Now was the time to speak, as they were climbing. She was just ahead of him, but he could bring himself closer. He only had to say a few words. I was thinking .... What are you doing after ...? Tonight, would you like to ...? She climbed with careful and deliberate steps just ahead of him. And just as he was about to speak, another idea presented itself to Alistair. A notion that intervened between the thought of what he had to do, and necessity of doing it. What would it be like to take Alice into Travulia? To make an Alice that lived there - alongside Henry Hudson, and Reverend Evans and Mr Drevel and Jacquie Shoulder. An Alice that might flower and bloom with all the beauty and vivacity of the one climbing ahead of him now but with none of the attendant uncertainty and unpredictability. An Alice he could conjure, could know whenever he pleased.