HOURS PASSED WITHOUT much notice. Never had Peter been so engrossed in another person, or in the awful cups of coffee that found their way into his hand time and again, without fail. Rosie told him about the endless summer days on Gwaine, its surface composed not of continents but of thousands of small islands. She and her brothers had swum in the oceans before they could walk, though Rosie showed Peter her toes when he accused them of being webbed.

Rosie's father was a ...