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The Child - Ten The Child - Ten UFO, or whatever it was, might be coming back to get him, and all he could think to do was run away. The sky was dark, darker than it should have been, and he wanted to get out of that place immediately. Without stopping, Ted ran all the way back down the winding trails and into the valley floor at breakneck speed. He didn’t stop until he reached the side entrance of the Lodge, where he hurried inside and up to the dining area that overlooked the skating rink. Out of breath and still shaky, Ted ordered coffee and sat back to rest. He didn’t understand what had made him panic, but the fear had been real. Now, in the Lodge, surrounded by people and watching the skat- ers, everything seemed quite normal. The next time he ran into her, Ted told Maya what he’d seen and how ambiguous it had been. “If that’s a UFO,” he finished, “there’s not much to them, ist there?” “Oh, that was a UFO all right,” a assured him. “If you'd d been closer, you could have ‘eon t e shape and every- thing SHow do you know?” Ted asked. “It was just a little, dark spot.” “Lyra and I saw the same thing you did,” Maya said, “and we've, seen it a few times up close. It’s a UFO, me. believe me.’ “Where did you, see them before?’ Ted asked. “I mean, up close like that?’ “When we were in the mountains,” she told him. “Which mountains?” “Those,” she pointed vaguely, “north of here.” Ted started to ask another question, but Maya changed the subject immediately. “Listen,” she said, “I’ve been wanting to ask you some- thing. Summer is almost over, you know. When are you going to leave the valley and go back to school?” Ted was so surprised by the question that he forgot about the UFO. He and Maya had talked about dozens of things, but not about college plans, or any other plans for his future. “Never, I wish,” he said, thinking of how near he would be to Jill if he went back to Tuscaloosa. That whole affair was Masquerade of Angels 94 still too recent for him to want to see her again. His experi- ence with Jill hadn’t killed his belief in God, but it had made him wonder how God’s angels could have fouled up his emo- tional life so badly. “T really haven’t decided,” he continued. “Eventually I guess I'll have to go back to school, but what’s the rush? I really love what I’m doing here.” “But didn’t you tell me you’d been away from home for a couple of years now?” “Yeah,” he nodded. Maya held his hand and looked squarely into Ted’s eyes. “Don’t you think,” she said slowly, “don’t you think it’s time you went home to be with your family again? Don’t you want to go back to school and get on with your life?” Before she had spoken, Ted had no intention of returning to Alabama, not for a very long time. But once she took his hand and spoke those words, Ted knew with a surprising certainty that that was exactly what he was going to do. Maya had spoken in a friendly, casual tone, just as always, but the effect of her words had the force of a command. The desire to go home flamed up in him, and when he looked down on the valley below, he saw clearly that his time there was at an end. “My friends and I are leaving, too,” Maya said as they walked back down to the Lodge area. “T’ll be sure to see you again before we go, though, don’t worry. ‘Bye for now!” Maya disappeared, but the desire for home that she had awakened in Ted remained. There wasn’t much time to make all the necessary arrangements, so for the next few days Ted hurried from place to place putting everything in order for his departure. In the midst of all this pressure, however, one afternoon he felt a surprising compulsion to break away and hike up one of the more remote trails beyond the Lodge. He sensed that Maya was up there and that she wanted to see him. He went, and she was there waiting beside the trail, smil- ing expectantly as he approached. “See?” she said, “I told you we’d be together one more time, didn’t I? And have you taken care of that business we talked about last time? Are you finally going home?” Masquerade of Angels 95