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knew what she had to do.

C h a p t e r 6
    Nora placed Adam back in his basket, then unfolded the map once again. This time, she studied it more closely. When she was satisfied she knew the direction she needed to head in, she picked up Adam’s basket and hurried along as quietly as possible through the fading dusk. She felt bright and warm, and the prospect of matching the map to the geography cheered her mightily.
    Nora knew the surrounding landscape well. She had walked through most of it with Alice. But even though she was very familiar with the large, wooded area that had once served as a public park, in the twilight it looked like a different place. She was relieved when she recognized the dense grove surrounded by relics of long-abandoned public buildings where she and Alice had found Adam only a few hours ago.
    The air in the grove was charged with the perfume of wild flowers and sweet grass and the damp of the evening dew. “Can you smell how fresh it is?” Nora whispered to Adam as she once again followed the narrow path that led toward the weeping willow where Minn had hidden him. Nora checked the map again, then walked past the willow and followed the path toward an area near the wall. She carried Adam’s basket through another opening in the trees and they were suddenly on a narrower path that led into a lush, green field.
    She and Alice had walked here once, and she remembered that in one corner of the field they had noticed a huge slab of worn concrete, which jutted up from the ground like an irregular obelisk. Here and there, rusted rods of steel protruded from the concrete like unkempt whiskers.
    Nora had intended to ask Alice about that erratic hunk of rock the first time she’d seen it, but the excitement of being there with her new and powerful companion had pushed the question from her mind. But now, as she and Adam approached it in the fading pink light, she was positive she was looking at the landmark indicated on Minn’s map.
    â€œCome on, Adam,” Nora said, stopping to adjust the blanket over his basket. “Let’s go see if we can find you something to eat.” She switched on the flashlight and picked the basket back up. As she approached the huge rock, Nora saw signs of recent traffic. The grass was worn and bent, creating a narrow path that seemed to dip and disappear up ahead.
    She followed the path as it twisted and turned around the concrete behemoth. When she noticed a narrow slit in the soft earth at its base that could possibly lead below ground, she set the basket down and moved as much of the dirt away as she could to uncover a small opening. With a bit more work, the hole had been widened just enough for her to fit through, though it would be a very tight squeeze. “Your mother filled this in well,” Nora said to Adam as she brushed her dirty hands off on her jeans. “She must have wanted to keep it hidden in case she ever needed to come back.”
    Nora looked around the meadow furtively in case Alice or someone else had followed her. When she was satisfied that she and Adam were quite alone, she wiggled as quickly as possible through the narrow opening.
    It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness as she shone her flashlight around the dingy room. The air was dank and musty, but the space looked safe enough, so she squeezed back up through the hole and returned, pushing Adam’s basket through ahead of her. Now she’d be able to have a proper look around.
    The room was sparsely furnished. A small cot was set up along the wall beside the entrance, there was a shelf with some supplies on it on one wall, and a table and two chairs stood in the middle of the small room. On top of the table sat a glass lamp half-filled with rank-smelling fuel. Nora had used lamps like this a few times before, during the rare interruptions of electric power to Aahimsa from the distant wind farms of the manufacturing homelands. Beside the