Jeb knows, yes. Does that really change anything?
She thought about the way the other humans looked at Jeb.Right. She sighed.But I think Jamie… well,
he doesn’t know or guess, but I think he feelsthe truth.
You might be right. I guess we’ll see if that does him or us any good, in the end.
Jeb could only manage to keep quiet for a few seconds, and then he was off again, interrupting us.
“Pretty interesting stuff. Not as muchbang! bang! as the movies I used to like. But still pretty interesting.
I’d like to hear more about those spider thingies. I’m real curious… real curious, for sure.”
I took a deep breath and raised my head. “What do you want to know?”
He smiled at me warmly, his eyes crinkling into half moons. “Three brains, right?”
I nodded.
“How many eyes?”
“Twelve—one at each juncture of the leg and the body. We didn’t have lids, just a lot of fibers—like
steel wool eyelashes—to protect them.”
He nodded, his eyes bright. “Were they furry, like tarantulas?”
“No. Sort of… armored—scaled, like a reptile or a fish.”
I slouched against the wall, settling myself in for a long conversation.
Jeb didn’t disappoint on that count. I lost track of how many questions he asked me. He wanted
details—the Spiders’ looks, their behaviors, and how they’d handled Earth. He didn’t flinch away from
the invasion details; on the contrary, he almost seemed to enjoy that part more than the rest. His
questions came fast on the heels of my answers, and his grins were frequent. When he was satisfied
about the Spiders, hours later, he wanted to know more about the Flowers.
“You didn’t half explain that one,” he reminded me.
So I told him about that most beautiful and placid of planets. Almost every time I stopped to breathe, he
interrupted me with a new question. He liked to guess the answers before I could speak and didn’t seem
a pterodactyl!”
“No, we used sunlight for food, like most plants here.”
“Well, that’s not as much fun as my idea.”
Sometimes I found myself laughing with him.
We were just moving on to the Dragons when Jamie showed up with dinner for three.
“Hi, Wanderer,” he said, a little embarrassed.
“Hi, Jamie,” I answered, a little shy, not sure if he would regret the closeness we’d shared. I was, after
all, the bad guy.
But he sat down right next to me, between me and Jeb, crossing his legs and setting the food tray in the
middle of our little conclave. I was starving, and parched from all the talking. I took a bowl of soup and
downed it in a few gulps.
“Shoulda known you were just being polite in the mess hall today. Gotta speak up when you’re hungry,
Wanda. I’m no mind reader.”
I didn’t agree with that last part, but I was too busy chewing a mouthful of bread to answer.
“Wanda?” Jamie asked.
I nodded, letting him know that I didn’t mind.
“Kinda suits her, doncha think?” Jeb was so proud of himself, I was surprised he didn’t pat himself on
the back, just for effect.
“Kinda, I guess,” Jamie said. “Were you guys talking about dragons?”
“Yeah,” Jeb told him enthusiastically, “but not the lizardy kind. They’re all made up of jelly. They can fly,
though… sort of. The air’s thicker, sort of jelly, too. So it’s almost like swimming. And they can breathe
acid—that’s about as good as fire, wouldn’t you say?”
I let Jeb fill Jamie in on the details while I ate more than my share of food and drained a water bottle.
When my mouth was free, Jeb started in with the questions again.
“Now, this acid…”
Jamie didn’t ask questions the way Jeb did, and I was more careful about what I said with him there.
However, this time Jeb never asked anything that might lead to a touchy subject, whether by coincidence
or design, so my caution wasn’t necessary.
The light slowly faded until the hallway was black. Then it was silver, a tiny, dim reflection from the
moon that was just enough, as my eyes adjusted, to see the man and the boy beside me.
I folded my arms across my body.
Finally, Jeb yawned a huge yawn that had me and Jamie doing the same.
“You tell a good story, Wanda,” Jeb said when we were all done stretching.
“It’s what I did… before. I was a teacher, at the university in San Diego. I taught history.”
“A teacher!” Jeb repeated, excited. “Well, ain’t that amazin’? There’s something we could use around
here. Mag’s girl Sharon does the teaching for the three kids, but there’s a lot she can’t help with. She’s
most comfortable with math and the like. History, now —”
“I only taughtour history,” I interrupted. Waiting for him to take a breath wasn’t going to work, it
seemed. “I wouldn’t be much help as a teacher here. I don’t have any training.”
“Your history is better than nothing. Things we human folks ought to know, seeing as we live in a more
populated universe than we were aware of.”
“But I wasn’t a real teacher,” I told him, desperate. Did he honestly think anyone wanted to hear my
voice, let alone listen to my stories? “I was sort of an honorary professor, almost a guest lecturer. They
only wanted me because… well, because of the story that goes along with my name.”
“That’s the next one I was going to ask for,” Jeb said complacently. “We can talk about your teaching
experience later. Now—why did they call you Wanderer? I’ve heard a bunch of odd ones, Dry Water,
Fingers in the Sky, Falling Upward—all mixed in, of course, with the Pams and the Jims. I tell you, it’s
the kind of thing that can drive a man crazy with curiosity.”
I waited till I was sure he was done to begin. “Well, the way it usually works is that a soul will try out a
planet or two—two’s the average—and then they’ll settle in their favorite place. They just move to new
hosts in the same species on the same planet when their body gets close to death. It’s very disorienting
moving from one kind of body to the next. Most souls really hate that. Some never move from the planet
they are born on. Occasionally, someone has a hard time finding a good fit. They may try three planets. I
met a soul once who’d been to five before he’d settled with the Bats. I liked it there—I suppose that’s
the closest I’ve ever come to choosing a planet. If it hadn’t been for the blindness…”
“How many planets have you lived on?” Jamie asked in a hushed voice. Somehow, while I’d been
talking, his hand had found its way into mine.
“This is my ninth,” I told him, squeezing his fingers gently.
“Wow, nine!” he breathed.
“That’s why they wanted me to teach. Anybody can tell them our statistics, but I have personal
experience from most of the planets we’ve… taken.” I hesitated at that word, but it didn’t seem to
bother Jamie. “There are only three I’ve never been to—well, now four. They just opened a new world.”
I expected Jeb to jump in with questions about the new world, or the ones I’d skipped, but he just
“Why did you never stay anywhere?” Jamie asked.
“I never found a place I liked enough to stay.”
“What about Earth? Do you think you’ll stay here?”
I wanted to smile at his child’s confidence—as if I were going to get the chance to ever move on to
another host. As if I were going to get the chance to live out even another month in the one I had.
“Earth is… very interesting,” I murmured. “It’s harder than any place I’ve been before.”
“Harder than the place with the frozen air and the claw beasts?” he asked.
“In its own way, yes.” How could I explain that the Mists Planet only came at you from the outside—it
was much more difficult to be attacked from within.
Attacked,Melanie scoffed.
I yawned.I wasn’t actually thinking of you, I told her.I was thinking of these unstable emotions,
always betraying me. But you did attack me. Pushing your memories on me that way.
I learned my lesson,she assured me dryly. I could feel how intensely aware she was of the hand in mine.
There was an emotion slowly building in her that I didn’t recognize. Something on the edge of anger, with
a hint of desire and a portion of despair.
Jealousy,she enlightened me.
Jeb yawned again. “I’m being downright rude, I guess. You must be bushed—walking all over today
and then me keepin’ you up half the night talking. Ought to be a better host. C’mon, Jamie, let’s go and
let Wanda get some sleep.”
I was exhausted. It felt as if it had been a very long day, and, from Jeb’s words, perhaps that wasn’t in
my imagination.
“Okay, Uncle Jeb.” Jamie jumped lightly to his feet and then offered his hand to the old man.
“Thanks, kid.” Jeb groaned as he got up. “And thanks to you, too,” he added in my direction. “Most
interesting conversation I’ve had in… well, probably forever. Rest your voice up, Wanda, because my
curiosity is a powerful thing. Ah, there he is! ’Bout time.”
Only then did I hear the sound of approaching footsteps. Automatically, I shrank against the wall and
scooted farther back into the cave-room, and then felt more exposed because the moonlight was brighter
inside.
I was surprised that this was the first person to turn in for the night; the corridor appeared to house
many.
“Sorry, Jeb. I got to talking with Sharon, and then I sort of dozed off.”
were empty.
“We didn’t even notice, Doc,” Jeb said. “We were having the time of our lives here. Someday you’ll
have to get her to tell you some of her stories—great stuff. Not tonight, though. She’s got to be pretty
worn out, I’d bet. We’ll see you in the morning.”
The doctor was spreading a mat out in front of the cave entrance, just as Jared had.
“Keep an eye on this,” Jeb said, laying the gun beside the mat.
“Are you okay, Wanda?” Jamie asked. “You’re shaking.”
I hadn’t realized it, but my whole body was quivering. I didn’t answer him—my throat felt swollen shut.
“Now, now,” Jeb said in a soothing voice. “I asked Doc if he minded taking a shift. You don’t need to
worry about anything. Doc’s an honorable man.”
The doctor smiled a sleepy smile. “I’m not going to hurt you… Wanda, is it? I promise. I’ll just keep
watch while you sleep.”
I bit my lip, and the quivering didn’t stop.
Jeb seemed to think everything was settled, though. “Night, Wanda. Night, Doc,” he said as he started
back down the hall.
Jamie hesitated, looking at me with a worried expression. “Doc’s okay,” he promised in a whisper.
“C’mon, boy, it’s late!”
Jamie hurried off after Jeb.
I watched the doctor when they were gone, waiting for some change. Doc’s relaxed expression didn’t
waver, though, and he didn’t touch the gun. He stretched his long frame out on the mat, his calves and
feet hanging off the end. Lying down, he looked much smaller, he was so rail thin.
“Good night,” he murmured drowsily.
Of course I didn’t answer. I watched him in the dull moonlight, timing the rise and fall of his chest by the
sound of the pulse thudding in my ears. His breathing slowed and got deeper, and then he began to
quietly snore.
It could have been an act, but even if it was, there wasn’t much I could do about it. Silently, I crept
deeper into the room, till I felt the edge of the mattress against my back. I’d promised myself that I would
not disturb this place, but it probably wouldn’t hurt anything if I just curled up on the foot of the bed. The
floor was rough and so hard.
The sound of the doctor’s soft snoring was comforting; even if it was put on to calm me, at least I knew
exactly where he was in the darkness.
Live or die, I figured I might as well go ahead and sleep. I was dog tired, as Melanie would say. I let my
There was a low shuffling sound—it was inside the room with me. My eyes popped open, and I could
see a shadow between the moonlit ceiling and me. Outside, the doctor’s snores continued uninterrupted.
CHAPTER 23
Confessed
The shadow was huge and misshapen. It loomed over me, top-heavy, swinging closer to my face.
I think I meant to scream, but the sound got trapped in my throat, and all that came out was a breathless
squeak.
“Shh, it’s just me,” Jamie whispered. Something bulky and roundish rolled from his shoulders and
plopped softly to the floor. When it was gone I could see his true, lithe shadow against the moonlight.
I caught a few gasps of air, my hand clutching at my throat.
“Sorry,” he whispered, sitting down on the edge of the mattress. “I guess that was pretty stupid. I was
trying not to wake Doc—I didn’t even think how I would scare you. You okay?” He patted my ankle,
which was the part of me closest to him.
“Sure,” I huffed, still breathless.
“Sorry,” he muttered again.
“What are you doing here, Jamie? Shouldn’t you be asleep?”
“That’s why I’m here. Uncle Jeb was snoring like you wouldn’t believe. I couldn’t stand it anymore.”
His answer didn’t make sense to me. “Don’t you usually sleep with Jeb?”
Jamie yawned and bent to untie the bulky bedroll he’d dropped to the floor. “No, I usually sleep with
Jared. He doesn’t snore. But you know that.”
I did.
“Why don’t you sleep in Jared’s room, then? Are you afraid to sleep alone?” I wouldn’t have blamed
him for that. It seemed like I was constantly terrified here.
“Afraid,” he grumbled, offended. “No. Thisis Jared’s room. And mine.”
“What?” I gasped. “Jeb put me in Jared’s room?”
I couldn’t believe it. Jared would kill me. No, he would kill Jeb first, andthen he would kill me.
“It’s my room, too. And I told Jeb you could have it.”
“Jared will be furious,” I whispered.
“I’m not a kid, Wanda. I can take care of myself.”
Obviously, arguing was only going to make him more stubborn. “At least take the bed,” I said,
surrendering. “I’ll sleep on the floor. It’s your room.”
“That’s not right. You’re the guest.”
I snorted quietly. “Ha. No, the bed is yours.”
“No way.” He lay down on the mat, folding his arms tightly across his chest.
Again, I saw that arguing was the wrong approach to take with Jamie. Well, this one I could rectify as
soon as he was asleep. Jamie slept so deeply it was almost a coma. Melanie could carry him anywhere
once he was out.
“You can use my pillow,” he told me, patting the one next to the side where he lay. “You don’t need to
scrunch up at the bottom there.”
I sighed but crawled to the top of the bed.
“That’s right,” he said approvingly. “Now, could you throw me Jared’s?”
I hesitated, about to reach for the pillow under my head; he jumped up, leaned over me, and snatched
