There was a pause. Raine looked thoughtful. "Yes," she said, "River is more perceptive than most, isn't she? Even if it's sometimes difficult to sort out what she intends to say; she does seem to like metaphor..."

Raine was aware she didn't know the half of it, or the reasons why River was the way she was, but Simon did, and it was up to him and his sister if they wanted to elaborate.

"When my brother was here, he found me before I even knew he had arrived," Raine offered, in something like solidarity. She, too, as an elder sibling sure the younger would surpass her.