The chief picked up his fedora, which had flown off his head, pulled me up, then went to help Helen. Kamal was bent over as if his stomach was cramping from the run, his breathing uneven, reminding me of the morning he’d burst into my office with the news that Dr. Mooney had been scattered across time. Though barely a week had passed, it seemed like a lifetime ago. “Let’s back up a bit and try another way,” the chief said grimly, offering Helen a steadying arm. “C’mon, Kamal, get to your feet.” On the other side of the invisible wall lay some patchy grass and a glimpse of a steep path leading down the cliff to the harbor. “This is good news in a way, really,” Helen said, wincing as she got to her feet. “For the residents of the town, I mean. The more our freedom of movement is limited, the larger the percentage of the local population who will survive the eruption.” “That is good news,” I said, thinking of the boy by the pine trees with the dirty feet, and the older girl with the abacus.
