“Do you usually live for a thousand years?” Rownie asked.

“No,” said Essa. “Usually someone accuses us of child-thieving or butter-thieving or button-thieving or whatever a very long time before we get to be a thousand, and then they come for us with torches. Semele’s the only one I’ve known who’s anywhere near that old.”

“Oh,” Rownie said. He looked up. He couldn’t tell if Nonny had reached the top of the ravine yet. Then two coils of rope came sailing down and smacked against the wagon, so he figured that she probably had.

Patch and Essa tied the ropes to the axle beside each wheel, and then untied the wagon from the raft. Essa gave a long, high whistle. The ropes began to pull. The wagon lifted, suspended in the air. Something shifted inside it and made a crashing noise.

“I’ll try to salvage our belongings,” said Thomas from inside his hat. “Essa, some help would be very much appreciated.” He opened a hatch and let himself in. Essa followed.

“I will go in as well,” said Semele. “Be careful, both of you.”

Rownie and Patch watched the raft and River drop farther away beneath them.

“We’re just going to leave the raft?” Rownie asked.

“Nonny’ll build another one next time,” Patch said. He gave up fishing and used his pole to push at the side of the cliff whenever the swinging, swaying wagon got too close to it.

Afternoon ended and became evening. The sun was going down. Colors of the dying day bounced up from the River, reflected. The River surface looked very far away now, but the top of the cliff seemed no closer.

Rownie looked at Patch sideways. He had something he wanted to ask, but he thought that it might be a rude question, and he didn’t know what words to use. Finally he just asked.

“How did you Change?”

Patch did not answer. He went on keeping the wagon clear of the cliff with his fishing pole.

Rownie waited. He waited for so long that he figured Patch would never answer.

“Used to have brothers,” Patch finally said. “Lots. More than the family needed. Some left home to be soldiers. One left to study. Still too many. I was youngest, so Father took me to the wagons for Changing. Then he put me in the barn. Good luck to keep something Changed in the barn. A guardian. A thing to keep other monsters away. Stayed there a long time, keeping the sheep safe.”

“How long?” Rownie asked.