Free The Others 03 Vision in Silver by Anne Bishop Page B

difference of putting a book on a different shelf can be disorienting for these girls. Which we all learned when I moved the stack of CDs earlier today.”
    “Routine,” Ruth said. “Flexibility wasn’t part of the care or training in the compound. Everything that is different is a stressor for the girls.”
    “Someone could make a binder called ‘Our Village’ or ‘Ferryman’s Landing,’” Merri Lee added. “The girls can study images ahead of time, and their teacher or caretaker can discuss what else they might see, like cars moving on the street or people riding bicycles. Static images combined with a moving image. Then they can go out as an adventure, to see those things for themselves.”
    Simon focused on Meg. “You didn’t have those things.”
    “But I have the routine that shapes the days. And I don’t need a binder for the Courtyard because I’m familiar with most of the roads and buildings now.” She wouldn’t remind him that she hadn’t expected to survive more than a few weeks, so she had gorged on images and experiences, determined to live while she could.
    And she wouldn’t tell him it was often her fear of what the scent of blood might do to predatory instincts that kept her from cutting more often than she did.
    “Does that help?” she asked.
    “It helps.”
    “Will you tell me why you’re angry and sad?”
    He glanced at Merri Lee, then looked at Meg and whined softly. “Some of the blood prophets have left the compounds. You saw them walking by themselves near roads. And some of them . . .”
    Meg understood then why Merri Lee wouldn’t tell her what she’d seen that morning. “I saw images that indicated some of them would die.”
    “Yes. But the
terra indigene
are searching for the girls now. So are the police. We’ll find them, Meg. We will find them and get them to a safe place.”
    How many girls had she seen? “Where will you take them?”
    “To Intuit villages or
terra indigene
settlements,” Simon said. “Whatever is closest to the spot where we find them.” He paused. “What should we do when we find them?”
    What would have helped me if I had been alone and frightened, if I had been found by strangers?
    “Images,” Meg said. Merri Lee and Ruth nodded vigorously. “Tell the girls what is happening. Tell them how they will get from where they are to where they’re being taken. We all have general images about traveling. Tell them the sequence so they can recall the training images that match. Then, if you can,
show
them a picture of the room that will be the safe place.”
    Her arms suddenly prickled so badly they burned, but she didn’t dare rub her skin. Simon would recognize the warning of prophecy. So would Ruth and Merri Lee. They knew she shouldn’t cut again today, having cut herself this morning, and Simon was already upset. She didn’t want to think about how he would howl and growl if she pulled out the razor a second time in one day.
    “I have to go,” Simon said. “The rest of the
terra indigene
need to know these things.”
    “So do the police officers involved in rescuing the girls,” Ruth said. “You should call them too.”
    He bared his teeth to show he didn’t like someone giving
him
an order, but the teeth stayed human size, so he must have thought Ruth was right. That was probably the real reason he growled at them and said, “You write this down for the
Guide
.”
    Before they could protest, he walked out of the sorting room and slammed the back door as he left the office.
    “Well . . . ,” Merri Lee sputtered.
    “I guess we should start writing
The Dimwit’s Guide to Blood Prophets
,” Meg said.
    After a moment, Ruth nodded. “Yes, we should. And I think we should find someone who can draw so we can add a cartoon Meg pointing out important items.”
    “What?” Meg yelped.
    “The cartoon Meg could be named Meg Pathfinder,” Merri Lee said. “And she could provide Trailblazer Tips that other girls would find