Assumptions

Damn! says Bahloo the Moon, up in the heavens. There goes three more snakes.

It doesn't matter, he can send more snakes. He sends them to remind men of the time they didn't do what he asked.

And what was that?

Even he can't remember.

...

It's nearly midnight. Dr Yates has noticed Arthur's bleeding knees.

Did you come off your bike? asks Dr Yates.

No, says Arthur. Do you believe it's possible to see the future?

Why? asks Dr Yates. Do you think you can?

I see things, says Arthur. I foresee an amputation.

Nonsense, says Dr Yates briskly. It was your hallucination.

You said it wasn't a hallucination, says Arthur gloomily.

.......

It's midnight. Dr Yates is talking about the Giant Wombat skeleton find.

If it can be dated, says Dr Yates, we may have evidence that humans played a part in its extinction

Arthur yawns.

........

It's ten past twelve. The zircon joins the conversation

Are we there yet? asks the zircon.

Nearly there, says Dr Yates.

I'm thinking of starting a protection racket, says the zircon.

Hear that? says Arthur. His vocabulary is astonishing. Only this morning all he could say was uh, uh, and now he's saying words like metaphorical and protection racket.

Remarkable, agrees Dr Yates.

Not that remarkable, says the zircon. I was under the earth a long time. I had a lot to think about.

But you had no language, says Dr Yates. How did you think without it?

I have no idea, says the zircon.

........

It's quarter past. They pull up at the gate.

The empty lobster claw still dangles from the fence, holding Mathilde's torn off note.

Or is it not Mathilde's note? One shouldn't make assumptions