The next morning, Tate visited Jacqueline, who lived in Pierre's old wooden barn. She jumped onto a nearby table, and noticed a single wheel of cheese beside her.
"Is Pierre going to enter his cheese in the Bataille des Fromages again this year?" she aked Jacqueline.
(The Bric-à-Brac cheese competition was held each year to determine which was the Fromage Superieur, or Best Cheese. The winning entry was served at the Mayor's Christmas gala.)
"I believe so, although he never wins first prize. I do hate to see how disappointed it makes him."
Tate explained to Jacqueline that she might not be back in time for the competition, as she was leaving on a journey. Jacqueline wished her luck, and made her promise to be careful near the river.
Then, eager to get started, Tate leapt to the floor, and, in her haste, knocked the ripening cheese into a big bucket of fireplace ashes on the floor. Not realizing what had happened, she was out the door in an instant.