confused and shook her head, trying to remember.
“It was dark, it was late. We were on the train. Why am I here?” her voice rose. “Where is Dawn?”
“She will be here in a moment. I wanted to talk to you first.”
“Jotin!” said Dorothy straight away, then stopped; a puzzled look came over her face. “Why do I know your name? Who are you?”
“You know me. You have forgotten for a moment, because you have come home so suddenly. But I am always with you, always have been with you.”
“Are you God?”
“No.”
“Are you Jesus? You do not look like Him.”
“No, I am not Jesus, though we are often mistaken for him.”
“Who is ‘we’?” Dorothy looked around at the empty landscape.
“Me and the other guides. You humans have one each. Come, you need to rest and learn to remember.” He led her to a waterfall and handed her over to a woman with a soft face, who encouraged Dorothy to sit under the gentle water and sang softly to her.
Mohmi arrived with Dawn, who was dancing around her guide and laughing.
“I did what you said, didn’t I, Mohmi? I yelled. It was hard work, all that yelling. But I heard you, even in that little body and I yelled as hard as I could.”
“Yes, you did. Every time I hope you will always hear me, but when you grow up you always go deaf. It is fun for the first months, but so difficult when you cannot talk their language.”
“Why?”
“Because if you could you would not be back here so soon. You would be in Dundee getting ready for your first Hogmanay.”
“Would I have liked that better than being here?” Dawn danced around Mohmi, waving her arms.
“Maybe not, but you would not have to go back again, like you must now.”
Dawn stopped dancing and sat down at Mohmi’s feet. Her energies stilled and she grew pensive. After a long time, she spoke.
“I remember now. I was the baby again. What went wrong?”
“The train you and your mother were on fell into the sea.”
“Where is my mother?”
“Coming now, see?” Dorothy was walking towards them and the cleansing waterfall was fading into the surrounding scenery now that it was no longer needed. As Dorothy approached she saw Dawn and broke into a run.
“Oh, Dawn, how wonderful that you are here, safe. Haven’t you turned into a beautiful woman! But I failed, again. I didn’t bring you up.” She paused. “It was interesting, being your mother for a change. How did it seem to you? Where is your father?” she looked around in increasing panic.
“He is not here, Dorothy,” said Jotin. “This time he did not die. He is in Dundee, grieving for you. We tried to stop you, Dawn cried, but you did not listen.”
“I must go to him, see if I can help him. Can I?”
“Yes, of course. Come.”
Dawn and Mohmi sat together and discussed the events and what could be done next, until Dorothy got back.
“Did you get through to him?” Dawn asked.
“Not really. When we have bodies we are all so sure there are no spirits or ghosts. So he cannot hear me, because to him, I am gone. Rose felt me a little and is encouraging him to finish the Noah’s Ark. That is a good idea, it will keep his hands busy. Maybe for a moment or two he will think we are still alive.”
“Maybe if I go?” suggested Dawn, “when he has finished the ark. I will go and admire it and be happy, then maybe he will feel me.”
“A good idea,” said Mohmi, “but now, come, we have to decide what to do next. So do you, Jotin.”
Chapter 33.
“Mrs Milne, wake up, they have found someone off the train!” Lewis was flushed and excited, barely able to stay still enough to hear Rose’s voice on the other side of the thin door. “Will you be ready to come with me?”
Rose opened the door and looked out, holding a wrap around her. “Yes, I will come, but I think we should be careful not to upset ourselves by hoping. Is it a live person they have found?”
“It is a woman. It might be Dorothy.”
“It might.” Rose closed the door gently and Lewis sat down to wait. He had not slept much, on the rug in front of the fire, and when he had his sleep had been filled with scraps of dreams, of trains, wind and crying. He put his head in his hands and wondered how long