Out of This World Read Free Page B

she’s not.” He holds up a hand before I can break in. “Time moves at a different pace in different parts of the otherworld. Where we are, what will seem like weeks to us will be but the blink of an eye to those we left behind.”
    â€œHow’s that even possible?”
    â€œIn the long ago, when the first people lived in the world—”
    â€œYou mean the Native Americans?”
    â€œNo, I mean your people—the animal people. They were here when the world was born, and in those days there was no reckoning of time. No concepts such as past, present or future. Everything happened at the same time.”
    I shake my head. “Time’s not something that was made up. Day turns into night. The seasons change. How can that all happen at the same time?”
    He shrugs. “I don’t know how. I just know that here, it is as it was in the long ago. All times and places take up the same space.”
    â€œI was here before,” I tell him. “A few weeks ago. Time passed the same for us here as it did in our own world.”
    He shakes his head. “You were not here , where the hours move at a slower, different pace. If you can clear your mind and focus, you will have time to learn.”
    â€œOkay,” I say. “What are you going to teach me?”
    The dry wash that we’ve been following the past while has brought us into the foothills and the mouth of a gulch. The dirt underfoot has changed to rock—big slabs that rise like a giant’s staircase, the embankments growing steeper on either side the higher they rise.
    â€œTo begin with,” he says, “I want you to jog up to the top of the gulch and back down. Then repeat it—say, ten times.”
    â€œYou’ve got to be kidding.”
    â€œYou can take my help or not. But if you take it, you have to do what I say.”
    â€œBut what does this accomplish?”
    â€œYou’ll be concentrating so hard on keeping your footing and actually fulfilling the task that you won’t be able to remain distracted. You need to empty your mind before you can actually learn anything.”
    I want to ask more questions, tell him he’s wrong. I’m ready to learn, but we need to get going on it. People need me now .
    Except I realize he’s right. All this ruminating is getting me nowhere.
    â€œAll right,” I say. “We’ll do it your way.”
    I take off up the gulch, jumping from one big stone to the next.

I’m on pins and needles waiting for Donalita to come back. I keep expecting something to go wrong. To hear her getting caught by Josh’s mom. Or worse, to hear the sound of the sniper’s rifle as he shoots her down. But the night stays quiet except for the surf at the far end of the street and the occasional car that goes by on the main arteries outside our neighbourhood.
    When she finally does show up, it’s sudden, like the first time. She giggles when I jump, then tosses Josh’s phone to me.
    â€œDid you have any trouble?” I whisper.
    â€œDon’t be silly.” She cocks her head. “Why can’t I just kill the man with the rifle? Then we wouldn’t have to do all this sneaking around.”
    I don’t know how serious this bloodthirsty streak of hers actually is. I think it’s just for show, but in case it’s not …
    â€œWell, first off,” I tell her, “we don’t just go around killing people. And secondly, that’ll put the rest of them on guard. Right now we know where the threat is. If they take a different approach, we might not see it coming.”
    â€œWell, that’s not much fun.”
    â€œIt’s called being sensible, dude. And I can’t believe I just said that.”
    She nods. “Me neither. It’s so strange that you think I look like a boy.”
    â€œNo, I meant—never mind. Look, thanks for your help, but I need to get going.”
    â€œWhere