Eventually Quon walked with the Woodsman to the tree. I thought I saw him shake and heard him cry out as he stepped onto it. Was the Woodsman pushing him? Forcing him? Or just holding him up? The two of them walked the tree until they finally disappeared into the western sky.

Why did he come for Malaiki and Quon before coming for me? Maybe he won’t come for me at all!

What would I do if he didn’t come for me? I’d do what I’d always done. I’d take care of myself. Besides, once they were out of my sight, Malaiki and Quon likely fell into the chasm. One false move on that long walk and they’d plunge into the abyss. Perhaps they’d been shoved off. I wouldn’t let that happen to me.

Now the Woodsman returned again—was he coming for me? No, he went to Salama. I thought I knew what would happen next. But it didn’t. Salama didn’t walk with him to the tree. Instead, after just a few minutes of talking, she turned around and ambled away from the chasm.

Salama hadn’t gone more than thirty feet when she turned and looked back at the Woodsman. Then, at about a hundred feet she turned back again and once more at perhaps three times that distance. I assumed that from where she now stood she couldn’t see the chasm and could barely see the Woodsman.

I watched her hike toward the mountain I’d descended with Shad. Where was the old man now, anyway? And what would become of Salama? Would she rejoin the people she’d met on one of the side roads? Perhaps those who told her she could find truth in all religions everywhere and anywhere? I didn’t see her turn around again. I watched, almost hypnotized by her departure, until she disappeared over the plain.

I could run and catch her within ten minutes.

I took several steps her direction. But what would I tell her when I caught her? Would I try to bring her back or go with her to the mountains? Part of me said one, part the other. I didn’t know which part I would listen to.

When at last I looked back toward the chasm, I saw Victoria walking the tree with the Woodsman. She appeared to slip and fall, and my heart stopped, until he pulled her up again. I didn’t see David anywhere. I assumed he must have crossed before Victoria, while I’d been watching Salama.

Would the Woodsman come back for me? Did I want him to?