The Whipstitch Duology Book Two: Roses in the Fall

By Mark Whiteway

The sequel is even more action-packed than the first, with high-level chases, incredible struggles of physical strength and mental soundness, and constant questions about the loyalty and honesty of one another.
I believe that readers who enjoy Madeline L’Engel’s The Wrinkle in Time series or M. Night Shyamalan’s “Signs” will take a step further in this duology to face the mind-shattering opportunities of scientific and environmental undertakings, all the while finding stability in the basic tenets of familial affection, human loyalty, and self-preservation. – Elizabeth Horst. Ghostwriter and Editor.

The second Whipstitch book, by Mark Whiteway, picks up right where the first book left off. Liam and his companions are embroiled in a fight for humanity against creatures who have cast judgment on them. With danger coming at them from all sides, Liam is struggling with the responsibility of both his family and mankind as a whole.

Liam’s relationship with both of his sisters was captivating, and I found to be the heart of the story. Millie is the youngest and is blind, but her sense of curiosity and belief in others makes her an important part of saving the world, forcing Liam to constantly wonder how much responsibility he should let her take on and how much he needs to protect her. Cara, the middle child, stands up to Liam as she searches for independence and deals with the grief of losing her mother. The family dynamics feel real, and the tension between the siblings adds to the intensity and emotional rollercoaster of the novel.

Whipstitch is a wonderfully fantastical sci-fi story with an important message at its heart. Mark Whiteway's writing, as always, is clever, imaginative, and exciting from start to finish. I very much enjoyed reading this book and would highly recommend it. 4.5 stars. Emerson R Craig. BA, MSc

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Mark W. delivers again with a stellar and moving addition to the “Whipstitch” duology. Dwelling in the aftermath of failing to save their father, Liam and Millie - now accompanied by none other than Whipstitch and the fiery redhead Aimee - must decode the PigPen PigPen message Liam’s father left behind.

Mark W has found his voice in this duology; his writings command a mastery of wicked suspense and quiet tension and present a tale so starkly haunting and beautiful. And within the fear and chaos, he maintains something so distinctly recognizable - resilience..- Deirdre Boyne. Magazine Editor.

The reader finds themself captivated by the relatable heroes embroiled in dilemmas few their age could imagine. This thrilling story of courage and family addresses age-old topics in a relevant manner that keeps readers engaged from the start. It is utterly enjoyable! – Carrie Todd. Editor and Illustrator.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark Whiteway
• Release date: Mar 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215609750

Mark Whiteway

Mark Whiteway (1959- ) lives in rural West Sussex, England, near the former home of H G Wells. The Lodestone series of novels is built around the concept of negative matter-an extension of Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. Mark lives with his wife Sandra.

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Mark Whiteway Knuckles 86 110 2023-02-25T05:15:00Z 2023-03-03T21:05:00Z 384 80254 457454 3812 1073 536635 14.0

Chapter One

With his newfound friend Aimee a heartbeat behind, Liam Carrigan stepped out of a vortex and onto the floor of a sunlit valley on a world called Pa’lash. A silver creek chuckled through it, sleek shapes undulating beneath the water. Spiral stems clung to the riverbank, sprouting bell-shaped pale-blue blooms that gave off a sweet aroma. They looked as innocent as a flower display at a summer fete, but Liam had learned to be wary of plants from that world.

He set his blind sister, Millie, on the ground and took her hand, and his heart ached as she sniffed the air, her round eyes wide open to a view of natural splendor she would never see.

As the valley’s flanks steepened, they shed their golden-yellow coverings in favor of rocky outcrops and aeries constructed of interwoven brush. A long, thin shape launched from one of the huge nests and shrieked as it snaked through the air. Its upper body was covered in shiny black scales, and its underbelly was ribbed like a worm’s. Twin sets of gossamer wings extended from its midriff.

What’s that? Liam asked.

Whipstitch, the creature of wood and leaf whom Liam and his two sisters had first encountered in the Pennsylvania woods, went to a nearby post where a number of straps dangled, and he claimed a set. I will show you.

With that, he bounded away up the hillside and climbed up and over the lip of one of the nests while cooing like a dove. Moments later, one of the winged wormlike creatures shot from the nest like a thrown spear. It slowed and banked, revealing Whipstitch on its back, secured by a harness.

Styling himself after a character in one of Millie’s books, Whipstitch had declared his intention to use the Carrigan family as test subjects to determine whether humanity should be wiped out to prevent environmental disaster on Earth, but a crisis on his home world had compelled him to seek a temporary truce. Their alliance remained tenuous at best.

The creature dived, leveled out, then settled onto the valley floor in front of Liam and the others.

Impressive! Liam breathed.

Whipstitch dismounted with a flourish and approached them. The creature coiled its rear section like a cobra, raised its narrow head, and displayed needlelike teeth.

"It is called a goon’jar. They are popular with juvenile Gir’zach."

You mean, like your first motorbike?

Is that anything like a goon’jar? Whipstitch asked.

Uh… no, not really, Liam said, feeling his witticism deflate like a punctured tire. He dragged the conversation onto a different path. It looks too small to carry all of us.

A goon’jar will only carry one person. You will each need to bond with one.

Aimee frowned. Bond with…?

You must approach its nest. If it connects with you, it will allow you to ride it.

We’ll try not to screw it up, Liam said. What about Millie?

The little one is small enough to ride with either of you.

"I want my own goo-jar," Millie said.

I’m not sure that’s safe, sweetie, Liam said. You can ride with me or Aimee, okay?

How do you know your goo-jar will like me? she asked. I want my own.

Liam knelt in front of her. How will you see which way to go?

The goo-jar will see for me, she replied. Just like a real guide dog.

Goon’jar learn to fly within a day of birth. It is possible a recently hatched goon’jar will accept her, Whipstitch said. You could try approaching a mother and hatchling together.

Millie’s eyes lit up. Yes, please!

I’ll take her, Aimee said.

Liam sighed. No, that’s my job. He stood up, took Millie’s hand, then hesitated. They’re not dangerous, are they?

Only if they take a dislike to you, Whipstitch replied. Like all animal forms, they can be somewhat unpredictable.

Then the rest of us will go together.

Whipstitch lifted three harnesses from the post and handed them to Liam. I will assist you.

Liam raised his eyebrows. You will?

From overhead, I can direct you to a suitable nest.

That would help a lot. Thanks.

Whipstitch remounted his beast. The success of our collaboration depends on your establishing an affinity with the goon’jar. As you say, I would recommend you not ‘screw it up.’

Thanks for the advice, Liam said.

Whipstitch hauled on the reins, and the goon’jar took to the sky.

Aimee tracked them as the flying creature powered toward the nest-filled crags. Why d’you let Whipstitch push you around like that?

Because this is his world, Liam replied. For now, we’re going to have to play by his rules.

~

Crouched against the side of the valley, Liam watched the goon’jar bearing Whipstitch flit past and committed to memory the twisted array of branches the plant creature indicated. He glanced over his shoulder. Wait here.

Why? Millie asked.

I have to check it out first. If Mom is friendly, I’ll signal, Aimee will bring you up, and we’ll see if Junior likes you.

Why wouldn’t he?

Liam smiled. Right now, I can’t imagine a single reason. See you in a bit.

Liam crept up the hillside and tried not to think of all the things that could go wrong. A part of him wanted to turn back and suggest to Whipstitch that they round up a couple of slower esh’zaar instead. But back in Pennsylvania, the Gir’zach were getting farther away from their broken-down SUV by the hour, and the shuffling purple flowers were sealing hundreds, perhaps thousands, more people within those cocoons he’d seen scattered across the hills. If he could catch up to the horde and help his elder sister, Cara, see the truth of what was happening, then maybe they would have a chance.

The anguish of their last meeting still gnawed at him. Cara had bought into the Gir’zach’s ultragreen philosophy, and to make matters worse, she now believed he’d sacrificed Millie in a vain attempt to stop the plant creatures. He had to convince her otherwise but didn’t know how.

Whipstitch sat astride his sleek mount and circled in a wide arc. The lip of the nest he’d indicated lay a short distance away. Liam glanced back at the valley floor, where Aimee and Millie watched his progress, hand in hand. Aimee bent down and whispered in her ear, and Millie jumped and waved like a tiny ball of excitement. Somewhere at the back of his consciousness, an idea sparked.

With a renewed sense of purpose, he turned, grabbed a glassy black outcrop, and hauled himself up the final few meters.

~

Liam peeked over the edge of the nest and was greeted by hissing and a faceful of fangs. He toppled backward and slid down the hillside till the outcrop broke his fall. Aimee shouted something. He massaged the new crick in his back, waved to indicate he was okay, and started up again.

Whipstitch had coaxed his mount with a cooing noise. Liam did his best to replicate the sound as he approached the nest once more. Keeping a firm grip on the rocks, he eased his head over the parapet a second time. The wormlike creature was coiled at the far end of the tangled branches, her mouth open but silent, and next to her was a wide-eyed miniature version of herself. Their bodies had a blue-green sheen that shifted as they moved.

Liam eased himself over the lip of the nest, careful to avoid any sudden movements that might appear threatening. The creature watched him but didn’t react. His heart beat faster as he reached out and stroked her flank then her head. She closed her mouth.

That’s it… Good girl. There’s nothing to fear. He took a step back and called down to Aimee. Bring Millie up here, would you? A few minutes later, he took Millie from Aimee’s grasp and lifted her into the nest. He’s very beautiful.

He is? Millie asked.

Yes, he and his mother both. Their colors move with the light.

Does he like me?

Let’s see, shall we?

With one eye on the mother, he slipped a harness over the baby goon’jar. It fidgeted and flicked its tail. He waited for it to settle down before easing Millie into a position behind its head and handing her the reins. She stroked its flank.

Try making a noise, like this, he suggested and made the cooing sound again.

She gave a high-pitched imitation. The baby goon’jar opened and closed its mouth.

He patted the mother and fitted her with the second harness. She didn’t react. Maybe Gir’zach have ridden her before. Whipstitch gazed down from on high but stayed silent. Let’s hope that means I’m doing it right.

Ready? he asked his sister.

Millie nodded.

Okay. Hold on tight! He pulled on his reins, and the mother spread her wing sets and took to the air.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw the baby was only a heartbeat behind. Wind whipped past as they dived from the nest and leveled out over the golden-clothed valley with its twisting silver ribbon.

Wheeee! Millie cried.

Mark Whiteway Knuckles 86 110 2023-02-25T05:15:00Z 2023-03-03T21:05:00Z 384 80254 457454 3812 1073 536635 14.0

Chapter Two

I can’t remember seeing her so happy, Aimee said.

Liam paused on the hillside and glanced back at the spot near the creek where Millie was still soothing the baby goon’jar, and he smiled. She’s wanted a guide dog almost as long as she could talk. This is way better. Keeping her from getting overexcited—that’s going to be the challenge.

You really care about her, don’t you?

He pressed on. She needs me. And right now, I’m all she’s got.

Aimee placed a hand on his back as they climbed the steepening sides of the valley. A committee in his head debated the meaning of the gesture.

I’ve been wanting to tell you something, she said. When he opened his mouth to formulate a response, she plowed on. I had a ‘discussion’ with Moon’Shae, and we’ve come to an arrangement.

He recalled his own confusion when Moon’Shae’s voice had just appeared in his mind, and he settled for saying, Okay.

Thing is, I never had a choice over what happened. One moment, she’d stepped beyond the protective biome, and the next, there she was in my head. It was a weird mix of emotions—like having a stranger survive an earthquake only to find she’s now your roommate, and you had no say in it.

Far overhead, Whipstitch indicated another of the nests. Liam got a fix on it and adjusted his course.

She’s carrying a lot of resentment over the extinction of her race—I get that, Aimee continued. She gave up her physical existence as a way of striking back. But this body is mine, not hers. If we’re going to coexist, then she has to let me live my own life.

He wasn’t sure why she was rehearsing her arguments with him. Maybe she was just seeking reassurance. Sounds reasonable to me.

I’m glad you think so. She leaned over and pecked him on the cheek.

He flinched as if it had been an electric shock. What’d I do to deserve that?

Nothing, she replied in an innocent-sounding voice.

The mix of personalities was making her more than a little irrational.

He forced himself to refocus. The nest is right up there. I’ll stay outside, and you go on in. We want the creature to bond with you. My presence would likely only confuse it.

What if it attacks like yours did?

He shook his head. My guess is that was the instinctive reaction of a mother guarding her young. But if something like that happens, just back off and then go in slow. Making a gentle cooing noise seems to calm them. If the creature still isn’t in the mood, don’t push it. We’ll simply regroup and have Whipstitch pick out another candidate.

You’re even good with flying worms. She smiled as though reveling in his puzzled expression before turning and hauling herself up to where a tangle of branches perched on a patch of bare rock.

Moments later, an iridescent-scarlet-and-black goon’jar shot out of its nest and spiraled toward the valley floor with Aimee on its back, her auburn hair swept back like a pennant in the wind.

Resisting the urge to touch his cheek where she’d kissed it, he picked his way back down the hillside and rejoined Millie while Aimee continued circling above them.

Millie glanced up at the sound of his footfall. Lee?

Yep, it’s me. Aimee has a goon’jar now. How are the two of you getting on?

Millie stroked her goon’jar’s head. I think he likes me. I’m going to call him Jerry.

Jerry, eh?

It’s a nice name.

It sure is. Hey, I need your help with something, kiddo. I want to make a video message for your sister.

To ask her to come back to us?

Exactly.

What should I say?

Their run in the car had restored his phone to near full charge. He booted it up. Just be yourself. He turned on the flashlight app. See the bright light?

She nodded.

He set the video running. Okay, just talk to the light.

Hi, Cara, she began. It’s me. I got a goo-jar. Can you see him? His name is Jerry. Lee says he’s really beautiful. Please come back to us. I’ll let you ride him if you like.

The video would show Millie alive and well, but he needed to give it a time context to prove she’d survived Williamsport. Tell her what happened to Moon’Shae.

She put me and Aimee in a bright place and made me do a lot of stuff with my cane to make a foosion. Then she joined with Aimee, so they’re together now. Aimee is my friend, but I still miss you… What else should I say?

Tell her about Dad.

Dad’s having a nap right now, but he gave us a puzzle to work out. I like puzzles. Lee’s going to help me with it, and you can help too, okay? When we have the answer, we can take it to Dad, and he’ll wake up, and we can all be together again. All except for Mom… That’s right, isn’t it?

That’s right. Tell her, ‘See you soon.’

Millie waved. See you soon!

He stopped recording and saved the video.

How’d I do? she asked.

Great, he replied. You did great. Just… don’t tell Aimee or Whipstitch we made a movie for your sister, okay?

Why not?

It’s a surprise.

We going to have a surprise party for her?

Maybe… after Dad wakes up and all this is over.

Can Aimee and Whipstitch come?

She was smart and inquisitive, and he hated lying to her, but if he told her the truth of what he was planning, she wouldn’t understand. He stowed the phone, went over, dropped to his knees, and gave her a hug. I hope so, baby girl. I hope so.

~

Liam watched Whipstitch and Aimee disappear through the swirling portal with their goon’jars, then he took Millie’s hand and guided her and the mother and baby after them. Highway 180 was as deserted as they’d left it, and their crippled SUV still sat forlorn on the hard shoulder. The sun showed it was late afternoon.

Liam pulled out his phone and checked for a signal—still nothing. Maybe the towers were out of commission, or maybe the authorities had disabled the internet. Either way, decoding Dad’s puzzle would have to wait.

He turned to Whipstitch. Is the hawk still tracking the Gir’zach?

Whipstitch gazed into the far distance. Yes, I see them clearly.

Okay, follow me. Aimee, can you stay with Millie? I won’t be long.

Aimee took Millie’s other hand and led her to the baby goon’jar then looked up and smiled. Hurry back. Since their last chat, he’d seen no further emergence of her Moon’Shae persona, which suggested her pact with the Fae’lar was holding, at least for the time being.

Liam went to the SUV, opened the driver’s side door, got in, and turned the key. The dashboard lit up. He tapped the touch screen, brought up the satnav, zoomed out the map, and pointed at a red icon where 180 started to bend. Whipstitch leaned in for a better view.

Okay, we’re here, Liam said. Can you show me where the horde is?

Whipstitch had cultivated a natural affinity with a Cooper’s hawk on Earth. He’d set it to track the army of plants and could see through its eyes. The plant creature tracked the blue line with a spindly finger and stopped. About here.

That puts them on Route 80, near Bloomsburg, and they’re still heading east… this way?

Correct.

Liam clutched his chin and stared at the display.

What are you contemplating? Whipstitch asked.

They’re following the interstate, Liam said, forcing towns in their path to evacuate and cocooning any stragglers. That’s taken them south to where 180 connects with 80 and then heads east. But look—a little way ahead of them, there’s a bridge where 80 crosses the Susquehanna River at a place called Lime Ridge.

If you are planning to halt their advance, you will not be successful, Whipstitch said with a sharp tone. The Fae’lar’s efforts at Williamsport proved that is impossible.

Maybe we can’t halt them, but it might be an opportunity to slow them down and buy us some time. We have two, maybe three hours of daylight left.

Whipstitch paused and considered the display. They are a great distance ahead of us. I doubt we could intercept them before they reach the bridge.

We have the goon’jar now—we don’t have to follow the highway like they did. Here. Liam’s fingertip traced a straight line. Instead of going south and then east, we can cut across country and catch them at the river.

Even then, I am not sure we would get there in time.

Well, if we don’t, we’ll be no worse off than we are now. We’ve nothing to lose by trying.

Your logic is sound, Whipstitch said, for a human.

Liam was unsure whether Whipstitch intended that as a joke, so he kept a straight face. Then it’s settled.

First Millie, and now Whipstitch. He’d complained to Whipstitch how he was fed up with all the lies and double-talk, yet there he was, deliberately charting a deceptive course. He hadn’t actually lied at any point, but he had kept his true intentions hidden. When his plan became clear, it might shatter the bonds of trust that bound them all together. But that was a risk he had to take.

Laughter drifted from behind the SUV. He exited the vehicle and saw Aimee and Millie hand-feeding the four goon’jar. The peach tree’s branches shaded them, and ripe peaches were piled on the verge.

Aimee glanced up at their approach. Hey, we found out what goon’jar eat!

Liam pasted on a smile and tried to match their festive mood. Okay, five more minutes, guys. Then we gotta get going.

Aimee held out a peach and watched her goon’jar gobble chunks of the fruit while it somehow avoided injuring her with its fangs. Are we going after the Gir’zach again?

Liam nodded. I’m going to try to head them off right where 80 crosses the Susquehanna.

Then you’re going to need Millie’s and my help.

You mean Moon’Shae. He hadn’t heard her speak with Moon’Shae’s voice for a while, but that didn’t mean that her Fae’lar persona was dormant. It could merely be waiting for another opportunity to strike at the Gir’zach just as it had at Williamsport. He could probably cook up a scheme to leave Aimee behind or drop her off somewhere, but that would mean sacrificing her knowledge of the workings of Millie’s cane, and the cane was their only effective weapon against the Gir’zach. He needed Moon’Shae.

He needed them both.

Mark Whiteway Knuckles 86 110 2023-02-25T05:15:00Z 2023-03-03T21:05:00Z 384 80254 457454 3812 1073 536635 14.0

Chapter Three

Liam, Millie, and Aimee soared high over the treetops, with Whipstitch in the lead. The Pennsylvania woods stretched before them like a rolling green ocean. Behind them, the setting sun sank slowly, like a thief preparing to rob them of daylight and the chance to make their stand, but to Liam, slowing the horde’s progress was incidental—the main part of his plan required the cover of darkness.

Millie clutched the baby goon’jar’s harness while it flew in its mother’s wake, which doubtless helped it keep up and save energy. Aimee’s scarlet-and-black mount was on Liam’s right flank. He didn’t have a watch handy and couldn’t check his phone, but he figured they’d been airborne for well over an hour. The goon’jar’s speed and stamina compared favorably with the most accomplished flying creatures on Earth.

He scanned the southern horizon but saw nothing except the occasional deserted stretch of county road that wound its way around densely wooded hills. He imagined some other hapless college hopeful gazing open-mouthed at a procession of giant iridescent worms with translucent wings as they swept overhead bearing three human riders and a scarecrow, but in all likelihood, the area had been evacuated along with other large swaths of rural Pennsylvania.

A distant hum sounded. He hunted for the source but couldn’t see anything at first. There! A trio of silver motes was approaching from their left quarter, gaining quickly. He hollered at the others and pointed, but they were already twisting in their seats. As the hum gathered and became a roar, he recognized the outlines of three fighter jets. They looked as though they were going to pass uncomfortably close.

He yelled again over the din and made a downward motion with the flat of his hand, but the others were preoccupied as the goon’jar tossed their heads and broke formation.

The jets passed by like rolling thunder, and the air shuddered. Before Liam could react, the baby goon’jar’s wings folded, and it began dropping from the sky. The mother swerved and dived after it. Millie screamed. Liam hauled on his harness and tried in vain to control their fall. The baby squealed in panic and flapped its little wings as the tree canopy rushed up to meet them. The mother twisted and grabbed the baby’s tail with her mouth, then her wings beat the air, slowing their descent. The baby flapped harder, but it was in the mother’s grasp. Together, they crashed through the tree canopy, flushed a flock of starlings, and settled to the forest floor with a bump. Dull booms sounded in the far distance.

Liam hopped off the mother’s back and went to Millie, who was still holding onto her harness, white-knuckled.

You okay? he asked.

Her face was screwed up, and she was close to tears. What’d I do wrong?

He picked her up. Nothing at all, sweetie. It wasn’t Jerry’s fault either. He just got caught in the backwash of a passing jet. Fortunately, Mom knew what to do. She saved you both.

Leaves swished, and boughs snapped as Whipstitch’s goon’jar descended through the upper branches of a beech tree and came down next to them, followed by the creature bearing Aimee.

Whipstitch dismounted. Those were more of your infernal human machines, I suppose.

That’s right, Liam replied. We’re all fine, by the way. Thanks for asking.

Can you not see how destructive your ways are?

Yeah, well, we’re working on it.

Aimee rushed at Liam and threw her arms around him and Millie, knocking the stuffing out of him.

We’re okay, he wheezed. Honest.

She released him suddenly and averted her eyes, as though her Moon’Shae half had woken up and realized what she was doing.

The baby goon’jar whipped its tail and flapped its wings like a wind-up toy.

Liam seized his chance to change the subject. Junior seems anxious to get going again. We should try to use what daylight we have left to see if we can catch up to the horde.

Well, we won’t need the hawk to find them now, Aimee said.

How so?

Because there’s a plume of smoke rising from where those fighter jets discharged their missiles.

Human fire weapons cannot harm the Gir’zach. Whipstitch sneered. Do your people not realize they are wasting their time?

That might’ve been true of the plant creatures, but Cara had no such immunity. Liam’s plan had just acquired an even greater urgency.

He settled Millie back into her harness. All right, let’s move.

~

Like a pin in a map, the smoke column marked the location where the aircraft had struck. As Liam and his party drew closer, he spotted Route 80 together with a flash of silvery gray farther south, indicating they were nearing the eastern branch of the Susquehanna. Like two long-lost friends, road and river were destined to meet at a place called Lime Ridge.

Jerry’s mishap with the jets didn’t seem to have slowed the baby goon’jar any. The landscape continued to skim past beneath them. At that pace, they were liable to run right into the horde’s rear guard. Liam had witnessed firsthand the Gir’zach’s use of high-pitched sound to bring down a helicopter. Even if he and the others successfully overflew the horde, that would alert the plant creatures to their presence, and he preferred to avoid contact for the time being. He drew level with Whipstitch and made a circling motion with his hand, indicating his desire to go around them.

Whipstitch nodded and banked to the right on a trajectory that would take them across the highway then south to meet the river. As he veered to follow, he caught sight of a V-shaped skein of Canada geese matching their course and felt glad of the company.

By the time the bridge hove into view, the setting sun had surrendered to a phalanx of dark clouds, and rain was beginning to fall in diagonal streaks. The north bank of the river heaved with a mass of moving plants. They’re here already. That meant his chances of slowing them down were considerably diminished. They’d be across before Moon’Shae and Millie figured out a suitable defense.

As they approached the unlit bridge, he squinted in the fading light. The separated roadways were empty aside from a couple of abandoned cars. Two dor’skah stood sentinel, one at the midpoint of the northbound lane, the other blocking the southbound. The horde was making no attempt to cross.

The plant creatures didn’t require sleep, and he could see nothing obvious holding them up. Maybe the jets had inflicted damage on them after all.

He wasn’t going to learn any more from an aerial survey. He selected a copse on a small hill just off the highway on the south side of the river, shouted, and pointed downward, and together, they descended toward it through the sleeting rain.

As soon as they settled on the ground, Whipstitch approached Liam with a purposeful stride. What do you intend to do?

Liam held up the palm of his hand and went over to Millie, whose hair was plastered to her scalp. You okay, baby?

She nodded and sneezed.

He glanced up at the threatening cloud mass. Can you put us in a small biome that will hold the rain off—you know, like an umbrella?

She nodded.

Aimee arrived at her side. All you do is—

I know how. Millie grasped the cane with her tiny hands. Small shelter over me, Lee, Aimee, Whipstitch, and the goo-jar, please, Mr. Cane!

The air around them flashed, and the rain abated. Rivulets trickled down the invisible barrier now surrounding them.

It’s a pro-tect-ive biome, Millie said. It won’t let anyone else in but us, ’kay?

Aimee knelt and gave her a hug. Great job!

Now you have attended to your personal comforts, may we discuss strategy? Whipstitch asked.

Liam nodded. The Gir’zach appear to have halted their advance. Do you have any idea why?

I do not, Whipstitch replied. Though they have dispatched dor’skah to guard the bridge.

What do you think that means? Liam asked.

That they intend to use it.

Brilliant, Einstein. "Well, the light’s almost gone. I don’t