i look up to see elle come back into the room wearing a tank top and shorts , looking at me with a worried look on her face . behind , librarians shouted , some pointing at us . `` and that was the correct answer . '' this would have been a long time ago , if it ever happened , in the first age of the world , when all was stone and fire , water and wind , and there were few left alive to put the lie to it if it was not true . 