The children gathered in the sitting room wrapped in quilts while the adults had a quiet conversation down the hall in the Doctor’s study.              “I don’t understand, why would they take the stone?” Jon said.  He sat on the divan beside Tam, sipping tea that Mama Darvin had distributed to “calm the nerves”.             “It isn’t shiny,” Ellea agreed, from her spot amid floor pillows.             “But it would be priceless to a scholar,” Djaren said, his voice hushed, “or to a rival archeologist.  Father has made some enemies over the years.”  He wasn’t wearing his spectacles, and he looked a bit like his father.             “They would have to be close though, to know about what we found so quickly,” Anna pointed out.  She was wrapped in a dressing gown and a quilt, and had taken over Hellin’s armchair.             “I haven’t seen any familiar faces,” Djaren admitted.             “But I have.  Sort of.”  Jon explained about the small figure who had pushed past him.             “What kind of thieves steal a satchel full of notes and then a translation stone?” Tam asked.             “They have to be working for some employer,” Djaren insisted.  “We should start looking for people who don’t belong in Alarna.  We should go into town and make inquiries.”             “If that pickpocket followed you all the way from the grand terminal, he certainly can’t belong here,” Anna said.             “We’re dealing with outsiders then,” Djaren agreed.  “If we identify them, maybe we can find out who they are working for.”             “I want some words with that little thief,” Tam said.             “He still has the Professor’s pocket watch,” Jon said. “Unless he’s sold it.”             “That could be hard, in Alarna,” Djaren said.  “Gems, gold and statues you can pawn here, through the so-called antiques dealers, but not pocket watches.”             “Djaren tried to pawn one he got for a birthday,” Ellea added.             Djaren glared at her.  “I think that someone was refused permission to dig here, and is trying to steal what we’ve found.  The Arienish and the Levour have asked for permission to excavate here and have been refused.  Remember last year at Mervoe, when that nobleman tried to bribe our workers?”             Anna nodded.             “I think,” Djaren said, “that one of father’s old enemies is back and trying to make trouble for us.”             “And with the stone lost, how will we ever translate the Sharnish?” Jon asked the most painful question.             Djaren looked sick.  “They stole our research.”  He reached up to adjust his spectacles and, not finding them, frowned.             “You’re forgetting,” Anna said, with a wicked smile, “that it’s not so lost as that.  I took photographs, remember, and the thieves didn’t get those.  The camera is under my bed, and safe.”             “Can we develop them at once?” Djaren leapt to his feet.             “No, I need more supplies from the village.  There’s a package coming for me by mule caravan up from Sheblas with more silver nitrate.  It might have arrived by tomorrow if we’re lucky.  With that I can set up my dark room and get started.”             Tam nodded.  “So we get your tools or whatnot in town and see if we can’t find some thieves to question.”             “Or some unscrupulous thieving archeologists skulking in the hotel,” Djaren said.  “Be on the look out for anyone too pale or too well dressed for this place.”             Jon considered Doctor Blackfeather’s appearance and decided that he certainly fit that description, but he didn’t say anything.  He was nervous and excited about what the next day would bring.             It was hard to fall back asleep that night, but at last Jon did, despite Tam’s snores.