She put her head in her hands and closed her eyes for a few seconds. It was a chancy thing to do. She'd never slept sitting up before, but the heat

fi*om the rock and the soft wind through her hair made up for the hardness of the seat. Her head dropped lower, and she brought it up with a jerk. If she sat here much longer, she'd really fall asleep and probably roll right off her perch.

She stood up and stretched. The rock was big enough for pacing, so she tried that for a while, then sat down again. The rock wasn't as warm as before. And the hght was changing, too. Pretty soon she wouldn't be able to see her car. It was still peaceful, but as far as she was concerned, the peace ended when the sky got dark. If he didn't show up in a few more minutes, she was leaving.

"Jenny?"

What was he, a mind reader? She stood up again, brushing off the seat of her jeans. She hadn't seen him coming, and she had a bird's-eye view of the territory. "I'm here," she called. 'Where are you?"

She heard a small sound that might have been laughter. "Up here, above you."

Jenny turned and looked, but couldn't see anything. Another rock jutted part way over the one she was on and blocked her view. She ran her fingers through her hair, wishing she'd thought to stick a comb in her pocket when she'd gone tearing out of the house.

"Don't bother with that," he called. "You look fine."

Jenny dropped her hands, feeling like she'd been caught at something. 'Where'd you come from?"

"The top."

Of course, she thought, the bluff's flat on top. There's even a road up there. Maybe he lived up that way.

She started to fiddle with her hair again, then stopped. "This isn't fair," she laughed. "I can't see you. Come on down, why don't you?"

"I've got a better idea. You come up here to me," he told her. "Getting up's easier than getting down at this point."

Jenny had her doubts about that. "I'm not much of a climber," she said. "And it's getting hard to see."

"You'll do fine," he assured her. "And I'll start down, so we'll meet halfway, okay?"

It was funny, Jenny thought. She'd been shouting almost, but his voice was still the same soft, gentle one she'd heard on the phone. And it was still unrecognizable. Each time he spoke, she tried to place it, but couldn't. She wanted to see his face, so she might as well climb.

"Okay," she said. "Just tell me which-way to go. All I can see from here is another rock. And it doesn't have any steps carved into it."

Another soft sound. Definitely a laugh. "Just get off the rock, the side with the gully on it," he said. "You'll be able to follow the gully for a while before you have to do any serious climbing. And by then, I'll be down to you. It's not hard, Jenny, believe me."