'Yes,' she told her daughter, and hugged her. 'Yes, love. I have been happy — '
Lucy silenced her with a gesture. Now Joan could hear it too: a rustling, a subdued, wistful crying. They peered around the rock.
A little girl had been caught in the net. No older than five, naked, hair matted, she was crying because she couldn’t get to the plate of spicy vegetables Joan had set out.
Joan and Lucy showed themselves. The girl shrank back.
Carefully, their hands open, with measured footsteps and soothing words, they walked up to the feral child. They stayed with her until she calmed. Then, tenderly, they began to pull the net away from her.
There is grandeur in this view of life… that… from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved. — Charles Darwin,
Afterword
This is a novel. I have tried to dramatize the grand story of human evolution, not to define it; I hope my story is plausible, but this book should
I’m very grateful to Eric Brown, who kindly commented on the manuscript. Professors Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart of Warwick University were very generous with their time in providing expert advice to shore up my layman’s guesswork. I’m also indebted to Simon Spanton, for support above and beyond the call of editorial duty. Any remaining errors are, of course, solely my responsibility.
— Stephen Baxter
Great Missenden, U.K.
May 2002
