"How long has it been since you've been to Waterfall City?" Marion asked Amelia. The two were walking through an alleyway of Waterfall City with 26 following them. Amelia laughed as she tried to think.

"Awhile, certainly. Five, maybe six years. Oh! I was here the first summer after your father became mayor."

"Oh yes that's right. Things have changed since then."

"A lot of things have... So how do you intend to chose between them?"

"Between who?"

"David and Karl. Between you and your mother I know the entire story. You like them both, and they both love you. Things between the three of you won't calm down until you chose one, or none. Though the idea of both isn't entirely displeasing," Amelia said and Marion just glared at her.

"I try not to think of either of them like that, actually."

"Oh poor Marion, sweet, sweet Marion. Too many men, too little time," Amelia said smiling.

"What?" Marion asked her also smiling.

"It's something my grandmother used to say. Though Marion, you are coming to the age for marriage…"

"I know, but so are you friend," Marion said poking Amelia in the ribs. Amelia's smile disappeared.

"Marion, you know I could never marry…" Amelia told her and Marion's smile vanished too.

"I'm sure you could, if you find the right man."

"A man who could get past it?" Amelia asked her. Marion wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders.

"Amelia you're a could person and a great friend, a man would be lucky to have you for a wife."

"Or you. You've two candidates already. Let's focus on that, shall we? Now give me a list of pros and cons…"

"Oh don't be silly."

"Come on now, what are David's pros?"

"David? He's nice, and caring, and thoughtful, and responsible, and he's very, hmm, worried."

"And Karl, what are his pros?"

"Well Karl is brave, and daring, and, Karl is complex, do you understand? There's just so much to discover about him."

"From what I understand he's discovering things about himself recently too. What are Karl's cons?"

"He's headstrong, and too self reliant, and a bit selfish, but 26 is good for him. He's also a bit close minded, and-"

"That's enough, Marion," Amelia said with a smile, "and David?"

"David, David, hm, no. David he, no. He tends to, no… I can't think of anything," Marion said and Amelia just smiled at her friend.

"So one can be a pain in the butt, and the other is pratically perfect, hm, tough choice," Amelia told her and Marion laughed.

"Karl is so different though, he's unlike any man in Dinotopia."

"So is David, from what I've heard. My grandmother once told me a story of when she was young. There was this boy who was sort of troublesome in the community. He smoked and rode a motorcycle, whatever that it. All of the parents hated him, thought he brought nothing but bad things. And my grandmother fell in love with him," Amelia explained.

"Why?" Marion questioned her.

"My grandmother explained it like, like there was this deeply attractive thing about the "bad boy" image. Some sort of excite or thrill, I'm not sure. Maybe that's why you hold some sort of feels for Karl. And you might like David because he's loyal and caring of others."

"I don't know. This "love" thing is new to me."

"Well you were almost the first person they met in Dinotopia, maybe the two of them will meet more people and find a different girl to love," Amelia suggested.

"I hope so, I don't want either of them to get hurt," Marion told her.

"I know Marion, I know."

David had been helping Zippo translate some text found at an entrance to the World Beneath for the past two hours or so and finally sto a stretch. He heard and felt his back crack in several places and yawned. Zippo watched him with interest feeling no fatigue himself. David walked over to Zippo's window and looked out at the marketplace in front of him. The sun was almost setting but the business had not lightened. Pretty soon the main sun stone would replenish all of the others. David's eyes searched the crowded marketplace. Sometimes the sight of man and dinosaurs walking together still amazed him. It was like living in an episode of The Flintstones. There was one figure David saw that attracted his attention more than any other. A tall man in black was standing in the middle of the crowd. He wasn't buying anything, he didn't seem to be standing there for any reason. He wouldn't have stood out so much if it wasn't for the one odd thing he was doing. He was looking directly at David.

"Zippo I gotta go, I'll be right back," David said and rushed out of the door before Zippo could respond.

Once he was outside, David never let the man in black out of his sight, and the man in black did the same. When David finally stood face to face with him, the man in black just smiled at him.

"Can I help you?" David asked him in a tone showing he obviously wasn't in the mood to actually help the man.

"Not yet. I can help you, though."

"How?" David asked him doubtingly.

"You've made a new friend today. She's not telling you the truth, well, not entirely," the man said. David narrowed his eyes.

"Who are you?"

"A shadow, and nothing more," he said and began to laugh. He walked backward into the crowd and David followed him a few steps before stopping. The man was gone.

" "A shadow?" What kind of answer is that?" Karl asked standing in front of David. It was morning and David had told his half brother of the events that had occurred the night before. David shrugged.

"I don't know."

"What I want to know is, what does he know about Amelia that we don't?"

"Maybe he's just a guy trying to stir up trouble."

"No, no, I don't think so David. I had my suspicions about her before but now I have twice as many!"

"She's a friend of Marion's. Whatever we don't know about her can't be anything bad, right?" David asked him and Karl fell silent for a bit.

"And 26 seemed to like her, and 26 tends to be a good judge of character…"

"See Karl, I'm sure it's nothing."

"Well I'm not so sure. I'm going to go find out," Karl said heading for the door.

"You're not going to do anything stupid are you?" David asked him.

"Maybe. Keep 26 here, will you?" Karl asked and left before David could object.

Karl figured Amelia would be staying with Marion, and after a small conversation with a guard Karl found out exactly which room Amelia was sleeping in. Oddly, the door to her room was locked so he carefully, very carefully, climbed out onto the balcony of the room next to her's and onto her balcony. The drapes were drawn and he opened them enough just to see inside. It was dark and he was careful only to let enough light in so he could see. It was a good sized room and good sized bed. She was still asleep. He found the door and gently opened it just enough for him to step inside and gently closed it again. He waited for his eyes to adjust to the dimness before he moved, and when he did he went immediately for the bag resting at the foot of her bed. A few articles of clothes were already dangling out of the bag and he tried to leave it looking the same after he was done quietly searching it. He found nothing of any interest with the exception of a bra or two.

Quietly he crept along the side of her bed to the small table sitting beside it. Amelia was wearing a loose fitting white night gown that everyone in Dinotopia seemed to wear to bed. She was hugging her pillow and had a silly little smile on her face. The only thing on the table besides a lamp was a necklace with what looked like ring, almost like a wedding ring. The wedding ring interested Karl a bit and he was about to pick it up for closer examination but Amelia stirred and yawned. Karl tucked and rolled under her bed, hoping she hadn't opened her eyes just in time to see him. He heard her yawn again and the blankets move. He heard the mattress creak and saw one foot and then another on the floor next to him. Then her nightgown fell down around her ankles. Karl clasped a hand over his widened eyes so he wouldn't be tempted to take a look. He heard her rummage through her back and get dressed. She finally unlocked the door and walked out. He waited a few moments after she left before crawling out from under the bed. The wedding ring was gone. He grumbled slightly as he crawled out and nearly slipped on her nightgown. He didn't even think of people in the hallway when he opened he door. He came face to face with Earhart as he came out of the room opposite Amelia's. Earhart looked shocked to see him and Karl just waved, laughed slightly, and walked down the hall, not looking back.