"She and her baby are no longer with us," Vauna said quietly. "It happened one night when the stars seemed very close. They say she had studied the sky each night, wondering which of the worlds beyond was the world of Campbell."
"And then?"
"Two of her caretakers saw it happen, but they could not stop it. With the babe in her arms, she walked over the side of Kao-Wagwattl. And went down. Under."
Vauna went on to tell me that Tomboldo had urged silence about it. He would always believe that the girl had lost faith too soon—that Campbell might have come back when his work was done. Moreover, Tomboldo felt that it was important to the morale of the tribe that both Campbell and I be held in high esteem.
When Vauna finished telling me these things, she said she would ask me the questions she had been saving for many days. "Did you believe, Jim, that you would find some other person among us from your world?"
"I didn't know."
"If you had found such a person, what would you have believed then?"
"That he, and not Campbell, was the father of Omosla's child."
"And what," Vauna asked, "are you going to believe about us when our child is born?"