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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

‘You’re really not, you know. You have me here with you, for one thing, and you know I love you. And you have our Mother, the best person there is to have on your side, even if you can’t yet touch her, watching every moment of every waking and every sleep.’ I’d relaxed in her arms again now, and she bent over to kiss me on my head.

‘I’m glad I’ve got you, Mary,’ I told her, ‘I really am, but it seems you’re all I have now.’

‘Well, you’re all I have too, you know, Angie, apart from our Mother. My mum and dad are dead, and I never see the friends I used to have when I was kid. Not that I was ever that good at making friends. I always knew I was going to be a shadowspeaker, even when I was little, and the other kids thought that was weird. My mum thought so too, actually. She kept telling me that I should let my dad find a man for me, like the other girls. People were talking about me, she said, and making her look bad, people were saying I wasn’t a proper girl at all. My dad was proud of me, though, and I do miss him. He was . . .’

It was strange to think of Mary as a child somehow, Mary with a mum and a dad.

She gave a little laugh. ‘I’m sorry, dear. I don’t know why I’m going on about my people when you’re sad about yours! I guess I just wanted to show you that I do know something about how you feel, and that I’m not so different from you. I’m so so sorry we didn’t go back to see your people sooner, Angie. If I’d had any idea this was going to happen, I promise you I wouldn’t have asked you to wait.’

‘I know that, Mary.’

‘I reckon you’ll find them one waking anyway,’ she said. ‘The good part about being with me is that we travel all over. We’re sure to hear some news of your people somewhere. And of course when you’re a shadowspeaker yourself, everyone will know your name, right across the Davidfolk Ground, and so your people will hear news of you as well. And you’ll be closer to Gela too, you’ll be able to hear her voice better, and then she’ll help you too.’

I nodded, wiping the tears from my eyes.

‘It’s time to go to Circle Valley, isn’t it?’ said Mary. ‘I’m sure you’re ready now. It’s hard to say this, dear, but suffering is part of it. We need to know what it is to suffer. It teaches us how to help people from sad sad Eden to get back to our Mother on Earth.’

Seventeen