Homesmind Read Online Free

ready for them, even someone like Reiho might decide to go— Anra had often sensed his longing for his old home. Only Daiya and his sense of duty had kept him here.
    —Homesmind will stay— Fiella replied. Anra glanced up at the two streaks in the night sky. —It may be that we'll go to live on Homesmind's comet when the people there now have gone. Earth's only one world. There are others—

    Anra lay on her mat. Through the spaces under her hut's roof, she could see the light of the sun; she had slept deeply. She opened her mind, touching the village's Net.
    Cerwen was dead. Her chest heaved. He was gone and she could not bring him back. She was suddenly angry with the village for allowing it. Leito had spoken of the life beyond even before the grave had been dug; Anra had been enraged at the meaningless words, which had only hidden the truth. She closed her eyes for a moment, too stunned to cry, and her anger faded. The grief of others was as great as her own; she could not blame them for easing the pain of Cerwen's passing with a belief in another life.
    When she opened her eyes again, she saw that Lydee and Daiya were sitting at the table, communing silently. Anra glanced toward the entrance to the small room where Daiya and Reiho slept and sent out a tendril of thought; Reiho was not there. She sat up suddenly, realizing how late it must be.
    Daiya turned her head. —It's almost midday— she thought, gently reproaching the girl.
    Anra went to the table and sat down. Daiya moved a plate of bread toward her; Anra held up a hand.
    —You must eat sometime— Daiya said. Anra reached for the food, then froze as she thought of Cerwen, hating herself for being hungry.
    Her great-grandfather had told her not to mourn. She tore off a small piece of bread and began to eat. Her aunts had enough sorrow; she could not have the two women worrying about her as well.
    She lifted her head, sensing the thoughts of others; two visitors were approaching the hut. An auburn-haired woman entered, followed by a man with a reddish-brown beard. Anra gazed at their familiar faces as each raised a hand to greet her.
    The woman was Luret NenlaKal, Fiella's older sister; the man was Marellon BariWil, Fiella's uncle and Lydee's companion. The two, along with Luret's partner Wiland IeuaGeve, had chosen to wander the Earth with Lydee, returning to the village with the solitary children the rest of Earth did not want. They were the village's only connection with the rest of the world.
    —You've come to tell me we must leave again— Lydee said, picking up the thoughts of her two friends as they sat down.
    —Stay— Daiya said.
    —We can't— Luret replied. —We had to leave Wiland behind in one village. He's trying to persuade two people not to put their solitary child to death— Her shoulders sagged. —Too many solitaries still die—
    —Too many are killed— Marellon said.
    Anra caught the sorrow in Luret's thoughts. She and Wiland could have settled in another village and had their own children; they were normal Earthpeople and would have been accepted by another community, but they had chosen to try to rescue others instead. Anra could feel Luret's devotion to that purpose; even now her concern for others was stronger than her desire for her own life. Underneath her sorrow there was also rage against those who would condemn helpless solitary infants to death, an anger that the gentle Luret managed to control, but that also strengthened her dedication to her task.
    Marellon, in turn, had linked his life to Lydee's, and she, like all skydwellers, refused to bear children. The children of cometdwellers were carefully nurtured in artificial wombs; Lydee thought of childbearing with repugnance.
    Luret's thoughts were growing calmer, but Anra could sense her regrets. The woman had put off living her own life, feeling that there would be time for it later; now she was a wanderer, her old home merely a resting place from time to