“Oh.”

“What now?” Theo said with some impatience.

It was late the following afternoon and they were both burdened with bundles of grass gathered that morning along the river where swampy areas had extended south of the lake. Dani thought they had enough grass now to make a rope several hundred feet long and no exaggeration. Theo had spotted what he called a mere of pooke which turned out to be a thick gooey patch of the mud, glistening and murky, beneath the rotting trunk of a fallen tree. It took him a while to shimmy his body out over the fallen tree breaking boney branches and gingerly avoiding heavier branches that were broken off leaving ragged spikes. He held onto one of the more sturdy of these while he leaned out over the bug infested black-green slime and filled one of her water bottles. He forced the liter bottle on her, making her place it in the compartment that usually housed her flashlight and she had walked the rest of the day chased by the icky smell of swamp. Theo’s arm had been caked with the mud up to his elbow – it seemed the quality pooke was at least a foot beneath the surface – but it eventually dried and flaked off leaving the sleeve of his second skin looking pristine and new.

The swampy areas had finally petered out and the bank of the stream they followed was thick with vegetation that they were forced to pick their way through or around having a two-fold outcome. One, it kept Dani’s mind off sex for most of the day and two, with no native trails to follow it made the going very slow. When Dani asked why there were no native trails Theo explained it was because the natives never went near water. When Dani asked why, he said in his blunt way, “I do not know.” He seemed to know very little about the elusive “natives.” “How do you know they even exist?” she asked. “Because of the trails,” he said. “Well maybe the trails are animal trails, did you ever think of that?” And he had just looked at her giving a shake of his head. “I do not have to see a native to know they exist, they just do; everyone knows that.”

Now, several similar conversations later including one where she tried to get him to tell her about his conversation with the Queen and he refused, and after an hour of silently regurgitating the previous night’s revelations Dani spoke. “They’ll be sending the scouts after us again, now they know where we went.”

Theo stopped and turned, his eyebrows raised.

“You figured that out just now?”

“Do you think they’ll catch up?”

“They are with us now.”

“But – when – how is that possible? You said we have at least a three week head start.”

“I said we made up the three weeks from our detour into the Hill Country; in fact I would not at all be convinced of when we are were the scouts not trailing us even as we speak. Their very presence proves we have not been shifted out of time.”

“When? Time?” What in the world was he talking about?

"Remember where you came from. The planet Earth you know no longer exists; its resources gave out long ago and yet here you are, a girl from a planet that has not even settled its moon or tamed its solar system, let alone spread out to tame other solar systems. What is a little time differential to you?

He waved his hand vaguely in front of the lump where the sapphire was tucked inside his second skin and continued speaking into Dani’s dumbfounded silence. “Consider your mother’s skills and of course this. Think about that part of your “dream” you did not convey to me because you though it was nonsense, a bit of true dreaming within the larger scope of the telepathic link between your sapphire and his.”

Dani flushed. “I did not hold that back to deceive you.”

“Keep your shirt on. I know you left it out because it represents confusion, I am trying to help you sort it out.”

Theo shifted his load of grass higher on his shoulders.

“The queen obviously visited Rhany – I suspect Rhany is the troop’s captain – and gave them orders to proceed south to Lone Mountain ahead of us. They have been with us at least from the day I came out of the belly of Lone Mountain to fetch water – you were off skulking – and the Captain showed himself to me. I recognized him from the day we left the wintering cave. So far they have left us alone because, I suspect, they are operating under new orders – this time to protect you not to acquire you. They have been trailing us since we left Lone Mountain, always at a respectful distance. The Queen sent them ahead to act as my backup. That is the only reason I have not tried to lose them.”

“But Theo!” Dani protested. “How? Mama didn’t know we were at Lone Mountain until after we got there.”

“She is your mother. You of all people should know of what she is capable.”

“Capable?”

Theo shook his head over her ignorance. “Your friend Barb has a better grasp of your mother’s capabilities than you. You lived with her, you must know something.”

“We had a psychic link if that’s what you mean. You know, she would call the school nurse just as I was walking into her office to complain of a bellyache; or we would think the same thing simultaneously; or she’d show up just as I was picking up the phone to call for a ride; little things like that. I was only just becoming aware of it right about the time she ran off.”

“Always with you it is this bitter anger toward your mother, Danielle.” Theo responded to her tone, and then turned and started walking again. “Be careful. It might well ruin you.”

Dani ignored his rebuke.

“How could she send Captain Rhany and his troop ahead after she knew where we were? That makes no sense. They would still be three weeks behind us!” Dani spoke to Theo’s back as she picked up her pace to keep up. She did not know why he was getting all bent out of shape just because she had no idea what he was talking about. Mom was mom, nothing special beyond just being Mom and when you’re a kid her being mom was special enough. What could Theo know about it – he had no mother. He was an orphan.

Without turning around, Theo said. “Figure it out.”

About an hour later what Theo said earlier caught up to her. “What do you mean she visited him? Was that what you meant by ‘time differential’? She traveled back through time using the King’s sapphire and sent the troop ahead to get to Lone Mountain before us?”

Theo stopped and leaned his backside into a large squat boulder dripping in moss and folded his arms over his chest. Despite sounding aggravated his expression was amused. A cloud of spicy gumdrop odor exploded from the disturbed moss; it made her mouth water it made her hungry all of a sudden for the flavor of gumdrops, a treat she had given up years before in the interest of keeping her body strong for athletics.

“For such a smart girl, Danielle, you really are dense.” Theo had begun to incorporate earthy colloquialisms into his speech in the last few days. Clearly he was developing a firm grasp of American slang. “She walks in your dreams, right?”

“They’re just dreams Theo – the product of my subconscious.”

“It was a dream that prompted you to come to Haven, correct?”

She just stared, feeling her face flush, feeling resentment at being called out on this when she barely believed it herself, but Barb had suggested that Mama was sending a message through her dreams and Dani could deny it to her last breath, but that was exactly what happened. It was the mommy dream that prompted her to search for the “key”. She refused to give Theo satisfaction by admitting he was right. She wondered what her mommy dreaming had to do with anything.

Before answering her thought Theo said, “Gumdrops? What are gumdrops?" He shook his head and continued without waiting for an answer. "If your mother can walk in your dreams, has it not occurred to you that she also walks in the dreams of others? Why do you think Orphans call her the Wood Witch of Keeper’s Hill?”

“Has she visited your dreams?”

“A couple of times; once when I was very young and again when I was Dreyden’s Disciple.”

The very idea sent a chill through Dani. Theo belonged to her and her mother had no business going into his head to spy on her or them or even him.

“What message did she give you?” She could not keep the bitter anger – the envy – from her voice. Theo was being awfully nonchalant about the Queen invading his dreams.

The humor in Theo’s eyes faded a bit.

“No message. She was dressed in strange garments – like yours – but for the most part she simply observed me, but I can tell you I did not like it. Though she said nothing, I could feel her wondering about me.”

“Wondering what?”

“’What is to become of you Theo? Who will you be, Theo? How will this all work out for you?’ No, I did not like it one little bit. My mind is my sole refuge, my thoughts belong to me.”

Dani let that comment role over her, not clear if it was a simple observation or a complaint against her thoughts mingling with his. She hated their connection more than he did. But she liked his choice of words: ’My mind is my refuge.’ That sentiment she agreed with heartily.

For several days they follow the small river that sometimes flowed wide over heavy boulders into white frothy trenches between shallow river banks and at other times plunged into deep narrow wedges that they followed from high bluffs following only its echo and once they were forced to detour around a large patch of verminudice that cascaded down the short but steep incline to the water’s edge. As the days passed her restlessness seesawed between a deep ach to little more than a low nervous tension in her stomach and meanwhile Theo seemed to slip ever further into a moody silence that relented only at the nightly campfire during their reading of the journal. He certainly was intrigued with whatever subliminal information her mind gave up about Earth and what life was like back there and his questions often pulled them away from subject of Mama’s writing altogether stretching the one hour read into two or longer.

Days later they came across a cave where Theo decided to make camp in mid-afternoon.

It was less a cave and more a wide wedge created by the tilt of three enormous boulders that looked as if they had been tossed together by some giant hand that had piled soil over it and planted vegetation. Moss covered exposed areas of rock while thick bushes and trees canted at gravity defying angles over the water that was swept to one side from the main flow of the river bed to make a dreamy shaded pool. They spent the remaining afternoon there, alternately soaking in the pool (both wearing their second skins) and sleeping under the shade of the dipping trees on the flat sheet of granite before the mouth of the cave. The air was filled with the thick confused scents of felder and gumdrops. Several times Dani woke to find Theo staring at her with a stern frown.

They settled in for the evening after a dinner of roast fish and ripe valya and a short reading of Mama’s journal; they were catching up to the place where she had left off their last night at Pelbraydyn. Theo was unusually withdrawn, even for him. After the exercise of swimming -- even after the afternoon naps -- Dani expected sleep to come quickly but as soon as she lay down the restless passion began to stir. Her body ached with need. From hard learned experience Theo did not curl up beside her to share their body heat but sat across from her by the fire and stared at her, his expression more angry than she had ever seen it. It wasn’t her fault.

“What?”She demanded.

For answer he stood up and slipped out into the night.

It took a while, but finally Dani slid into a heavy sleep and woke later to the dim, glow of the waning fire to find Theo crouched beside her, his hand on her shoulder.

“What?”

“I have made up my mind.” Theo answered.

“Made up your mind about what?” Dani blinked sleepy eyes.

“It is clear no one warned you what I am. None of this is your fault, I know that now but I have to remedy the situation or go mad. Your safety is paramount.”

“No matter what you’ve done, Theo, I know you would never hurt me.”

“Quiet! Forget what I have done; I am talking about what I am.” He shook his head and his tone was full of exasperation. “Until now you have seemed to be immune to me, but these last days….”

It finally dawned on her what Theo meant. “How many times do I have to tell you….”

“Yes, yes. I know all about your childish infatuation for women.”

“Whatever I’m going through right now has nothing to do with you. I like you very much but I am not attracted to you at all.”

“You have female hormones.”

Was that meant to shed light on the subject?

“What do you mean?”

“Regardless of your sexual proclivities you are reacting to me and since you will not leave and I cannot I must take the upper hand before I lose my head and do something we will both regret.”

A feeling of alarm penetrated her brain. Dani sat up. “What are you talking about?”

“Danielle you must remember that my kind is engineered. With that engineering comes certain ... drawbacks and do not ask me for the particulars because I will not expound on them."

"Why not?" It was hardly fair for him to be so cryptic and mysterious and then order her to refrain from asking questions. Her curiosity meter instantly leaped into the danger zone.

He held up one finger. "I mean it."

"That is not fair."

"Drop it."

"I will not. I want a thorough explanation."

"No, Danielle." Upon seeing her rebellious scowl, he said in a pronounced whisper, "It is embarrassing."

"Embarrassing? You? You people walk around naked without a quibble. All of you seem perfectly at ease being naked in groups so I doubt there is a single person on this planet who has any inkling of what it means to feel embarrassed."

"Well, you are wrong." Theo stood up and with stooped shoulders gave her stern warning to stay put. "I am going away for a while."

"Going away?"

"You will be perfectly safe. The king’s men are here and while I am gone they will draw near and stay close. They will protect you."

She stood up and grabbed his arm. A flutter of panic turned her stomach over.

"I forbid you to go."

"I have to. Once I understand how I am to deal with this situation, I will return."

"No! I forbid it."

His eyes darkened and the expression in them reminded her of the first time she ever saw him, his eyes filled with hunger, as if he wanted to eat her.

“Do you want me to fuck you?”

Taken aback by the sudden threatening look in Theo’s eyes and his crude choice of words she shook her head. “No.”

“My self control is worn very thin, Danielle. There is a limit. I am going to leave and stay away until I am in control again." Then his cheeks reddened and the storm clouds in his eyes gave way fear.

“Danielle, I would die rather than allow myself to hurt you.” She knew that was the truth; he had already proved himself willing in that regard.

“How long?” Dani called after him as he strode toward the mouth of the cave.

“However long it takes.”

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