Lisa looked up at her daughter then. "You don''t have to worry about me, Ellen. I''m sure if you left on your own, Howie wouldn''t be able to find you. You''d be able to start a whole new life then. A woman''s most precious years of her life are her twenties. You''re a big girl, Ellen. You should have a life of your own."


    Ellen did not turn around, tears streaming down her face at Lisa''s words. Ellen felt her heart warm from her mother''s love, and everything was worth it then.


    In fact, she knew she would be able to escape if she left on her own. Ellen could leave town, and her father would never find her again. However, her mother would starve to death.


    Ellen knew very well that Howie would not take care of Lisa, and she would be left to die if Ellen ran away. Ellen loved her mother and would never leave on her own because of that.


    "Ellen," Lisa said carefully.


    "Don''t worry about me, Mom. I''m fine. Everything''s fine, isn''t it?"


    The next morning, Ellen was called to the office by the head of the museum, Madam Judy. It turned out that Madam Judy had taken a look at the letter in the suggestion box earlier in the day and found out that a young man from Dasha was trying to get the museum to return the bronze cauldron to Dasha.


    Judy had been infuriated. Despite the fact that the cauldron was indeed from Dasha and represented Dashan culture, Migorn had not stolen it from Dasha. In fact, they had legally purchased it from a collector.


    The cauldron had cost two hundred and fifty thousand dors. That was not too high of a price, but Wilbur''s request to have the cauldron returned would greatly affect Migorn''s reputation. Thus, Madam Judy had reached out to Ellen first thing to ask what happened the day before.


    Ellen said, "That''s right, Madam Judy. There was a guy from Dasha who came by yesterday, and he said that he was going to have the museum return the cauldron legally."


    "How dare he!" Judy''s expression darkened. "I really don''t know what he''s getting at! This is a suggestion at best, and I hope he leaves Migorn soon, or it won''t be good for us."


    Ellen froze. "Madam Judy, the man said that he wouldn''t give up ande here with a new letter each day."


    Madam Judy sighed. "That''s terrible. This guy sounds determined, and God knows how much Migorn will be affected if this gets on the news. That cauldron''s barely worth a quarter million dors, but it would be terrible if it damaged our nation''s reputation."


    Ellen said, "Madam Judy, are you going to return the cauldron to him, then?"


    Madam Judy paused for a beat. "That doesn''t look great on our end, either. The next time hees, you can ask him if he''d be willing to buy the cauldron for two hundred and fifty thousand dors. If he says yes, we can sell it to him, and he can bring it back to Dasha himself."


    This would protect Migorn''s reputation, and also avoid making a loss for the


    museum. Madam Judy thought that the idea was a pretty good one, and it all depended on the young man''s response now.


    "Alright, Madam Judy."