"I'd rather rob a bank and be caught by police than skip school and be caught by Ma!" she retorted, still panting. But she couldn't find out, Kate reassured herself. She had thought it out so securely, she even felt a strange but delicious sense of pride in the accomplishment. She ought to be very ashamed of herself indeed. As she rose, there was a little smirk on her face.

She walked with John in the direction of the cliffs, while he talked about his disorienting shift between worlds. John had written her long letters describing India and Kate had conjured up many visions of the place in her mind, but it still seemed a strange far of place to her. The excitement she got from pretending to be there in her mind was only present because she knew it was make-belief. She couldn't imagine leaving home for such a hostile place.

"That's because there wasn't much to tell," she said reluctantly. "It's... oh John, it's such a grind, sometimes I don't know if I want to be a teacher!" she suddenly blurted out. She couldn't tell her parents. They'd be disappointed with her for even thinking in such a way. Joe and Ruth were preoccupied with their own messy lives. And her friends would think her mad and probably ungrateful. But John had always been restless. Of all people, she felt he might understand.