“What is no good?” The Warden must be very angry, she thought, though his voice sounded kind enough.

“Me. I can't mesh with the others. They hate me. I'll never be a proper part of the Web and I'm just spoiling it for everyone else. ''

“Never is a very harsh word. Who told you that you'd never be part of the Web?”

“No one. I just know it, that's all.”

''And you expect us to turn our backs on one of our precious members and just let you go - like that?”

Ruth didn't feel like a precious member of anything, and wondered if it was just the Warden's grand way of talking. She nodded dumbly.

“And what will you do out here in the wasteland?”

“I'll ... I'll be …” How could she describe freedom? The lilting song that had helped her feet across the meadowland and up the hill came into her mind and she found she was singing it. This time it had words.

“I'll be free to think and free to grow

Under a sky so blue,

Down in the fields where the flowers blow, Part

of a world made new.”

What was she saying? Where had the words come from? Her hands went to her face. “I'm going crazy. I know I am.” She began to cry.

“Hush. It's all right.” The Warden's voice was full of authority, but Ruth couldn't stop crying. The yellow-uniformed Healer put her hands on her head.

A warmth began to spread through Ruth's body. She felt numb and her eyes slid shut. “No,” she whispered. “Don't make me.”

SHE WOKE with the feeling that she had overslept, after hours of dreaming a crazy dream about Outside. She opened her eyes and stared. This wasn't the familiar dormitory. She was in a small yellow-painted room, alone. In the hospital then. So it had happened. She closed her eyes tightly and wished she was outside again, among the grass and the flowers, with the sun hot on her head and shoulders. She didn't let herself remember the dark and the cold and the loneliness. Oh, if only they'd let her be ...

Healer Mercy Smith came into the room with a tray. “Good, you're awake at last. Here's breakfast - or maybe we'd better call it lunch!”

Ruth sat up. “How did you know where I'd gone?”

“It wasn't too difficult, my dear. Once you were missed in your group the Communicators checked through the Ark. They found the Door unbolted. How very enterprising of you!”

“I suppose I shall get into the most awful trouble.”

“You were rather a nuisance, you know. But I wouldn't worry. Eat up.''

“But how did you find me outside? There is so much ... so much space. ''

Mercy laughed. “Do you think you're immune from Esper thought? You left a trail as clear as sign posts. Now eat up. You must be starving.”

“But…”

“Later. “