Once they crossed the Yoke and passed through the mouth gate, into the Acre, Katkin looked around her, struck by something odd. She said to Tomas, “There are trees here, in the Vastness! How can they be here if they are alive?”
He nodded. “The trees exist in all the spheres at the same time. No-one knows how or why, for they are silent, and give up their secrets to no-one.”
Tomas stepped sideways again and Katkin could tell right away they had left the Vastness. The night rang with sound — of birdsong, and rustling leaves, and the waves slapping against the shore. She took a deep lungful of air, drinking in the keenness of the chill night breeze.
“We can walk through the Acre in the living world,” said Tomas. “No-one will be looking for you yet. Tomorrow they will wonder in vain where y
