Myeyes were wide open.
Stevanionhad a Vision.
“Didhe say anything else?”
Sheshook her head. “No, I’m sorry, that was it.”
Inodded and looked toward the forest. This bridge was a bit higher than the restof the forest, and through the gaps between trees, I could see the tops of thetree crowns, like stormy waves, a turbulent surface of a forest ocean. Itlooked beautiful with the setting sun.
I have seen it. Everything, he said.
Everything—what?
Everythingabout the Humans? About me? Or somethingonly related to his life?
“Doesthis mean anything to you?” Tania asked.
“No.”
“Doyou think he meant you, when he said ‘tell her’?”
“Ido not know. As I said, I did not know him all that well. Perhaps he meant someonefrom his own life.” My gaze was still far above the forest. “But I do not knowanyone from his life, so I can not tell.”
Ilooked at her, and then shrugged and looked back to the forest. “Maybe he wasnot all that lucid…”
“Yeah,that could be. Well, anyhow, I just thought you should know.”
“Thankyou for telling me, Tania.”
Shesmiled, then stepped forward and entered her hut.
Iclosed my eyes and silently recorded Stevanion’s Vision on my nanoprobes forthe future.
I wish I knew what he’d seen.
Iopened my eyes. The sun had just disappeared behind the horizon, and the air immediatelybecame cooler. The soft orange hue of the last sun rays on the trees changedinto a dark green, almost black, and it covered the forest like a carpet of soot.
Ipushed myself away from the fence and walked toward the hut.
I wish I knew…
Chapter 12
Therewas a lot of commotion around us while we were getting ready. Children werelaughing and people were talking about what this trip might bring. Some of themeven brought a few small items to the group, like bracelets or lucky charms.They hugged, shook hands, kissed. Everybody was excited. And somehow among allthis commotion, all the good wishes, I felt alone. This was for the Humans inthe group. This wasn’t for me.
Ipushed another small bag of medicinal herbs into my backpack and paused. Iclosed my eyes. In my mind, I could still smell it: the burned flesh, as if thestench still lingered in the air. I shivered.
“Dora,you’re coming?” asked Patrick.
Iopened my eyes and pulled my hand out of the bag.
Inodded, picked up my backpack, and joined them.
Wewalked for more than three hundred passes with only short breaks in between,and my legs were beginning to hurt, but I didn’t say anything. I pressed onwith the others, trying to stay close but still making sure I was at the veryend. J and Frank were just in front of me, carrying large backpacks. They weretalking to each other, but every now and then I saw J looking back. I guess hewas making sure I was keeping up. I was curious what they were saying, so I raisedthe level of my tympanic audio enhancers.
“Doyou think we might find some reptile delicacy on our road?” I heard Frank say.
“Idoubt it. Unless we make an extra trip up the Falls River.”
“But you went upriver a few times, didn’tyou, J? You caught a few, right?”
“Yeah,I did. Twice. Once with Peter and once with Lars.”
“So,how did you catch them?”
“Wesat up a trap, made a tight passageway out of wooden stakes, put the bait in it,and waited. Once the beast was in, it’s very difficult for it to reversebackward fast enough. We got both of them with spears. You don’t want to go anynearer than that,” J said. “It was a wild fight, though. Strong animals—theydon’t give up.”
“Ibet! Well, I only enjoyed the fruits of your labor. They do taste mighty fine,don’t they?” Frank said and nodded at the same time.
Jgrinned. “All right then, we can go on a hunt on our way back. That way we canalso bring some for the village.”
“Andwhat shall we use as bait?” Frank said more quietly, turning his head in mydirection.
Jstopped in his tracks and pushed his index finger into Frank’s chest, growling,“Don’t you ever say anything like that!”
“Hey,J! It was just a joke, just a joke! Take it easy, man!”
“It’snot funny, Frank.” J moved on, perhaps realizing he might have slightlyoverreacted.
“She’snot bad bait, you know,” Frank said in a mischievous tone and continuedwalking.
“Stoptalking!” J hissed.
“Heyguys, what was that about?” Peter said, hiding his laughter. “Seems like somestag fight.”
Jnarrowed his eyes and picked up his pace, lengthening his stride.
Ifell backward a bit, realizing there must have been some double meaning intheir talk, but I wasn’t able to interpret half of it. I didn’t know what the baitwas, nor what would make a good one.
Stupid. Such great powers of deduction, if only I knewwhat the premises were.
Afteranother one hundred passes, we stopped.
“Let’scamp here,” J called out. “We still have about an hour until nightfall, but weare coming close to the gorge and I don’t want to miss the edge in the dusk.”
Herolled his backpack from his shoulders and it slumped down on the ground.Everybody else did the same. They all started unpacking.
Iknelt down and removed my backpack too.
Jcame to me carrying a bag and set it on the ground next to me.
“Doyou want me to give you a hand setting up your tent?” J asked in a low voice.
Ilooked up.
Therewas a sudden thrilling jolt somewhere deep in my chest. I had dreamed of him somany times, but I never really grasped that my dreams would turn out to beVisions. That I was seeing the future, and that he was actually here.
“Iappreciate your offer to help, J, but I am certain I will be able to do whatthe rest of your team does to the same extent,” I heard myself answer, my tonecold and flat—and so different from what I felt inside.
Hisshoulders dropped.
“Yeah…okay… whatever.” He waved his hand once, then turned around and walked away.
Oh, why did I say that?
Whycouldn’t I say what I really thought? I was furious at my
