The snake is fixing you with a beady eye.

  God in the ground! Talk about mixed messages! "I'm sorry? Who just gave me a presentation about the ideal next steps for—"

  ?My actions were ill-considered. We are now back on track.?

  You don't even know what to say.

  >[1] Trudge out back towards Tom's Cave. Bring gloves. Take samples. Try not to vomit.

  >[2] Sidle into Ellery's tent. Hope you don't get caught. Steal a lot of papers.

  >[3] Go to sleep, for God's sake. Put something over your eyes for the light. Wake up at 4 AM.

  >[4] Write-in.

  Well, it's too late now: you listened to the stupid lecture. Given Ellery's track record, they'll give it a week or two before they even think about touching his tent. His remains are a lot more ephemeral. And your interest, whether Richard likes it or not, has been piqued.

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  You fish the fettling knife out and slide it into the desk drawer. Scooting the chair back, you lean to grab your pocketknife from the shelf instead. Then thinking better of it, you stand, grip the chair in a momentary sway of vertigo— you haven't stood in an hour, or maybe six— and pick up the knife like a sane person. You duck under your cot and grope around in the portmanteau for your gloves (black, leather, expensive), slide them on, then pause. You don't have anything sterile to put samples in, and you are not keeping skull fragments in your pockets. Ignore the hiccup of bile at "skull fragments."

  ?Don't look at me,? Richard grouses. He's been tailing you as you've been digging around in the tent. ?This is your ridiculous idea.?

  "All I'm doing is opening a more interesting line of questioning," you mimic. "Oh God, Charlie, I'm soooo smart. I have a blackboard."

  ?I don't sound like that.?

  He doesn't. You can do the general tone, but you can't begin to approximate all the smug little tics and nuances. "We'll split the difference. Got ideas?"

  ?No. Sleep. You're going to develop bags. We will refocus on relevant things in the morning.?

  You slide open the desk drawer again and discover some woven mats you've used to wrap models in. It's good enough. You stick a couple in your pocket.

  You're ready as you'll ever be. It's just a matter of slipping out unnoticed…

  Easy. You slip out unnoticed. You just had to weave between the tents and dodge the hoots to the north (lobster-racing? sounds like lobster-racing), where you suspect most of the action is. The path to Tom's Cave is unmarked, but easily spotted by its proximity to one of Eloise's "installations"—a table with grass growing out the top, possibly symbolic, entitled "Fen VI." The trail is a tad more dangerous in the growing dusk, but you know it well enough. Still no large wildlife. Has there been a recent hunt?

  You draw close to the cave. The water tastes metallic, you think. You round the bend.

  Margo's gone, is the first thing you notice. Or still gone. Is she still in the cave? You don't like to think about it. Her rocking chair is empty, in any case.

  The second thing you notice is Eloise bent over a patch of grass. You don't have to hesitate on the identification— it could not be more plainly her. She's got the cloak on.

  You honestly don't know what to make of the cloak. It's bright blue, it seems well-made enough, if pressed you might call it beautiful. The trouble with it is she never takes it off. Six months you've seen her, and not once has she appeared without it. You've heard mentions of a betting pool. Is she grotesquely deformed in one way or another? Is it a political statement? Does she just really like the color blue? Nobody knows. (In your opinion, she just likes the attention.)

  In any case, Eloise's cloak is here, and thus so is Eloise. And she is inspecting the location of the murder.

  Why must things always be difficult?

  >[1] It's not worth it. Go back to camp. Or… head into town. So you're "blacklisted." So what? You need some civilization. [Where do you go?]

  >[2] Be rational, Lottie. There's no way Eloise knows you were involved. Or… not involved. Just walk up like a normal person. Say hello like a normal person. (Or "salutations," apparently.)

  >[3] Wait it out in this copse until she leaves. She won't be here forever, surely. But then again, Margo won't be in the cave forever.

  >[4] Write-in.

  BATHIC'S RECOMMENDATION CORNER #9

  will be getting back to recommending a wide variety of things you need in your life shortly. Probably not more apples, though. Maybe a recipe that has apples in it? We'll find out.

  Aquila ? I haven't, yet, but it's staring at me from my Read Later list, because it looks so darn up my alley: low fantasy / soft-scifi corporate dystopia where everybody has a talking animal in their head. HELL YEAH! Check it out:

  Run, Red River Run by the same author! It's their RR Magazine entry, it's about a guy obsessed with winning a space dragon race, and it's super cool. I am actually reading this one ATM, so I can say this definitively. Also, it's only 6 chapters long right now, so there's nothing stopping you from catching up! :D ??