—You should feel free to go, Loon suggested.—You did what you had to do. Now you can go be the base of the Firestarter, the star in the middle, where the stick meets the base.
—I don’t think so. I’m going to stay here and haunt you.
Loon sighed again. All those red handprints sticking him to the wall of the cave, but Thorn didn’t care. Loon said,—I wish you wouldn’t, but I can’t stop you. You’ll do what you want. Whatever you do, I’ll do what I want too. You’re going to have to follow me around. You’ll be like Heather’s cat. You’ll be just another camp robber hanging around.
Thorn nodded.—That’s fine, so long as you remember. Remember the old ways, and all the old stories. Remember the animals, your brothers and sisters. Remember to take your place and play your part. Remember me and what I taught you. Remember!
Then he stepped to the side of the Stone Bison and dove off and flew away, down the gorge, holding his arms out like an eagle. The sight of his flight was so startling it woke Loon up.
He looked around at the morning. People were lying on their beds, asleep after the big night of dancing. Elga was down at the riverbank, talking to some of the other women. Lucky was at Loon’s feet, sitting on the head of their bearskin, talking to himself. The finch was beside him, wriggling in her basket and babbling. Heather was just above the camp on her new shelf, digging around in her bags and buckets.
All right, Loon said in himself to Thorn. If that’s the way you’re going to be, I can take it.
Something the baby girl did met with Lucky’s disapproval, and Lucky shook her basket.—No! No!
—Hey, Loon said.—Leave your sister alone.
—She was eating her gloves!
—That’s all right. Let her. Here, tell me the season song again.
Lucky stood up and sang:
—No no! Loon said.—And lie in twos on the ground! Remember!
And he reached out and flicked the boy on the ear.
Acknowledgments
My thanks for help on this novel to:
Djina Ariel, Mario Biagioli, Terry Bisson, Simon Bisson, Jim Bunting and Briganne Carter, Darryl DeVinney, Glenn Farris, Karen Fowler, Cecelia Holland, Tim Holman, Joe Holtz, Kimon Keramidas, James Leach, Lisa Nowell, Paul Park, Shauna Roberts, Carter Scholz, Gary Snyder, Mary and Andy Stewart, Pascal Thomas, and Jan Zwicky.
By Kim Stanley Robinson:
The Memory of Whiteness
Icehenge
The Wild Shore
The Gold Coast
Pacific Edge
The Planet on the Table
Remaking History
Escape from Kathmandu
A Short Sharp Shock
Red Mars
Green Mars
Blue Mars
The Martians
Antarctica
The Years of Rice and Salt
Forty Signs of Rain
Fifty Degrees Below
Sixty Days and Counting
Galileo’s Dream
2312
Shaman
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In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
Copyright
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 2013 by Kim Stanley Robinson
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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ISBN 978-0-316-23557-0