The voice was not the Solicitor’s and it had come from one of the slopes that led to a shallow ravine. I thought it was one of the other loiterers, which was strange, as everyone seemed to stick to the main areas. Someone was climbing ahead of me. He had a cane and when he noticed me, he pointed with it to the sky and said, “Look how fiery the clouds appear. The dry branches are scrambling the light. It’s as if someone flung a colony of ants against the sky. The diffusion makes everything seem alight. Can you see it?” I tried to match his view but could only see a gnarled tree clinging to the other side of the slope. “There are little ravines running through the clenched roots,” he continued. “Do you think there are animals living there? We should investigate.” But he stood there pointing
