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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

None of this stopped the White Streams folk from loving Mary’s shows, though. Just like the Edgefolk up at Harry’s Rest, they were excited excited to have her there. They shouted and cried, they fell to their knees, they raised their hands up to the black sky and thanked Mother Gela for bringing us to them, tears streaming down their faces. There was no doubt they loved Gela and wanted to hear from her, even though, when it came to the True Story, they had it all wrong in so many different ways.

One time, when we’d done a show right next to one of those white white streams, an old woman came up to Mary afterwards and asked her if Mother Gela would make her go to Earth when she died, even if she didn’t want to go.

‘Only I’d prefer it if my shadow could stay here,’ she said, ‘in some quiet place by the White Streams where it’s peaceful, and I can stay near my family.’

‘Earth is peaceful, my dear,’ Mary told her. ‘It’s our true home. It’s the place where all our troubles end.’

‘Well, that’s not what I’ve heard,’ the old woman said. Her whole face was covered with wrinkles so deep that you couldn’t see right down into them, and her breasts were like two little empty skin bags that have been soaked in water for way too long and then left out to dry. ‘What about all those stories about trouble on Earth? Like the story of the white and black people, for instance. You know that one? About how the white people tied the black people up with ropes and made them work like they were bucks? Or the one about Hurter the Germ Man and how he killed the Juice People. They say he took their leader Jeez and hung him up from a—’

‘My dear,’ Mary gently interrupted, reaching out and touching the woman on the back of her spotty old hand. ‘Those are stories from Earth, it’s true, but they’re only meant for fun. They’re just silly stories for telling to children. I mean, white people and black people! Think about it. Have you ever seen anyone that was either white or black?’

The old woman considered this. ‘But don’t they say our Mother had black skin?’ she asked.