I shrug and slide over, and he sits down on the rock next to me. For a while we’re both quiet, watching the bright chain of moonlight on the black river.

“Can’t sleep?” I finally ask him.

“I had enough sleep over the past couple of months,” he says.

“I guess so. You were really out.”

“The strange thing was that I was conscious the whole time, but I couldn’t speak or move. They tied my mind in a pretty good knot.”

“Yeah.” I nod. “They did the same thing to Gisco.”

The wizard reacts. “You know Gisco?”

“He came back with Eko. I’ve spent a lot of time with him. How do you know him?”

“I knew his grandfather,” Kidah answers with a chuckle. “What a rascal! We once meditated together, and while I was in a deep trance he ate my lunch and took off.”

I have to grin at this.

“Is Gisco like his grandpa?” Kidah asks.

“Worse,” I say. And then I fall silent again, thinking about what the colonel did to Gisco, and wondering if the poor pooch will ever get his mind unknotted.

Kidah is silent also. The night wind picks up and shuffles the leaves like playing cards. A bat flaps out of the night shadows and lands on the wizard’s wrist. He strokes the bat’s head the way one would pet a kitten, and then flicks his hand upward and the night creature takes wing. “What about you, Jack?” Kidah asks, and I take note that he’s using my preferred name. “Why can’t you sleep?”

“Just … thinking.”

“Warriors need to sleep before a battle,” he advises me.

“I’m hardly a warrior. Is a battle really coming?”

“Definitely,” he says.

“But the colonel has a whole army regiment at his disposal. I’ve seen them. Thousands of soldiers. Heavy artillery. Helicopters. Gunships.”

“I have no doubt that he’s prepared to vigorously defend himself,” Kidah replies, with obvious respect for his foe.

“Yes, he is,” I tell him. “Where are we going to get our army?”

He nods toward the hut of sleeping tribesmen. “I thought some of those warriors might join us.”

I shrug. “A dozen small men with blowguns.”

“Men are men. And others will join us. We should go to sleep now.” But the wizard doesn’t stand up. He’s watching me carefully. “Unless you want to talk a bit. It’s a nice night. Perhaps you want to ask me something?”

“No, that’s okay, sir.”

He unexpectedly reaches out and puts a leathery arm over my shoulder. “Try calling me uncle. You know, Jack, I was a very close friend of your father. And whatever my limitations, I’m sure I give better answers than the moon.”

I mull it over for a few seconds. “Okay, Uncle.”

“That’s better.”

“What’s my mom like? You said you’ve known her since she was a little girl.”