“The truth tends to find you when you’re not looking for it,” Madeleine continued. “Maybe I could use a little time to…uh, absorb what I’ve already learned.”

Hæra frowned. As far as she could tell, Madeleine was frustrated by not having learned anything yet. “What’s that?”

“Something about myself. They say travel’s got a way of doing that. I’m sure you’d know, if you were raised…nomadically? Is that a word?”

As far as Hæra was concerned, it could be. “Sure.”

“Right! So the more we see of the world, the more we learn.” Madeleine’s smile was bright now, but it didn’t entirely reach her eyes. Hæra hadn’t known until now that human smiles could or couldn’t do that. “What’s the most interesting thing you learned in all your travels?”

I learned that you existed. I learned that I could become more than I ever thought was possible. I learned what grass and sand feel like beneath my feet.

“I don’t travel anymore,” Hæra said. “I almost never leave Jorsay.” But her stationary time on land had taught her something too. She could tell that Madeleine was trying to distract her, turning the conversation away from herself.

“Doesn’t that get boring?” Madeleine tilted her head to the side, looking as inquisitive as a barn cat.

“I keep busy.”

“Best remedy for boredom.” Madeleine glanced at Hæra’s wrist, where an old Casio digital watch sat. “What time is it?”

Before Hæra could tell her, Madeleine reached out and took hold of her wrist, raising it so she could look at the watch. She didn’t ask Hæra’s permission. She just did it, and her fingertips brushed the skin of Hæra’s wrist.

That skin caught fire. It was the first fire Hæra hadn’t hated. Dumbly, she looked at Madeleine’s slender fingers on her skin.

So did Madeleine. She kept her dark head bowed over their hands for a second as she looked at the watch. Then, with a gasp, she let go of Hæra as suddenly as she’d touched her. Hæra’s wrist prickled in her wake.

“Sorry,” Madeleine said. “Now I’m the rude one. So it’s, uh, the time it is. Time for me to go.”

“What?” Hæra asked in dismay. “But what about lunch and the afternoon? You’re not walking on the beach, so…”

Madeleine wasn’t looking at her. “I’ll go to the Mainland. I found a Catholic church there. I checked, and they have an afternoon mass today.”

“Mass today?” Did that mean the church was heavier than usual? Hæra wasn’t thinking clearly, not after Madeleine’s touch.