Saturday Clea and Esri made an early start and arrived at the reference library shortly after the doors opened. Standing in the central atrium, Esri gaped at the size. Surely here they would uncover something interesting about her cave-people. They rode the glass elevator to one of the upper floors and found an empty table near some windows. She was astounded at the endless shelves of materials and spaces to study. Even at this early hour it was alive with people pouring over materials, writing, using computers. Spacious and light-filled. "Could I live here for a while?"

Clea laughed, "Well, I don't know about that. And there is even more back in the stacks that the librarians will retrieve for us, some of the older rarer resources. Come, I'll take you to the computers we can use to search. I usually ask a librarian to help me. I'm not very good with computers but I'm sure you're a whiz and will know what to do."

They went to the computer terminals. Clea continued, "We know from the Huti stone that it was likely used 50,000 to 150,000 years ago, and your cave people are probably in eastern Africa, given where the stone was found. If the stone continued to hold special meaning, it might have moved around some, but it's doubtful that it would have gone any great distance. Let's focus our research using those clues."

They made a good team. Esri worked the library computers while Clea guided the scope of their searches to hone in on the most promising materials. They accumulated a large pile of books, papers, and periodicals from the stacks. Hours sped by as they skimmed the resources, making notes and investigating further threads of inquiry that arose from their reading.

"I have to eat something," said Clea. "Let's leave our coats and go down and get something to eat in the coffee shop – my treat. No one will disturb our materials. We won't be gone long. Have you found anything?"

"Lots! I'm hungry too, but there's so much interesting stuff here, I don't want to stop."

In the coffee shop Clea said, "I've found some things that might have a bearing on why you're going back to that time period. What have you found?"

"Oh my god, so much. I could spend tons of days here. I've been looking for stuff about how people might have lived around 100,000 years ago. They don't know a lot but believe that people were a lot like we are today – same brain size, probably in much better physical shape, which is certainly true for the people at Flat Rocks. They're super fit. Clea, I saw pictures of spear points, some small ones, like I've made in my dreams. Even remains of places like Zura's Thinking Circle. And I looked at a book about hunter-gatherers in Africa and how they lived just 50 years ago. So similar to Flat Rocks - it's incredible! I'm kind of overwhelmed. What about you?"

"I've been reading about the DNA work they've done tracing the migration of homo sapiens out of Africa. They believe that the first wave was 50,000 to 70,000 years ago. Not that long ago when you think about the evolution of humans. And that led me to read about population bottlenecks."

"What's that?"

"It's when there are huge shrinkages in the populations of humans or other animals. It sometimes ends in extinction. There is DNA evidence that there was a population bottleneck of homo sapiens – us – possibly around the time period of the Huti stone. That the human population got down to a few thousand, some even speculate a few hundred people."

"Wow, you mean humans were almost extinct?"

"It appears so. It happened to the Neanderthals."

"That's crazy. Do you think it was the Ash Rain and Always Cloud, whatever they were?" Esri finished her sandwich. "Can we still stay for a while?"

"Sure, we can do a couple more hours. And you can come again some time."

They finished eating and went back to their table in the library. After about an hour, Esri gasped, "This is it!"

Clea looked up and nodded, "The Toba volcano eruption? I just found that too."

"Yes! It explains so much: why so many died, where the Ash Rain and Always Cloud came from, why it's cold. That must be it, but it still doesn't explain what I'm supposed to do."

"No, not yet, but we have a lot to think about and consider now. What if the group of people who left Africa and ended up populating the rest of the world are some of those at Flat Rocks? What might that mean?" Clea said.

Esri scrunched up her face.

Clea said, "What's wrong?"

"I smell something really bad."

"Oh yes, I smell it now too. Oh god, we must leave. Hurry, grab your things. Go, run, push the button for the elevator. Don't let anyone else get on. I'll come as quickly as I can."

"What?"

"No questions, just go, run."

When Clea got to the elevator, Esri was holding open the doors and explaining to some students that she couldn't let them on. Her grandmother needed to go down and she was mentally unstable and couldn't be on the elevator with others. The students gave Clea a wide berth as she made her way into the elevator.

"I didn't know what else to say," Esri whispered to Clea.

"Don't worry. You did fine. It's my fault. I had some signs. I should have sent you here alone."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'll explain later. When we get down, you run out and get a cab. Make sure he smells all right."

"But that will cost a small fortune."

"I have money."

"There's the Tall Man!" Esri yelped.

"What tall man?"

"Look, the one running toward the stairs," Esri pointed through the glass wall at the back of the elevator at a tall man racing toward the wide spiral staircase on the opposite side of the atrium. "I've seen him before."

The elevator began its downward descent. They watched the man rush down the stairs. Though the elevator made no stops on the way down, at the pace that the man was moving and with Clea's hampered gait, he would catch up to them before they could get into a taxi.

"I must get back to my house," said Clea. The elevator doors opened and Esri ran out.

By the time Clea reached the sidewalk, Esri was waiting beside a taxi and helped Clea get inside. As they were driving away, Clea looked back at the library entrance and was surprised to see no sign of the man they saw on the staircase. What she didn't know was that the man's descent was delayed by tripping over the cane of an elderly man whose books and papers got strewn across the stairs.

Clea pointed to the taxi driver and wrote a note to Esri – 'We'll talk when we get home.'

Clea sat back in the cab and closed her eyes until they arrive at her house. She gave Esri money for the taxi and walked slowly up the sidewalk. Clea went back to the kitchen, sat leaning her head against her hand and stared into the backyard. "Esri, would you put some water on for tea?"

"Sure, Clea. Are you all right?"

"I feel a headache coming on. But I'll be all right. I'm glad to be home. I'll have some tea and then lie down for a while, but there are a few things I need to tell you."

"Is there anything else I can do for you? I can stay with you for a while." Esri hovered over Clea.

"Thank you dear. You were marvelous at the library. It would be best if I didn't leave my house and yard for a while. It will mean I need to rely on you even more for errands. I'm not sure how long it will last. It could be months."

"Why, what's happening? Is it the Tall Man?"

"You said you had seen him before. Where?"

"I saw him in the donut shop the day Jilly and I ran into you out front. There was also that terrible dead mouse smell that day, and he was staring at us in a really creepy way."

"Oh dear, he was already around. I wish you had told me about him, but then, why would you? I thought I had noticed an odor that day, but I was too busy pulling out the cotter pin on my buggy."

"You did that on purpose?" Esri was stunned.

"Yes, yes, of course. My dreams were telling me that it was becoming urgent to make contact with you."

"How did you know I was the one, the Mender?"

"I could smell you. Faintly when you were little, the first time when you came trick or treating. I wasn't sure if it was you or one of your friends, though I thought it was you by the way you carried yourself. When my dreams became more intense, I started following you around to make sure."

"I remember that. We started seeing you more and thought that was weird. So what do I smell like?"

"Sweet grass," Clea smiled.

"Sweet grass? Like they make into braids? We burned one in class once."

"Yes, here, and in Europe it has a long tradition as well. It has a soothing smell."

"But only you can smell me?"

"I imagine another Mender would smell you. And the Disruptors."

"Disruptors? Ok, what now? The dead mouse smell? The Tall Man running down the stairs? Is he a Disruptor?" Esri sounded skeptical.

"Yes, I'm sure he is. I was hoping to avoid talking about them for a while. I don't want to pile too much on you. It's a lot to take in. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Clea. Tell me, who the Disruptors are and why you were so frightened?"

"The Disruptors have been around for a long time. They disturb the heartbeat and rhythms of our life and are growing stronger year after year, century after century. Many thousands of years ago when there were fewer humans, the Disruptors had a limited affect. But now that we've become so many, they're starting to dislocate the cycles of most living things."

"There must be a lot of Disruptors," said Esri.

"Perhaps not. The way Disruptors work is by convincing people who convince other people who convince others, gradually affecting huge masses."

"What do they do?"

"Convince people to take, not give; harm, not heal. And it's escalating. We're heading to chaos, large-scale deprivation, increasing extinctions, including people." Clea spoke sadly.

"Why are the Disruptors doing this?"

"I don't know. I wish I did. I can only think that there is a larger conflict at play that is beyond our realm of understanding. What I do know is that this round piece of rock we live on thrums with magical life-giving rhythms, all held in a delicate balance. And that you and I, as Menders, must not allow that balance to be disrupted." Clea closed her eyes. Her head sank.

"Clea, you need to lie down. We can talk more later. Let me help you." Esri got up and helped Clea move to the single bed tucked into a corner of the study off of the kitchen.

"Thank you, dear, and you should go. Your Dad will be wondering where you are." Clea laid down. Esri covered her with an afghan and sat beside Clea on the bed.

"Are you going to be all right? What if the Disruptor finds you?"

"I'm safe in my house and in my yard. You needn't worry. And Esri, watch out for them. They can't harm you, but they will try to stop your dreams."