than when he’d been surprised by the sea serpent. ‘We have to try and find her.’
‘Do we?’ Stanislav’s whole face was now set and sour. ‘How?’
Dalip spun around again, knowing what he’d see: the ocean, the estuary, the forest, the distant mountains. They could search from now until … whenever, and not scratch so much as a tiny fraction of this vast wild space.
‘But,’ he objected. ‘We can’t abandon her.’
‘It is decent and noble of you to want to try to find her.’ Stanislav’s voice rumbled deep in his chest. ‘If she had come to harm between the headland and the camp, one of us would have seen or heard something. If she had made it as far as the fire, then she would have met either you or Mary. No. She has abandoned us. Deliberately. You worked with her, Mary.’
‘No, it wasn’t like that. She wasn’t part of our crew. She just tagged on to us after it all went tits up.’ She leaned on the net’s pole. ‘Fuck. What does this mean?’
‘It means we three should talk.’ Despite there being no eavesdroppers, Stanislav beckoned them, and Dalip and Mary moved closer. ‘We are thrown together by an accident of chance, yes? We will have different views and different goals, and there is no reason why we should agree on everything.’
Dalip was still looking around him, wondering what might have happened to Grace, even though he hardly knew her – and it turned out that no one did. Now, she was gone.
‘Concentrate,’ said Stanislav. He pressed his thumb and forefinger together and gestured in Dalip’s face like he was jabbing his point home. ‘We cannot help her, or hinder her. We must consider our own safety.’
‘You want us to form a gang, right?’ said Mary.
Stanislav equivocated. ‘A gang?’ he said. ‘An alliance, perhaps. A formal agreement between ourselves that we will stay together, at least as far as this geomancer. None of us know what we are doing here. We do not know this world, or our place in it. We cannot tell whether Grace has stolen an advantage over us and put us all in danger, or whether she has made a terrible mistake in going on alone. There is so much we do not understand, but staying in this one place will not help us. We cannot get through the door, and we are unequipped to live here: the food will become scarce, we lack shelter, and if there are tame wolves, there will also be wild ones. We need to go and seek wisdom. All of us. That would be best, I think.’
‘Best for us, or best for everyone?’ asked Dalip.
‘It is the same thing. If Grace believes she gains something by getting to the geomancer first, we must seek an advantage of our own. We must stay together and act together. If we three all argue that we should leave here in the morning, we should persuade at least one of the others to join us. If we do that, it is likely that they will all come.’
‘But that’s going to happen anyway,’ said Dalip. ‘The door back to London won’t open. We haven’t any other choices.’
‘Well, that’s not true is it?’ Mary kicked the bottom of the net pole. ‘If Grace fucked off on her own, she’s going to be halfway to the geomancer already. And Mama, she’s going to want to go back to the door tomorrow, and the next day, for as long as it takes her to see it’s not going to open.’
‘Dalip. Listen to Mary.’
‘Someone had to make those wolf chains, right?’ Mary hefted the net again, and looked to the river. ‘That must mean there’s somewhere else we need to be.’
‘She is right. What do you say, Dalip?’
He gave in. Searching for Grace was going to be futile, especially if she didn’t want to be found. ‘Yes, yes okay. Let’s try that.’
‘No,’ said Stanislav, ‘we must be more determined than that. We must move on, we must go together and we must not let anyone else leave us. Talk to them. They will listen to you.’
‘Me?’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘They’ll listen to Mama.’
‘Then do not speak
‘Do we?’ Stanislav’s whole face was now set and sour. ‘How?’
Dalip spun around again, knowing what he’d see: the ocean, the estuary, the forest, the distant mountains. They could search from now until … whenever, and not scratch so much as a tiny fraction of this vast wild space.
‘But,’ he objected. ‘We can’t abandon her.’
‘It is decent and noble of you to want to try to find her.’ Stanislav’s voice rumbled deep in his chest. ‘If she had come to harm between the headland and the camp, one of us would have seen or heard something. If she had made it as far as the fire, then she would have met either you or Mary. No. She has abandoned us. Deliberately. You worked with her, Mary.’
‘No, it wasn’t like that. She wasn’t part of our crew. She just tagged on to us after it all went tits up.’ She leaned on the net’s pole. ‘Fuck. What does this mean?’
‘It means we three should talk.’ Despite there being no eavesdroppers, Stanislav beckoned them, and Dalip and Mary moved closer. ‘We are thrown together by an accident of chance, yes? We will have different views and different goals, and there is no reason why we should agree on everything.’
Dalip was still looking around him, wondering what might have happened to Grace, even though he hardly knew her – and it turned out that no one did. Now, she was gone.
‘Concentrate,’ said Stanislav. He pressed his thumb and forefinger together and gestured in Dalip’s face like he was jabbing his point home. ‘We cannot help her, or hinder her. We must consider our own safety.’
‘You want us to form a gang, right?’ said Mary.
Stanislav equivocated. ‘A gang?’ he said. ‘An alliance, perhaps. A formal agreement between ourselves that we will stay together, at least as far as this geomancer. None of us know what we are doing here. We do not know this world, or our place in it. We cannot tell whether Grace has stolen an advantage over us and put us all in danger, or whether she has made a terrible mistake in going on alone. There is so much we do not understand, but staying in this one place will not help us. We cannot get through the door, and we are unequipped to live here: the food will become scarce, we lack shelter, and if there are tame wolves, there will also be wild ones. We need to go and seek wisdom. All of us. That would be best, I think.’
‘Best for us, or best for everyone?’ asked Dalip.
‘It is the same thing. If Grace believes she gains something by getting to the geomancer first, we must seek an advantage of our own. We must stay together and act together. If we three all argue that we should leave here in the morning, we should persuade at least one of the others to join us. If we do that, it is likely that they will all come.’
‘But that’s going to happen anyway,’ said Dalip. ‘The door back to London won’t open. We haven’t any other choices.’
‘Well, that’s not true is it?’ Mary kicked the bottom of the net pole. ‘If Grace fucked off on her own, she’s going to be halfway to the geomancer already. And Mama, she’s going to want to go back to the door tomorrow, and the next day, for as long as it takes her to see it’s not going to open.’
‘Dalip. Listen to Mary.’
‘Someone had to make those wolf chains, right?’ Mary hefted the net again, and looked to the river. ‘That must mean there’s somewhere else we need to be.’
‘She is right. What do you say, Dalip?’
He gave in. Searching for Grace was going to be futile, especially if she didn’t want to be found. ‘Yes, yes okay. Let’s try that.’
‘No,’ said Stanislav, ‘we must be more determined than that. We must move on, we must go together and we must not let anyone else leave us. Talk to them. They will listen to you.’
‘Me?’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘They’ll listen to Mama.’
‘Then do not speak
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