"No; he's at the library. He'll be disappointed not to have seen you."
"Give him my best."
"Is there going to be more war? I've heard Bloody John is in Italy."
"It looks that way."
"Will you be in the fighting?"
"Probably."
"Oh, Martinus. Wait just a moment." She ran into the house.
She returned with a little leather bag on a loop of string. "This will keep you safe if anything will."
"What is it?"
"A fragment of St. Polycarp's skull."