They paused to add wheels to the sledge, so that now it could roll along the side of the path. This made it easier for Seqiro to pull.
Objects appeared along the sides of the paths. They were large and cubic, and seemed to have been fashioned of wood or stone. Some were so high they looked like small mountains. They were in many colors, and patterns of colors, with oblong designs on them.
Colene brought the party to a halt. “Look, we’re not at my anchor yet, but I don’t know if it’s smart to show ourselves to the natives of these adjacent Modes. Could be trouble. Let’s enclose Burgess’ wagon, so no one can see him.”
Soon he was inside a box, with openings so that enough air could enter, and Nona was riding with him. Through her, he remained aware of what was going on outside, and did not need to look himself. That was good, because he lacked the energy to do so. Nona’s communication through his contact point was enough.
At last they came to a longer halt. “This is it,” Colene said. “The next Mode or two will be mine. But there is a problem. Last time I was here, with Provos, they tried to stop me from leaving. I just barely made it through the anchor. If we just go through now, someone will see us, and we’ll be in trouble right away.”
“My magic does not work, here,” Darius said. “Remember, at first you did not believe in me, because of that. But perhaps Seqiro’s does, or Nona’s. If so, we may be able to stay away from trouble.”
“Gee, I hope so! ‘Cause we’ve got to get Burgess onto an anchor Mode and see if that helps.”
I believe my telepathy will work, Seqiro said. I have encountered no Mode where it does not, though it may be limited on some.
“And perhaps one or two of my abilities will work, as they did on the Shale Mode,” Nona said.
“Well, let’s try you first,” Colene said to Nona. “We’ll step across, and you see if you can make the illusion of nothing. Because if you can, we can all go there, and no one will see us.”
Nona left the wagon, and she and Colene stepped across the next boundary. There was a wait. Then they returned. “It works!” Colene exclaimed. “All her magic works! Everything she tried, anyway. We were invisible.”
So Seqiro pulled the wagon through the anchor, and they were all in Colene’s Earth Mode. They were all under Nona’s illusion of nothing, and could not see themselves. This had one small advantage for Burgess: the wagon was also under the illusion, so could not be seen; now Burgess could see outside with his own three eyes.
“That’s my house, there,” Colene said. “Right here is where my hideout, Dogwood Bumshed, was. So if you’re staring, Darius, you invisible man, that’s why: they took it away, thinking it was the anchor. But the anchor’s not a thing, it’s a person and a place.”
“I was staring,” Darius admitted. “I spent some time, confined to that shed, learning to love you.”
“Yea, that’s why I kept you locked up,” Colene said fondly. “And now you’re back here.”
“Is it safe to camp at this site?” Nona asked. “So we can go back through the anchor if we need to?”
“Should be. My folks never come out here anyway. With nothing to see, they sure won’t bother. So it’s the best place. I know my way around from here. Can you make material for a tent, Nona? Might as well camp out in comfort.”
“Certainly,” Nona replied.
“Seqiro, does your telepathy work here?” Colene asked next. Then she paused, and burst out laughing. “Of course it works! We’re all understanding each other, aren’t we? What an idiot I am! So we have it alclass="underline" Nona’s magic and Seqiro’s telepathy. I never wanted to see Earth again, but since we’re here, I’m glad it’s this way.”
“If you were always this happy, I could marry you,” Darius said.
“If you’d marry me, I’d be this happy!” she retorted.
“This seems like a pleasant enough Mode,” Nona said. “Except for all those hurtling vehicles.”
“Hey, Burgess, are you feeling better?” Colene made her way to the wagon, and climbed in to join Nona and touch a contact point. “Damn! You’re not, are you? But maybe a few hours here will do it.”
They set up their tent and diminished the wagon, so that Burgess could be in direct contact with the ground. But it did not seem to help. He lacked the energy or desire even to eat. He was still sinking.
He faded into uncomfortable sleep. But after the darkness came, and the light again, he was no better.
“Damn, damn, damn!” Colene repeated. “I thought maybe Earth, so similar to Shale, would be good for you. But it’s not, is it? What are we going to do?”
Burgess no longer had the energy to send an answer through his contact points. It was time for him to die.
CHAPTER 11—EARTH
WHAT are we going to do?” Colene demanded plaintively. She was such a mixture of joy and helplessness that Nona knew that someone else would have to take the initiative.
She glanced at Darius, who shrugged. They were visible, in the chill early morning, because it was not possible for her to maintain the illusion of nothing while she slept. She knew that Darius was none too comfortable on Earth, being deprived of his magic here. Seqiro never led the way; he always reflected the mind of those he was with. That left Nona. She had her mind and her magic, but now she had to try to be the thing she had never been: a leader. For a while.
“Colene, you solved my problem in the Julia Mode,” she said. “I said I would try to solve yours. Now I shall make the effort. But you will have to help me.”
“You were thinking of me and Darius,” Colene said dispiritedly. “Now I just want to save Burgess.”
“Yes. I must borrow from what you know, because this is your Mode. But perhaps I can bring a fresh perspective. In my Mode, we would look for a specialist in healing, I have tried to heal Burgess, but that aspect of my magic does not seem to be operative here.”
“It’s operative on the Virtual Mode,” Darius said. “But it didn’t help Burgess.”
“I think it would have, had he had an abrasion or injury,” she said. “But there seems to be something missing that my magic can not supply. I do not know what it can be. But perhaps a person who specializes in healing would be able to fathom it. Do you have such specialists here?”
“Sure. Doctors. But any of them would freak out, if he saw Burgess. Even a veterinarian. We need someone who knows Cambrian life forms—say!” The girl’s face brightened. “Amos!”
“Who?”
“My old science teacher. I told you about him. The one I had a crush on. He should know, if anyone does, and he’d be fascinated with this. He’d help if he could, I know.”
“Then we must find Amos, and bring him here,” Nona said firmly. “Is it a far walk to his residence?”
“We can’t walk, for all sorts of reasons. It’s too far, and there isn’t that much time. Any man who sees you on the street—never mind. We’ll have to call a taxi.”
“A taxi?”
“It’s a car you rent, sort of, with a driver. Only problem is, we need money. I don’t have enough.”
“Describe your money, or show me a sample, and I will make more of it,” Nona said.
Colene laughed. “I don’t think so. That would be counterfeiting. I’ll have to borrow some from my folks. I hate to do it, but maybe I can pay it back. Let’s check the house.”
“I can not maintain the illusion of nonexistence for the other three, if I go with you to another place.”