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Back Daughter of Eden
Chapters (68)
  1. Title page
  2. Dedication
  3. Part I
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-one
  25. Twenty-two
  26. Twenty-three
  27. Twenty-four
  28. Twenty-five
  29. GAIA YOUNG. SUBJECTIVE IMPRESSIONS.MISSION DAY 20. 20:25 MT.
  30. Part II
  31. Twenty-six
  32. Twenty-seven
  33. Twenty-eight
  34. Twenty-nine
  35. Thirty
  36. Thirty-one
  37. Thirty-two
  38. Thirty-three
  39. Thirty-four
  40. Thirty-five
  41. Thirty-six
  42. Thirty-seven
  43. GAIA YOUNG. SUBJECTIVE IMPRESSIONS.MISSION DAY 22. 20:05 MT.
  44. Thirty-eight
  45. Thirty-nine
  46. Forty
  47. Forty-one
  48. GAIA YOUNG. SUBJECTIVE IMPRESSIONS.MISSION DAY 25. 15:30 MT.
  49. Forty-two
  50. Forty-three
  51. Forty-four
  52. Forty-five
  53. Forty-six
  54. Forty-seven
  55. Forty-eight
  56. Forty-nine
  57. Fifty
  58. Fifty-one
  59. Fifty-two
  60. Fifty-three
  61. Fifty-four
  62. Part III
  63. Fifty-five
  64. Fifty-six
  65. Fifty-seven
  66. Fifty-eight
  67. Also by Chris Beckett
  68. Copyright page

‘A bunch of people were walking through forest,’ she said, ‘heading for a pool to have a swim. They were all sorts – grownups, kids, newhairs, oldies – and because of the oldies with them, and the clawfeet and the little kids, they were moving slowly slowly. But one young newhair boy grew bored of going slow. “I want to see the pool now,” he complained. “Why can’t we walk faster?” The grownups scolded him. “Be patient,” they said. “Think about the ones who can’t walk as fast as you.” But the boy didn’t listen and ran on ahead, ignoring their shouts. Well, of course, when they’d seen him get away with it, a bunch of other kids decided to run on ahead as well. And soon as they all reached the pool, they dived straight in without bothering to wait for the grownups, even though some of the kids couldn’t swim too well. If the grownups had been there, they’d have told those silly newhairs to be careful, and been there to help if there was a problem, but there weren’t any grownups. The poor swimmers dived in with the other kids, and a couple of them got caught in the wavyweed and drowned.’

She turned round and looked at me.

‘So what do you reckon, Angie? Should that pool be named after the silly boy who ran on ahead and got those kids drowned? He was the first one there, after all.’

‘No, of course not. They were all going there. He just ran on ahead.’

‘Do you know who first told that story?’

I told her I’d never heard it before.

‘That story was told by Wise Mehmet, way back when this stone was first set up, two hundred years ago. It was a few years after Great David died. David’s son Harry had asked Mehmet to set up the poles and the guard fires that mark the way across the Dark between Wide Forest and Circle Valley, and when he’d finished doing that, Mehmet came here and put up this stone. As you know, Wise Mehmet himself was one of the group of silly kids who followed John – he was called Mehmet Batwing then – but, unlike most of the others, he had the sense to realize he’d made a mistake and he came back to David. He made up that story about the pool and the swim as his way of explaining what John had done wrong. Okay, John didn’t drown anyone, as far as I know, but there’s no doubt that many people died, thanks to him, who would have lived otherwise.’