“I don’t know what this has to do with my—”
He gave me a pointed look and continued.
“What was it about Dolly that made all those people so afraid?”
He stared at me silently.
He can smell it on you.
“Um, cloning?” I offered.
“Doubling.” He put up two fingers, side by side, then spread them apart. “Copycats taking up your space in a group. Reflections that don’t do as they should. Shadows that start moving on their own. Meeting your doppelganger on a misty day. Humans don’t like it. Why?”
I shifted on my feet. It felt like he was playing with me.
“I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do,” he insisted.
I shrugged. “How do you tell who is who?”
He clapped his hands. The sheepdog barked at the sound.
“People are more than their DNA, how they look, what biological build they’ve been dealt. It’s your experiences, your decisions, your actions that make you who you are.” He leant forward, dropping his voice conspiratorially. “And you know who you are, don’t you?”
A yellow kite. Neon pink fingernails.
Do you think you’re a—
The old man straightened up and looked out over the river.
“And that’s your lot for now.”
The old man wheeled his wife toward the bridge, closely followed by his spritely trotting sheepdog.
I chased after him.
“Wait. What do you mean?”
“When you’re ready, she’ll be the one to help you.” He gently patted the shoulder of the woman snoring in the wheelchair. “I hope I see you again. I really do.” Then after a pause, he added not unkindly, “If you are who you say you are. Good luck.”
And he disappeared out over Bodach’s Brig, pushing his still snoring wife over the bridge, ploughing on steadily and unhindered by the cobbles.
I watched on as they left, the old man’s words repeating in my mind.
If you are who you say you are.
CHAPTER 23
I checked to see if my shadow was still attached to my feet. There it was, short and stubby in the midday sunshine, like a puddle on the cobbles.
Shadows that move on their own.
No shadow-ectomies or faeries or sheep clones here. Just me.
Be yourself.
And you know who you are, don’t you?
