The River of No Return

their money anyway.”
    Leo stopped walking, and Nick stopped, too. The birds and insects were loud all around them, and the sky seemed to be lighter than a minute ago, and darker at the same time. “We went to Brazil,” Leo said. “We found the Ofan in Cachoeira, but they were in disarray. Eréndira Altukhov had disappeared in the effort to cross the Pale, and Ignatz Vogelstein had gone off somewhere—to raise Eréndira’s daughter, I just learned from Alva.”
    “Yes.” Nick nodded toward the barn. “Julia.”
    “The Talisman.” Leo sounded doubtful.
    “You don’t believe Julia is the Talisman?”
    “I don’t know,” Leo said, slowly. “Alva told us all about Peter’s theories, and about the P’urhépecha ring. Peter is a brilliant kid, and I’d never discount anything she had to say. And Alva’s insights are always really interesting. So I’m not saying Julia isn’t important. I just don’t know what it means to say that she is the Talisman.”
    “Me either,” Nick said. “But I’m only the brawn. You’re the brains.”
    Leo smiled. “I’ve got brawn too, kemosabe . So if you’re applying for the role of sidekick, I don’t need one.”
    “I wasn’t,” Nick said. “But you can let me know if the position opens up.”
    They set out walking again. “I’ve been studying the talent for ten years now,” Leo said, turning the topic. “Looking into the group control of time. The gift changes, you see. It gets weirder, and more powerful, if we work in groups of three or five or more—instead of individually. I don’t think one person, one special magical savior, is going to save us from the Pale. It’s going to take collective effort.”
    “I’ve been wondering—maybe the Pale is a good thing,” Nick said. “A kind of cleansing. Washing over time and space. A new beginning. Ahn says no, but . . .”
    “Like the Ghost Dance? Everything will be good again? Jesus coming as a cloud to cleanse the land?” Leo frowned. “You know the funny thing about the end of the world, my old friend? We always talk about it as if it hasn’t happened already. Because of course the world has ended many times. And when it ends for some people, other people report it in the papers or on TV as a new beginning.” He kicked along for a moment. Then he stopped walking and turned, tapping Nick on the chest with a finger. “But maybe not for you, Nick. You know. ‘Though worlds may change and go awry, while there is still one voice to cry, there’ll always be an England!’”
    “That’s not fair,” Nick said.
    “You’re right,” Leo murmured. “It’s not.”
    They stood for a moment, their arms full of dry wood, looking up at the glorious twilight sky.
    “I’m sorry,” Nick said, after a brief pause.
    Leo said nothing for a moment, then gestured upward with his chin. “There’s your Mars and your Venus.”
    Nick looked up above the apex of the barn at the bright planet and the brooding one. “I’m going to have to go after him,” he said, and whether he was making his promise to Jemison to Leo or to the emerging stars, he didn’t know.

CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
    J ulia is not an experiment. She is a human being.”
    Had Nick said her name? Julia blinked her eyes open. It was dark, and there were flames crackling somewhere to her left. She was still on the pile of hay . . . still in the barn. Someone had lit a fire, right in the middle of the floor. There must be a hole in the roof for the smoke, Julia thought dreamily. There was a breeze, but she was perfectly snug. Her head still felt heavy, and it ached, but much less than before.
    Nick and his friends were sitting around the fire, talking. Julia could see Nick’s face clearly. He had shaved and looked like himself again, though his hair was rumpled and his shirt was open at the throat. His handsome friend was next to him, and the third man had his back to her, silhouetted in front of the flames. It looked cozy, and Julia thought about getting up and joining them. But when she lifted her head it throbbed. She laid it down again gingerly.
    “Of course she’s not an experiment.” The Frenchman’s face was strangely aloof and devoid of expression. But he spoke with frustration, as if he had explained this already. “At least, we don’t think she should be treated as an experiment. We think she should be educated, just as we think you and everyone else should be educated.”
    “I’ve heard nothing else for weeks except