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stood up.
"There's one of those angels standing on the roof of Issib's house."
"Who's on watch?" asked Oykib, standing up, pulling on his clothes.
"Motya," said Protchnu. "He sent me to fetch you."
"To fetch me?" asked Elemak.
"Um, to get the adults."
"He didn't mean me," said Elemak.
Protchnu looked defiant. "But I did."
"Go get Volemak," said Elemak.
Chveya was surprised that Elemak understood so well what his role in the community was now-and that he seemed to accept it. She knew that his connection to most people was very thin these days, but she could see that his bond with his eldest son was bright and strong. Yet he had let his son see his own humility. It made her rather sad that he could not be as strong and proud as Protchnu longed for him to be. It was bound to cause real pain in Protchnu, and yet Elemak faced it openly and... .
Unless he wanted to make sure that Protchnu felt that pain.
No, she wasn't going to believe that Elemak had some elaborate plan that involved the kindling of deep resentment in his son's heart.
Oykib was dressed now, and heading out the door. Elemak gave no sign that he intended to follow.
"Aren't you curious?" asked Chveya, as she followed Oykib out.
"I've seen one," said Elemak.
When they got to Issib's house, the angel was standing on the roof, rigid, unmoving. Issib and Hushidh and their children were outside, looking up at him; other people were gathering, too. "He looks so frightened," said Chveya.
"Not of us," said Oykib. He gestured toward the trees. The shadowy forms of diggers could be seen in the branches, in the underbrush, "Their word for the angels is mveevo. Meat from the sky."
"They eat them?"
"They prefer the babies," said Oykib. "Let's just say that international relations between diggers and angels are on a kind of primitive level."
But Chveya was seeing something else now. The angel on the rooftop had the brightest, strongest connection she had ever seen between any two people, and the connection led to the ship. "He's here for the other one," she said. "For the injured one in the ship."
"I guess so," said Oykib.
"I know it," she said.
"He's praying that we won't give him to the devils before he finds his ... brother. But more than a brother."
"Then let's take him," said Chveya. She walked to the edge of the roof, reached up, took hold of the roof beam, and started climbing up the rough log wall.
"Veya," said Oykib, annoyed. "You're pregnant."
"And you're just standing there," she said.
A couple of moments later they were both on the roof. The angel looked at them, but didn't move. Oykib held out a hand. So did Chveya.
The angel spread his wings, unfolding himself like an umbrella. The effect was astonishing. From being a small, quivering thing, he was suddenly transformed into a great looming shadow. So this is what the injured one would look like, if he were strong and healthy. Like a butterfly, though, the body was so thin and frail inside the canopy of the wings. Only the head was still in proportion to the great width of the wings. The heavy, nodding head,
"Well, we can't carry him or anything," Oykib said. He beckoned for the angel to come closer. The angel took an awkward step. "Not much of a walking animal, is he," said Oykib.
"He's not an animal," said Chveya. "He's a very brave and frightened man, and he loves his brother."
"His other self," said Oykib. "That's what the word is. His otherself."
"So let's lead him there." She went to the edge of the roof, sat down, swung off. Oykib followed her. And a few moments later, the angel perched on the edge, then swooped off. Some of the children shrieked and ran off a little way.
Chveya could see the diggers in the forest draw nearer, but they apparently didn't dare to cross the line into human territory.
Oykib was explaining to Nafai and Volemak what he and Chveya had seen, what they had decided.
"Do we want the two angels together?" asked Nafai. "What will his reaction be when he sees how badly injured his brother is?"
"More to the point," said Volemak, "what would his reaction be if we blocked him from seeing his brother?" Nafai nodded. In the meantime, Oykib and Chveya led the angel toward the ship. pTo had awakened several times since the Old Ones took him, but every wakening had been like a dream. He drifted, floating on his back, as if the air