The collective effect of the illuminations was overwhelming. The images cascaded through the thin vellum sheets, lit by the warm glow of the table. At the top right was the ox with his banner underfoot. Next was the man being eaten by the swan, and then the lion’s den. Up the left-hand side was Dracul holding the sword, then the eagle with Charlemagne’s banner, and finally Sigismund on his throne. The remaining three illuminations framed the entire work: Gutenberg’s ape companion climbed the vine in the left margin, the creation story filled the right margin, and at the bottom of the page, the white dog-dragons pursued the hare and the fox. The images danced and intertwined with one another, each individual story becoming richer as it intersected with another.

“Something’s missing,” August said, breaking the wonder of the moment. “Look at all the figures. Every animal, every person, is facing some object in the middle, some object they all seem to be admiring. But it’s not there.”

“What is it?”

“Xandria mentioned a tenth image.”

“Another illumination?”

“No. An image from a different source. She said that it was mentioned in the journal.”

April returned to her seat. “Charlie, could you help me look through this?” Charlie came to her side and flipped through the journal, helping her in the tedious search for information about the tenth image. After thirty long minutes, she spoke. “I think I may have found something, but it’s not quite clear.”

August looked at the passage she indicated. “What does it say?”

“Basically, it says that the tenth image is inside the journal.”

“Do you see it?”

“That’s the problem,” April said. “There aren’t any images in the journal. Charlie, flip through one more time and see if you can find any pictures.”

Charlie opened the journal at page one and swiftly, but deliberately turned through the pages. “Do you want me to do it again?” he asked, reaching the end.

“You didn’t see anything?”

“Nope.”

“I was watching, and I didn’t see anything either,” April said. “What are we missing?”

August stood. “What exactly did the journal say?”

“That the tenth image could be found inside the journal.”

“Inside?” August walked around the table. “Charlie, I want you to rip the cover off the journal.”

“Mom?”

“Wait a second. What are you thinking? You can’t just rip apart a book like that.”

“If the pages hadn’t been ripped out of the Gutenberg, we never would have understood how everything fit together.” August leaned down to face his son. “Rip it.”

Charlie didn’t hesitate any longer, tearing the cover off the journal like he was wrestling the stubborn top off a new action-figure box. The fight was tremendous, but Charlie was the definitive victor. He slapped the whole front-to-back cover down on the table.

“Have you been working out?”

“Funny, Dad.”