“Uh, I hate to break up this powwow,” Jason said, “but time’s up. If Nil’s sending a gate, she’s not gonna wait. Look.” He pointed to the sun. “We need to move.”
Thad was already on his feet. “Jason’s right. Let’s get away from the tree line, into the open.”
“Easy lookin’, easy runnin’.” Jason smiled.
“Easy for you to say,” Natalie said. But she was smiling, too.
We walked in a loose line. It was a weird feeling, watching and hoping, waiting for something that might never show. It was how I imagined a blind date would be, only this was way worse. Because if a blind date never showed, you could just walk away, no harm done. Here, if a gate never showed, sooner or later,youwere done. I still wondered exactly what happened to you on your last day if you missed the gate. I prayed I’d never find out.
Not helping, I told myself.Not helping Natalie.I pulled my mind back from the Dark Side and scanned the ground ahead, looking for any sign of a shimmer.
It was agonizing.
After an eternity of waiting, Jason spoke. “That’s it.” His voice dripped disappointment. “I was so sure it would flash here today.” He looked at Natalie. “Sorry, Nat. Bad idea. You shouldn’t have listened to me.”
“How do you know noon’s passed?” I asked.
“We just know,” Thad said, his jaw hard. “The sun, for one. A feeling, for two.” Natalie was nodding, but Jason looked upset—with himself.
“Jason,” I said hesitantly, “I don’t think you’re wrong. I think you’re early.”
Everyone turned to me. “I have a theory. I’ve been looking at my chart, where I’ve listed all the gates—the confirmed landing sites and exits, including gates people saw but didn’t catch. We know inbound ones come anytime, anywhere. There’s no pattern, and I think it’s because the pattern is determined on the outbound end—back home. But if you look just at the exit gates”—I pulled out my last paper, the one with a rough map and marked only with outbounds—“I think they roll north in a constant wave, hitting a different latitude each day, but always north of the last one until the entire island is crossed. I have no clue where the wave starts, or even if the starting place is always the same. But we know gates never appear in the same place two days in a row, and I think it’s because they follow a sequence, from south to north. So based on Samuel’s gate on White Beach ten days ago, which is north of us, we might not see a gate here for another day or two.” I shrugged. “It’s a total guess. But if you factor in the flash that Jason missed on the day I met y’all, and Sabine’s, and chart the other gates people have seen, well, it kind of fits.”
They were all staring at the map.
“Why didn’t we ever see this?” Thad sounded frustrated.
“Because we never tried to map the timing.” Natalie said. “We just knew they rolled north after they flashed.”
“Charley, this is amazing.” Thad stared at the map, the one with the charts.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” I said quickly. “Like I said, it’s just a theory, maybe more like a guess. And before we get too excited, there’re some gates that don’t fit; they flash out of order. Like the gate Jason saw by the rain forest, about the same time Samuel caught his on White Beach. From what everyone’s told me, the rain forest lies on a latitude south of White Beach, so either one was an aberration, or my theory is junk.”
“A rogue set,” Thad murmured.
“A what?” Natalie frowned.
“A set that breaks farther out from where all the other waves are breaking. It’s called a rogue set.”
“Maybe,” I said. “Or maybe I’m just forcing something that doesn’t fit.”
“It’s better than nothing,” Jason said. “Which is what we had. I say we try Charley’s theory and see if it helps.” He looked at me. “So where to?”
I was shocked that the three veterans looked at me like I had a clue. “Uh, I don’t know. I just think the next gate will be coming from that direction.” I pointed south. “So maybe here tomorrow, or the next day.”Or maybe not at all, I thought.
“So either we stay or walk north.” Natalie looked thoughtful. “We go though the red, to the next black.”
“No,” I said quickly, “not that far.” All three looked at me, and I shrugged. “Or maybe yes. I don’t know. I’m just guessing here.”
“Stay or go?” Jason asked.
“Stay.” Natalie’s voice. Natalie’s choice.
“Stay it is,” Jason said.
“Okay,” Thad said, “we’ve got twenty-four hours to explore. Let’s help Charley fill out her maps. We’ll walk north, toward the red field, pacing it off. Sound good?”
Plan in place, we worked our way across the black ground. With each step, I had flashbacks to my first day on the island. I wondered what happened to the zebra.
