" I read the earliest date aloud, October twenty-third, and scanned the numbers for the next oldest, and the next. I glanced up after four or five. “What’s that you’re drawing?” I asked. Jackaby scowled. “Recording the dates. Keep going.” “Is that an elven language or something?” He stood back from the chalkboard and stared at it blankly. “No.” “Are those pictograms? What’s that bit you just finished? The one that looks like a goose tugging at a bit of string?” “That’s a seven.” “Oh.” We both looked at the board. I tilted my head. “Oh right—I see. I think. "

― William Ritter , Jackaby (Jackaby, #1)