covering two or three square miles before the smell of smoke reached her and narrowed the search area. Eventually she found what she was looking for. Alerted by movement, she banked and overflew a stand of ash trees beside the narrow little bridge that Kevin had mentioned. Through the trees she could see the stretched dome of the tent and the resting spokes of the bicycle wheels. Delighted with herself, she dropped out of the sky, dodging through the branches at breakneck speed and coming to a hovering halt in the air, right in front of Kevin’s nose.
Kevin jumped and took a step backwards, then realised who it was. He grinned and made a lunge at the bird, but she dodged out of his way and then Switched, judging the transition so perfectly that her feet met the ground as lightly as a feather.
‘I keep forgetting you can do that,’ said Kevin. ‘Not fair.’
‘Not for much longer, though,’ said Tess.
Kevin nodded. ‘Any plans?’ he asked.
‘No,’ said Tess. ‘It’s driving me mad. What would you be if you had the decision ahead of you again?’
Kevin thought about it for a moment or two, then said, ‘A rat. I always felt … I don’t know … cheated, somehow. Because of being forced into a decision when it was time for me to choose. I’m sure that if I’d had a chance to think I would have decided on a rat.’
His words gave Tess an uncomfortable reminder of her dream, but she said nothing and Kevin went on, ‘Maybe it doesn’t make that much difference, in the end. I mean, the best thing was being able to Switch. Nothing could be as good as that, really, could it?’
Tess sighed. ‘It’s like having everything, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘I can’t stand the idea of losing it.’
Kevin had a neat little campfire going in front of his tent, carefully confined inside a ring of stones. On top of it a billy of water was coming to the boil.
‘Tea?’ he asked.
Tess sat down on a stone. As though it saw her, the smoke changed direction and drifted into her face. She waved her hands at it and waited. Sure enough, it soon returned to its previous course.
‘Anyway,’ said Kevin, dropping a fistful of tea leaves into the billy, ‘what happened? How come you didn’t warn them that I was coming?’
Tess groaned and related the story of Uncle Maurice and the wild goats. As she told it Kevin nodded, understanding and approving in a way that no one else ever did or could. Their friendship warmed her heart as it so often had in the past. As time went on it became more valuable, not less, no matter how different their lives appeared to be.
In the silence that followed the end of Tess’s account, Kevin rooted around in his rucksack and found another cup. Tess watched him. He was still as tough and as scruffy as the town rats which had been his main companions during his Switcher days. He would never fit into normal human society, not in a million years. In a sudden, uninvited leap of imagination, Tess saw him as an old tramp, a bag man rummaging around on the edges of society; a human rat, unloved and unwanted. She had seen people like that, adrift on the city streets. They existed without the anchors that kept most people stable: family or education or job. Tess wondered whether their minds drifted in the same way, untethered, unfocussed, unaware of time.
‘Maybe it’s best to leave it that way,’ said Kevin.
Tess came back to reality with a jolt. ‘What?’
‘No need to tell them now that you know me, is there?’
‘No,’ said Tess. ‘In fact it would be a bit awkward, since I didn’t say anything yesterday.’
Kevin used a grimy T-shirt to protect his fingers from the heat of the billy as he poured the tea into two battered enamel mugs.
‘Trouble is, though,’ Tess went on, ‘I won’t be able to invite you to my birthday party.’
‘Are you having one?’
Tess shrugged. Kevin spooned milk powder into the cups. ‘We can have one,’ he said. ‘Just you and me. A midnight
Kevin jumped and took a step backwards, then realised who it was. He grinned and made a lunge at the bird, but she dodged out of his way and then Switched, judging the transition so perfectly that her feet met the ground as lightly as a feather.
‘I keep forgetting you can do that,’ said Kevin. ‘Not fair.’
‘Not for much longer, though,’ said Tess.
Kevin nodded. ‘Any plans?’ he asked.
‘No,’ said Tess. ‘It’s driving me mad. What would you be if you had the decision ahead of you again?’
Kevin thought about it for a moment or two, then said, ‘A rat. I always felt … I don’t know … cheated, somehow. Because of being forced into a decision when it was time for me to choose. I’m sure that if I’d had a chance to think I would have decided on a rat.’
His words gave Tess an uncomfortable reminder of her dream, but she said nothing and Kevin went on, ‘Maybe it doesn’t make that much difference, in the end. I mean, the best thing was being able to Switch. Nothing could be as good as that, really, could it?’
Tess sighed. ‘It’s like having everything, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘I can’t stand the idea of losing it.’
Kevin had a neat little campfire going in front of his tent, carefully confined inside a ring of stones. On top of it a billy of water was coming to the boil.
‘Tea?’ he asked.
Tess sat down on a stone. As though it saw her, the smoke changed direction and drifted into her face. She waved her hands at it and waited. Sure enough, it soon returned to its previous course.
‘Anyway,’ said Kevin, dropping a fistful of tea leaves into the billy, ‘what happened? How come you didn’t warn them that I was coming?’
Tess groaned and related the story of Uncle Maurice and the wild goats. As she told it Kevin nodded, understanding and approving in a way that no one else ever did or could. Their friendship warmed her heart as it so often had in the past. As time went on it became more valuable, not less, no matter how different their lives appeared to be.
In the silence that followed the end of Tess’s account, Kevin rooted around in his rucksack and found another cup. Tess watched him. He was still as tough and as scruffy as the town rats which had been his main companions during his Switcher days. He would never fit into normal human society, not in a million years. In a sudden, uninvited leap of imagination, Tess saw him as an old tramp, a bag man rummaging around on the edges of society; a human rat, unloved and unwanted. She had seen people like that, adrift on the city streets. They existed without the anchors that kept most people stable: family or education or job. Tess wondered whether their minds drifted in the same way, untethered, unfocussed, unaware of time.
‘Maybe it’s best to leave it that way,’ said Kevin.
Tess came back to reality with a jolt. ‘What?’
‘No need to tell them now that you know me, is there?’
‘No,’ said Tess. ‘In fact it would be a bit awkward, since I didn’t say anything yesterday.’
Kevin used a grimy T-shirt to protect his fingers from the heat of the billy as he poured the tea into two battered enamel mugs.
‘Trouble is, though,’ Tess went on, ‘I won’t be able to invite you to my birthday party.’
‘Are you having one?’
Tess shrugged. Kevin spooned milk powder into the cups. ‘We can have one,’ he said. ‘Just you and me. A midnight
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