Last night, as the previous one, Bella came out from under the bed while the light was still on. This time, I spoke to her; she replied; we went on like that for awhile, and then I started tapping the bed platform. And lo and behold, after some obvious and serious consideration, Bella leapt up. She was ready to flee, but equally ready for her tail and her head to be scratched. She marked everything she could reach with her cheeks, while not getting too far from my scratching fingers. Finally the one of us who'd recently come in from two hours of basketball was falling asleep, so the lights got extinguished. Bella remembered she'd been on her way to dinner and split for the kitchen. I didn't see her for the rest of the night. But -- I didn't hear from her, either! Right now she's back under the bed, and we're taking it slow.