R del C's mention of The Sleeping Beauty Island crept up on Olivia's consciousness, causing her to shudder when she felt a cold touch on her shoulder. "Gods, Kitty, I thought you were a ghost...that's all we need right about now. How come your paws are frozen? Poor thing, come here...I know, it's all too weird. Corvo in Italian means crow, and Gala's house heraldry at Pubol was a crow, of course...not to mention that when she died, according to Amanda Lear, Dali placed Galarina in a glass coffin...just like Sleeping Beauty. I best tell the others...I wonder what it all means." "Dali and Gala obviously knew something, something that was important and encoded into their art. There's a reason why he signed her name on almost all his output, a reason that kept them together through all the madness over the years. Even in the opera, the King and Queen in exile are mentioned - how alchemical. So we gotta start somewhere...we have to analyze a painting. Which one?" "I just found this online," Lucky K wrote. "It's called The Battle of Tetuan..." "That's a good one. What do you see, Lucky K?" O prompted, aware of the Fornarina's natural psychic gifts. "O.K. I am ready for some thoughts on all those numbers. Lots of 7's and 5's but more numbers than that. What do you think he was trying to say? With the numbers?" "Is that Mary Magdalene rising above the mountain top?" Ravenna noticed. "777," Olivia winced, knowing full well that Crowley had written a tract by that very name. Instead of offering that information, she posted, "Tetuan sounds like the Frenchie word tete or head. So this could be about...a head? Somebody's head? A bread head, perhaps?" "Looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us," Komrade answered. "But right now I have to go tackle a law file. See you three bakers in the morning." "Yes, it's very late here in Italy. Ciao Fornarinas!" came Ravenna's sign-off. "We'll figure it out Miss O, I won't give up," Lucky K promised. "So here I am with a bread and a head," Olivia frowned. "And a painting full of 777s that makes me kinda nervous because I've seen Dali use that motif before. What is up with that?" But what the Pumpernickel had forgotten was that seven was leaven unto heaven - a rhyme that would become all too apparent very, very soon via a staircase to...Hades.    Copyright © 1999 - ad infinitum cybersybils.com Bovican Books All rights reserved.