He was afraid that she would return the moon spider’s web if she knew what might happen. He did not warn her that when a newborn baby was wrapped in the web it would always have one foot in the world of men and the other in a realm of enchantments – a realm of good spirits and others that were not so kind. Worst of all were the viridees. As soon as Timoken left the kingdom the viridees sensed that the web had left with him. They could smell it. Unaware of the viridees and their malicious intent, Timoken and his sister floated through the vast sky, astonished to be so high above the earth, though their minds were clouded with the memory of their lost parents. Brother and sister could not bring themselves to speak. They drifted in silence, hour after hour, with no thought as to where they should go, or when they should touch the earth again. Their father had told them that every day the sun moved through the sky in an arc, from east to west. Beyond the African forest – north, east and west – there was a vast desert where nothing could live.
