A Lover For Rachel by Lynn Crain

Author’s Foreword
    When re-editing this story for publication, the question of dice was brought up. To be honest, I wasn’t sure when there use actually came into play. One of the first indications where I knew dice had existed was in the Bible when they talk about “casting lots” in the Old Testament. As a child, I’d been required to learn many of those verses and that concept must have stuck with me. However, I did not know the true history about dice and my research surprised even me. Apparently, dice have been used throughout Asia before recorded history and makes one wonder just how they knew. In an archeological site in southeastern Iran one was found in a 5000-year-old backgammon set at a place known as the Burnt City. It was also big in India, commonplace during King David’s reign and in more ancient kingdoms than we’ll ever know about. It was also known in Rome and in Greece with both upper and lower classes. Amazingly, twenty-sided dice dated to the gambling houses of Rome have been found.
    The first known game where sides of an object indicated something was called “knucklebones” because the dice were made from the talus of hoofed animals and colloquially known as the knucklebone. Besides bone, materials like ivory and various woods were used. One can only assume what types of stone may have been worked when producing dice for utilization in games of chance. It is truly hard to know what games were played as ancient writers confused the two, dicing and knucklebones, but both were done in prehistoric times.
    In more recent history, dice was the favorite pastime of knights in the Middle Ages, and dicing schools and guilds arose. After the fall of feudalism, landsknechts, or German mercenary pikemen or foot soldiers, established reputations as the most notorious dicing gamblers of their time. Curiously enough, the dice then were carved in the images of men and beasts. In France during this same period, despite regulations against their use, dicing was done by both knights and ladies. And in another curious twist, Chinese dominoes evolved from the original markings on dice.
    There are many people I want to thank in bringing this story to life again after its brief previous run: first, Sarah Hansen, my editor extraordinaire and whose guidance makes my writing better and questions me to learn even more; Su Kopil for the wonderful cover; Jim Brown for the formatting and document conversion; my friend Brenda, who supports me through thick and thin and it’s mostly been thick recently; my critique partners, Debbie Fritter, Diane Clough, Kristina Mull and Ginger Duran—you are the best ever and help me every day to write more and be the best I can be; and my family, Gordon, Kyle, Thomas, Kimberly, Joseph, and Michael—you all mean more to me than you’ll ever know, including my littlest addition—a Parson Russell terrier pup called Harry Potter, taking the place of my dog Jasper who is still in Nevada as he couldn’t come to Vienna with us. Thank you, Harry, for entertaining me when I needed it most.

A Lover For Rachel
    “Come on, we’re going to be late! You’re the one who wanted to go to this thing. Besides, it’s the dead of night, so who’s going to see us?”
    Rachel frowned at her best friend, Samantha Andrews, again. Yes, she was the one who wanted to go to the summer solstice celebration at Stonehenge. Who wouldn’t if their birthday fell on June twenty-first and they happened to be in the area? Last time they’d come to England in June, they avoided the place because of the massive crowds attending the event. This time there was no way she would miss the opportunity.
    “I’m almost done.” She sighed. This was the best it would get. She glanced at herself in the mirror of the bathroom in the luxurious bed-and-breakfast that had been their home for the past week. Everyone told her she’d gone from frumpy to svelte in the last year, but she couldn’t see what they meant.
    “You’d