LAND WENT VERY STILL. “What do you mean?” HE said.

“Don’t worry,” said Delphi. “You don’t look like a killer. I don’t think you’re that kind of criminal.”

“I’m not any kind of criminal,” said Oland.

“Just a border-crossing one,” said Delphi.

“I wouldn’t have crossed the border if I wasn’t looking for Chancey the Gold,” said Oland.

“Well, he isn’t here,” said Delphi. “I could take you through The Falls, if you like. I’m the other guide.”

“I haven’t come here to cross The Falls,” said Oland. “I just need to speak with Chancey the Gold.”

“Why?” said Delphi.

“I can’t say,” said Oland.

“Was he expecting you?” said Delphi.

“No.”

“So what are you going to do now?” said Delphi.

“I don’t know,” said Oland.

“You could wait here until he comes back, which could be days or weeks or months,” said Delphi, “or, if it’s an urgent matter, you could go and look for him.”

“But where?” said Oland.

“That’s for you to decide,” said Delphi.

“But I couldn’t possibly decide that, I don’t even know him,” said Oland. “I’ll have to wait…”

“It could be a very long time,” said Delphi. She looked at him. “And don’t forget the border guards…”

Oland considered his meagre options, and his thoughts again returned to the border guards. There was no way he could go back the way he came. “Maybe I should cross The Falls…” he said.

Delphi nodded. “Are you a strong swimmer?”

“No,” said Oland.

“Me neither,” she said.

Oland stared at her. “If you can’t swim, how can you guide people through?”

“If you consider it,” said Delphi, “who is the better guide? The person who has nothing to lose by falling into the water? Or the one who will die?”

“Die?” said Oland. “What do you mean, die?”

Delphi’s voice was solemn. “Yes,” she said. “That’s what the Scryer of Gort says.”

Oland was surprised to once more hear the name of the legendary seer. “You’ve been to the Scryer of Gort?” he said.

Delphi shook her head. “No. My mother visited her just weeks before I was born. The scryer laid a hand on my mother’s belly and said, ‘That child must never swim or her death will be assured.’”

Oland frowned. “But—”

“I can wash, I can get a little wet, I just can’t be submerged in water,” said Delphi, “or I’ll die.”

“But, if you could swim,” said Oland, “surely your death wouldn’t be assured, surely you wouldn’t drown.”

Delphi was silent for some time. “Maybe the scryer meant that I would swim to my death. Even excellent swimmers can swim to their death. If I swam in the waters of The Straits, for example, it could be hard to fight the currents. I could be swept away and drown.”

“But… if you were warned not to swim,” said Oland, “why do you live here?”

“You ask so many questions,” said Delphi. “Well, I have one for you: do you want me to guide you through The Falls?” Her dark eyes danced with challenge.

Oland looked out towards the cliffs. He had never seen anything quite so beautiful and foreboding, anything quite so… entrancing.

Delphi sat down and gestured for Oland to sit beside her. “Let me explain,” she said.

Oland sat at what he guessed was a polite distance.

“There are three ridges hidden behind The Falls,” said Delphi, pointing towards them, “the low ridge, the middle ridge and the high ridge. They are ledges that you have to walk along to get through The Falls. And I can guide you along whichever one you choose.”

“But why would I need a guide for that?” said Oland.

“Why do you think you are the only person in Envar who might not need one?” said Delphi, a swift spark of anger flaring in her eyes. “Look at them – the cascades are powerful, and sometimes the ridge runs directly through the flow of the water. I have the ability to turn the water off, which gives you enough time to make it through.”

“It was you who did that?” said Oland.

“Yes,” said Delphi.

“But how can you turn off a waterfall?” said Oland.

“I make dams,” said Delphi. “If you look closely, there are ten Falls. They each flow from a spring on the top of the cliff. I take rocks of different weights and sizes and put them in a metal cage that hangs above the source of each Fall. The door of the cage is attached to a cable secured by bolts into the rock face. When we are down on a ridge and I am guiding you through, I untie the cable. The cage door opens, the rocks fall down and stop the flow of water… but only for three minutes, before the force of the water blows the rocks free. They’re short minutes.” She smiled.

Oland narrowed his eyes. “Couldn’t anyone work those cables?”

Delphi stood up and ran to the tree she had been hiding behind. She grabbed the lowest branch, swung up and over it, then climbed, in seconds, to the top. She shouted down to Oland. “Yes,” she said, “if the person knew how to scale the cliff face, if he knew the weights of the rocks, the timing, if he knew how to release the cables and how to avoid the falling rocks, then yes.” Delphi tilted her head. “Anyone could.”

Oland felt even smaller than he must have looked to her.

“So which ridge do you choose?” said Delphi.

“I haven’t made up my—”

“Which ridge?” shouted Delphi. She paused. “The low ridge is the widest, but there are many, many caves, and three bridges. And, at one point, you have to stand under a strong cascade for several minutes. There is a row of iron rings that you can hold on to, to make your way across. You’ll be swept off your feet with the force, but if you just hold tight…” She shrugged. “And, at least, if you’re thrown off, your fall into The Straits will be the shortest.” She held her thumb and forefinger up to show a distance the size of a pea.

Oland looked at it, and looked at her. “Thrown off?” he said.

“The water flows so quickly,” said Delphi. “You can only let go of those rings exactly when I tell you to. And I can only do that from the spring above it, because the rest of the rock at the low ridge was too soft to secure cables to. The choice was rings or cables. And the rings are more important. So I have to release the cage myself,” said Delphi. “It’s the only point in the journey that you will have to be alone.”

Oland nodded.

“The high ridge is the narrowest of the three,” said Delphi, “but it’s rocky and unstable, and were you to fall, the drop into The Straits is obviously the greatest. The high ridge offers the least work for me, but it’s treacherous for someone crossing for the first time.”

“Because you’ve left it until last, I’m guessing that the middle ridge is the one you want me to take,” said Oland.

“Well, it creates the most work for me,” said Delphi, “but it is the most rewarding. We can go into the Chalice. It’s a cave, shaped like a chalice. You enter at the stem. Where it forks, you have to decide which route to take. They’re both dark, low caves that fill with water as you travel through. When you come out the other side, part of the ridge is gone, so you have to jump across it. If you clear it, you have a straight run ahead.”

“If…” said Oland.

“The Chalice is a special place,” said Delphi. “That’s all I will say. And you can make a wish at the fork.” She put one leg on either side of the branch, then clamped herself around it. “You’ll see,” she said. She swung upside down, rotated in a full circle, grabbed the branch in front with her hands and, instead of climbing down the trunk, dropped to the ground and landed, almost with a bounce.

She stood, looking at Oland, her oilskins flapping behind her in the wind. Oland studied the small hooded girl with her incredible strength and her huge smile.

“The middle ridge,” he said. “The middle.”