"I've already been there," said Valnar. "That was my first trip. I had a car then, but the elemental chaos ruined it and I was barely able to get away in time."
A sudden thought struck Barlow. He grinned at Valnar.
Valnar frowned and demanded, "Well?"
"Remember your simile of time to a growing tree with a lot of branches?"
Valnar nodded and waited.
"And remember how you said that you were creating new branches every time you stopped?"
"Uh-huh," Valnar grunted impatiently.
"Well, I'll bet you haven't been sliding up and down the branches of that tree at all. You've been leaping from one to another like a monkey. And you weren't in your own past before you started, so you can't be now. You aren't in your own time at all. When you leaped back to elemental chaos, you planted this tree. You're climbing around the wrong tree, fella."
Valnar started, then stared. "I guess I'll stay here for a while after all," he muttered as he turned and went out.
Laurine was watching Barlow. "You were trying to sell him something then," she accused.