“It is a little challenging because you cannot see what you are stepping on, but it will support you,” she told him.

“How far down is it?” he asked, following her into the chasm.

She blocked his view ahead, but that was probably a good thing. There was enough room for them both, but she gingerly scooted further to make more. His boots came first and then he was standing on the rock next to her.

“For all that is holy!” he gasped when he realized he was standing on a boulder in the middle of the air. He started to back up, but she grabbed his shirt.

“There is a drop that way,” she said. “The safe way is over here. See down? There is another stone lower. Then another one. These big stones are like steps. They go all the way down to the bottom of the hill, where you will find a little gully brook and water. When the hillside washed away, it revealed them. The dirt went away, but not the stones. They just hang in the air. Partway down, there is a cave. There are Leerings for light and fire in there, so you will not be cold or unable to see. You are a maston and can make them work, so I do not have to do it for you. Sowe or I will bring food for you later today, if it is safe. Or after Pasqua sleeps if it is not. If you search, you will find thickets with shrewberries, or mushrooms, or pods. But we will leave you food up by the waymarker above.”

He looked nervously down at the next step. “How far…how far down is the cave?”

She sat on the rock and pushed herself off. “Not far. Some of the steps are taller than others. I have climbed them since the storm washed the hillside away. Sowe and I explore here all the time. I think we even left a blanket down there. We have to make sure no one sees us though, or the Aldermaston will be…let us just say that he would be furious if anyone else learned of this place.”

“Someone could get killed,” he muttered, following her down some of the steps. A breeze kicked up and he grabbed onto the rock to steady himself.

She led the way. “It proves the Medium is real. How else do stones float like this, with nothing holding them up? They must be ancient. Stones from another time. Or another earth. I think maybe the reason I can make Leerings work is because I know the Medium is real. I do not question it. Look, there is the entrance over there. Do you see it?”

After leaping to another rock, she maneuvered beneath one of the floating boulders and led him into a cave-like opening. With a thought, she made the sun-shaped Leering flare, filling the darkness with radiance. The room was carved into the hillside stone, the walls smooth but speckled with black lichen. It was tiny compared with the kitchen, a place of refuge from storms.

He touched the stone near the ceiling, tracing his finger along the maston symbols carved into the wall.

“The fire Leering is over there,” she said, looking around, “And there is the blanket. Good. Sowe and I sit on it and eat the berries. I should get back. If we are missing much longer, Pasqua will get suspicious as well as angry.”

“Do you need…do you need help climbing out?” he asked haltingly.

“You are frightened for me? You get used to it as well, but do not climb at night. It is dangerous unless the moon is out.” She started to leave, but he stopped her.

“I will not forget that you did this,” he told her. He shut his eyes. “For a moment, I thought they saw us. They would have killed me.”

“The fog was a blessing. No one knows these grounds better than a wretched. If you lack a place to hide, go to the bottom of the hill. There are a heap of empty ossuaries down there. Big stone ossuaries. Are you surprised I know that word?”

He winced. “Not any more.”

“We used to hide in them and Sowe and I would find each other.”

“You hid amongst the bones?” His face looked sick with revulsion. He shuddered.

“No, you fool. The dead had already revived. They were empty of bones, except for grave linens.” She fished in her bodice for the ring. “And these.”

He stared at her. “I did not know they buried the dead with gold rings in his Hundred. And you…you took one?”

“If the dead left it behind, they obviously no longer needed it.” She scooped it back into her dress, winked at him with a warning not to fall off the hillside and hurried out of the makeshift cave and scrambled up the rock steps to the top. She was winded when she finished the climb.

Sowe was nearly frantic. “You were gone too long!”

“Stop acting like you are six. Back to the kitchen.” They started walking quickly, holding hands so that Sowe could keep up.