Chapter 11 — The Path

She walked through the square without running.This was the hardest thing she had done in three days — maintaining her pace through the open space while the children stood at its perimeter and watched her.All seventeen of them. At the edges of the square. Standing still. Watching.She did not look at their faces. She had learned, over three days, that looking at their faces for too long did something to her that she could not precisely name — a kind of attentional gravity, a pull that made it difficult to look away, that made her forget for fractional moments where she was going.She kept her eyes on the path and she walked.She was thirty meters from the square when she heard, from behind her, the sound she had been waiting not to hear: footsteps. Not one set. Several. The light, unhurried footsteps of children who were not in a hurry because they were not afraid of losing her.She kept walking. She did not run.The path curved into the oak slope and the village disappeared behind her and she was in the trees, the footsteps still behind her, same pace, not gaining.She tried the satellite phone again.Still nothing.She walked faster without running.At one kilometer she heard the footsteps stop.She stopped too, and listened.Silence.She turned and looked back. The path was empty for as far as she could see.She stood still for thirty seconds. Forty. Nothing.She turned and walked. She tried the satellite phone. One bar. She pressed the emergency dial.Devraj answered on the second ring. The signal was broken, cutting in and out, but she spoke quickly: "I'm on the path. Four kilometers to the bridge. Have Bhim ready. Call district police now. Eastern terrace, stones, possible remains. The water—" The signal broke. She kept walking.At two kilometers the phone got three bars. She called again."—yes I can hear you—""The water," she said. "The compound is in the water. Get the forensic chemist. Don't let anyone drink from the village well. Don't let anyone eat or drink anything until the water is analyzed." She was walking fast now, not quite running, the path descending through the trees. "The children are — they've been affected since birth. They're not—" She tried to find the language. "They're not developing normally. The compound does something to the aging process. I have a notebook, I'll give it to you. Just have Bhim at the bridge.""He's there," Devraj said. "He's been there since dawn. He said he knew you'd come today."She almost stopped walking when she heard this."Meera," Devraj said. "Are you all right?"She looked at the path ahead. Three kilometers to the bridge. Oak trees. Rhododendron beginning. The sky clean and cold above the canopy."I'm on my way," she said.