Page 111 of The Paradox Club

“I forgive you,” said Tess.

“Are you sure?” said Marie. “There’s an awful lot to forgive.”

“I’m sure,” said Tess.

The embrace ended and the two women stepped apart.

“There’s something I need to give you,” said Marie.

“The pendant,” said Tess.

“Harry told me the only reason I should ever take it off was to give it to you if you needed it. I’ll feel funny without it. But it’s time. And you do need it.”

“I do.”

Marie reached behind her back and lifted the chain over her head. The pendant sparkled in the moonlight as she placed the chain over Tess’s head.

“It’s heavier than I thought,” said Tess, looking at the familiar pendant in its unfamiliar place, lying against the white of her sweatshirt.

“It was getting too heavy for me,” said Marie. She leaned forward and kissed Tess lightly on the cheek, then turned and headed back toward her car. Tess felt a sudden surge of affection for this woman she had only previously resented and at times even despised. This journey had been no easier for Marie than it had been for Tess. As Marie opened her car door, Tess ran after her and again wrapped her in a tight embrace, surprised to feel tears welling in her eyes. What a cruel trick that she had found compassion for Marie at the very moment she had to say goodbye forever.

“Be happy,” said Tess.

“You be happy,” said Marie. She got into her car and started the engine as Tess stood and watched. Then Marie rolled down the window and Tess saw her face clearly for the last time. She, too, had tears in her eyes. “Do me a favor,” said Marie.

“Anything,” said Tess.

“Tell Harry I send my love.”

Minutes after Marie left, Valentine 6 arrived. She handed Tess a bag containing the two books, along with the suitcase and bedding she had taken from Vivian’s house and, on Tess’s instructions, drove away. Before her taillights had disappeared, Tess had launched the canoe and was headed back to the island.

“I have the pendant and the books. Now all we need is the radio,” said Tess when she stepped out of the canoe.

“And that should be arriving in the next hour or so,” said Richard.

“Yes, but Pilgrim 3 and Montag 5 are arriving with it,” said Vivian.

“Leave Pilgrim 3 to me,” said Tess. “I may be from another universe, but I think I can handle this particular bully.” Sooner than they had expected, they saw another set of headlights bouncing toward the boat landing.

“Would you care to share your plan for dealing with your bully?” said Richard. “Because I believe she has arrived.”

“Good,” said Tess. “Now here’s what we’re going to do.”

TESS AND HARRY ON THE DOCK

“What time is it?”

“Time—that is, time of day on a clock the way you think of it—is an entirely human construct.”

“Can you ever just answer a simple question?”

“No. You see? I answered a simple question. Much of our time is based on astronomical events. A day is roughly the amount of time it takes the earth to make a complete rotation on its axis; a month is slightly akin to the phases of the moon; a year is close to the amount of time it takes the earth to revolve around the sun.”

“Believe it or not, Harry, when I asked what time it was, I already knew the day, the month, and the year. My bedtime is not determined by the fact that it’s July seventeenth, 2002. Shocking as this might be to you, I wanted to know the hour and minute.”

“Ah, the hour—that is a puzzle. Hours of the day are an especially human construct.”

“Yes, and my bedtime is also a human construct. You and Marie are the humans who constructed it.”