“You left her behind a year ago. And your brothers and sisters, except the boy who died, and he left you.”
“My friends.”
“Any better friends than Rigg and Loaf?”
“No.”
“And they’re coming here to join us. Except that maybe Rigg stays in there too long. Maybe he goes crazy. Maybe when the others go back to drag him out, they go crazy too.”
“So we’ll watch, and if it doesn’t come out well enough, we’ll jump back in time and go out to the exact spot where we’ll be needed, and wait there in slow time and everything will be all right. As long as we can get to the right place, we can go back and fix things.”
Param nodded. Umbo nodded back.
“I’m embarrassed to ask, but . . .”
“What?” said Umbo.
“Are we friends?”
Umbo was truly startled by the question.
“I have to ask,” said Param, “because I’ve never had one. I have a brother—I’d never had one before, either. And Rigg is a good one of those. I try to be a good sister to him, too, though I don’t have much experience at that, either.”
“You’re doing fine,” said Umbo.
“But you and me,” said Param. “Are we friends? Is this enough to be friends—jumping off the rock together. Saving each other’s lives.”
“Generally that’s considered adequate,” said Umbo.
“But it’s not just a debt of gratitude, is it? It’s something about enjoying each other’s company, isn’t it?”
“You’re the Sissaminka,” said Umbo. “You’re the heir to the Tent of Light.”
“Not any more,” said Param. “I can trust you, right?”
“Just the way I trusted you,” said Umbo.
“We crossed the Wall together.”
“We’re friends, yes, definitely, beyond question!”
Param sighed. “And now you’re angry with me.”
“I’m annoyed! Because I don’t know how to answer. You’re older than me. When two kids are friends, and one is older, then the older one doesn’t ask the younger one, ‘are we friends,’ it’s the older one who decides, and the younger one’s who considers himself lucky.”
“Oh. So it’s not because I’m royal.”
“You’re sixteen! You’re a girl! I’m still a little kid! Yes, we’re friends, and I’m lucky!”
Param thought about that. “I didn’t know age made so much difference.”
“When the guy’s older, not so much. When the girl’s older, all the difference in the world.”
“But . . . you’re the time-jumper,” said Param. “You have this amazing ability.”
“And you’re the time-slicer,” said Umbo. “And Rigg is the pathfinder. We are about as amazing as it gets.”
“So it’s a friendship among equals,” said Param.