August shook his head. “I do this, and you make sure my mother-in-law gets medical help.”

“Be reasonable,” Xandria said. “I can’t exactly call her an ambulance.”

“I don’t care how you do it,” August said. “Just do it.” He closed the lid of the laptop and locked eyes with her.

Xandria sat in silence for a moment. “We’ve established that you are in no position to negotiate,” she said. “But I admire loyalty. You have a deal.” Xandria peered at her watch. “Your hour begins now.”

“Call for someone to help her.”

“After you figure these out,” Xandria said, raising the computer screen and pointing to the images.

August’s mind raced. Where would he even begin? “I need some paper and a pen,” he said.

“You’ve got a laptop right in front of you.”

“No,” August said. “I need to write it out. Feel it on the page. I need to see how the information works together. I can’t do that on a computer.”

Xandria considered the situation, then finally stood and opened the overhead compartment. She dug around in her bag and retrieved a small notepad and a disposable ballpoint pen. “Here,” she said, handing over the items.

“Thanks.” August grabbed the pen and began to scribble on the notepad. He split the page into three sections, labeling each of them:

One—Two White Dogs Chasing Fox and Hare
Two—King with Golden Globe
Three—Split-Bearded Man with Sword

“Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas,” August said, staring at the first strange image.

“Say again?”

“Nothing,” August said. “I like to talk things through out loud. Kind of a habit.” He turned his attention to the first image, a snapshot of a full page of a Gutenberg Bible. The majority of the page was composed of luminous Gothic text, appearing almost hand printed, with strokes of red denoting the beginning of each new sentence. The sentences were divided into two columns, each forty lines in length. August realized that this was an early print of the Gutenberg, as the standard column length of later Gutenberg Bibles was forty-two lines.

But the text was beside the point. The element on the page that August had to “interpret” was the illumination at the bottom, beneath the Latin script. The image spilled forth from an embellished letter S, which sprouted forth a gnarled green vine curving and curling its way along the edge of the page in a curious collection of blue and red blossoms and gold-feathered flourishes. Four animals leaped in and out of the vine: two lean white dogs, one with a brown hare caught in its teeth, and one in close pursuit of a rust-red fox. The colors of the illumination were fresh and vibrant, giving an even more eerie appearance to the wild and somewhat vicious scene.