Passages

Years after Timmy Riley's death, a woman named Alice arranges to meet his father, Tom. She had known Timmy at summer camp, where he had helped her after a bee sting and become her hero. Now she has come to tell Tom about the other event she remembers most clearly from that summer. She and Timmy once traveled to Maris, a country that does not belong to their world.

Alice begins with a walk through the woods near camp. As she peppers Timmy with questions about God and prayer, he changes the subject to the Swiss Army knife his father has given him. Looking back, Alice believes that Timmy has learned his faith from Tom but has not yet made it his own. Their conversation ends when they spot what appears to be smoke and hurry to investigate.

The haze leads them over a hill and into a forest whose colors seem brighter and stranger than anything they know. In a clearing, armed riders are terrorizing a family, accusing them of letting cattle wander onto Adrian land. The family insists that the land has always been theirs, but the riders set fire to the cabin roof. When the marauders notice Timmy and Alice, the children flee into the woods and hide until the horses can no longer follow.

Once the danger has passed, Timmy wants to return to camp for help. Yet every familiar trail and landmark has vanished. Even Alice has changed: one of her brown eyes is now blue and the other green. After wandering for more than an hour, the children find a cabin belonging to a young mountain man. Alice somehow knows that his name is Fletcher, though she has never met him before.

Fletcher realizes that the burning cabin belongs to his friends Lamar and Tabara. He and Timmy race there and discover that the family has managed to save its home. Lamar explains that the attackers are Adrians, invaders who have raided villages, seized Marusian towns, and made themselves the law. Appeals for help from Sarum have gone unanswered. The Northern Territory has also strayed from its old faith in the Unseen One, the creator and ruler whom Timmy recognizes as God.

Back at Fletcher's cabin, Timmy is alarmed to find Alice missing. Then an astonishing feast appears inside, although neither Fletcher nor either child could have prepared it. Alice enters and declares that the Unseen One has provided the food as a sign. Her two differently colored eyes mark her as His messenger, and she tells Fletcher that he has been chosen to lead his people against their oppressors.

Fletcher protests that he is only a mountain man, but Alice says the Unseen One will give him the power to carry out the command. She overturns the laden table and instructs him to do the same to the house that exalts the Adrians while crushing the Marusians. Fletcher understands this to mean the old town hall in Trevain, which the Adrians have seized for their headquarters and converted into a temple to their gods. After delivering the message, Alice abruptly becomes sleepy and lies down.

Timmy is frightened by the change in his ordinary camp friend and insists that Fletcher cannot act on her strange words. Fletcher sees Timmy's arrival differently: perhaps the boy has also been sent to help. Although Timmy knows nothing about rebellion, he has witnessed the Adrians' cruelty and agrees to go with Fletcher.

The two slip into town and stampede cattle that the Adrians have stolen, drawing the occupiers away. While Fletcher uses dynamite from a mining friend to destroy the town hall, Timmy watches from a bank roof. An Adrian catches him there, dismisses his claim that he comes from Odyssey, and takes him to jail without even needing a charge.

That night, Timmy looks through the cell window and sees two moons hanging in the sky. At last he knows that he is nowhere near camp - or anywhere in his own world. Alice remains asleep at Fletcher's cabin, yet in her dreams she sees everything that has happened to Timmy and Fletcher. By morning, an angry Adrian crowd has surrounded the jail. Blaming the strange boy for the destruction of their temple, they demand that the sheriff surrender him so they can force a confession from him. When the sheriff refuses, the mob threatens to take Timmy themselves.