As the familiar crimson light faded, Fors returned to the bedroom of her home in Cherwood Borough.
She closed her eyes and committed the key points of the "meeting" to memory. Then, while the Wall of Spirituality was still in place, she used a simple ritual to offer Mr. Fool Leimano's Travel Notes and one of her two remaining Spirit World Shuttle Stones, which had saved her several times. The stones had come from a bracelet belonging to the widow of an Abraham Family member, and each stone on it could be used for one Travel.
Only then did Fors tiptoe to her bedroom door and open it. Looking into the living room, she found that Xio Derecha was already home, rummaging through the cabinet behind the sofa. With her head lowered and her waist bent, Xio had disappeared below the back of the sofa. If a stray tuft of messy blond hair had not popped up now and then, no one would have known she was there.
"Oh, you're awake?"
Hearing the door, Xio raised her head from behind the sofa and asked in surprise.
She knew that although her friend's schedule was erratic, Fors often locked her bedroom door and slept during the day, usually in the afternoon and especially on Mondays. So she was not particularly surprised.
"I wasn't sleeping. I was, um, reviewing a manuscript. You know I've made quite a bit of money lately from arranging publications."
Fors sounded a little guilty as she protested, but soon straightened proudly. After all, she really had earned plenty of extra money publishing The Great Adventurer Series and The Great Pirate Series. Their meals had improved considerably of late, and she was even thinking of moving them out of Cherwood Borough to Hillston Borough, where it would be