He picked up my half-full bag of stones and slung it alongside his own bag and a half, which awkwardly hung from his unbalanced pack.

As the day heated up, I kept up a good pace, faster than Shad ever had, despite the demanding terrain. As we walked, I told stories of what Marcus had shown me.

“So naturally,” I said, “I took full advantage of the opportunity to find out all about Charis and Erebus. A man doesn’t get many chances like that—I suppose most men don’t get any chance at all.”

“Not me,” Gordy said. “I’ve caught a few glimpses, but nothing like what you’ve seen. Tell us about Charis, Mr. Nick.”

“I like to think of it as the main event, with this life being the preliminaries. It’s as if we’re in a cosmic waiting room,” I said.

“Cosmic waiting room? Wow. That’s a good one.”

“Eternity’s lobby, that’s how I put it. Marcus really liked that one.”

The heat pounded us, and we wilted like rootless flowers. A prairie dog ran by five feet from Frodo, and he barely even barked. The sweat dripped, and we all dragged, especially Gordy.

“We should have traveled this stretch by night, not day,” Shad said.

“Easy to second-guess now,” I said. “Why didn’t you mention it earlier?”

It began to cool in the afternoon, and as the sun lowered, we saw a large solitary tree a mile ahead of us, the sun’s lower curve resting on its top branches.

“We should camp by that tree,” Gordy said. “There must be water.”

We came close to the tree, a twisted mass, thick but carved and sandblasted by the desert winds.

“It’s a bristlecone pine,” Gordy said. “It’s a survivor. They can be buried in Alpine blizzards and stand up to desert winds and drafts. They say some are thousands of years old.”

“How can it survive all by itself in this thin rocky soil?” I asked.

“The roots dig deep in search of moisture far underground,” Gordy said. “If the roots can’t find water, they just keep digging deeper until they do. All’s you see is what’s on top, but most of this tree is underground. That’s the only way to survive when you live in a desert.”

“I’m just glad the hills aren’t that far away,” I said, drinking less water than I wanted and giving more to Frodo than I should have.

I was tired, and I’d almost lost my voice, but as it cooled off, I felt great—I’d had that unforgettable guided tour from Marcus and had done well on my first day leading the troops.