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"In which case the boat doesn’t matter," Caine said "We survive here, on the island, or we die" He cast a reptilian look at Bug "Soo?" Penny wondered aloud "Right or left?"

"Anyone have a coin we can flip?" Diana asked

Caine stood up He shaded his eyes and looked left Then right "The cliffs look lower to the right"

"Can’t you just go all ic powers and levitate us up to the top of the cliff?" Paint asked and then giggled nervously, slobbering down his red-stained lips

"I’ve been wondering just that," Caine said thoughtfully "It’s a long way up I don’t know" He looked down at the kids in the boat Diana kneas coet the honor

"Let’s go, Paint," Caine said "You’re about useless, ht as well be you"

"What?" Paint’s alarm was comical Diana would have felt sorry for hiht now

And Caine was right: Paint didn’t exactly contribute anything vital He had no powers He was no good in a fight He was a druggiesince fried whatever brain he’d had

Caine raised his hands and Paint floated up fro hiled and kicked and his ar, ratty brown hair drifted and swirled as if he was in a slow- tornado

"No, no, no," he moaned

Paint floated out over the water

"If you lowered hi on water," Penny said

Paint moved closer to the cliff, still just a few feet above the water, noenty or thirty feet away from the boat

"You know, Penny," Diana said, "it’s not all that funny If it works we’ll all be going up the same way"

Somehow that fact had not occurred to Penny Diana felt a distant sort of satisfaction at the way sadistic pleasure turned to worry on the girl’s face

"Okay, now for the altitude," Caine said Paint began to rise again, up the cliff face It was almost bare, hard-packed soil dotted with extrusions of rock and a few scattered bushes that looked like they’d chosen a very precarious spot to grow

Paint rose Diana held her breath

"No, no, no!" Paint’s voice floated back down, ignored He was no longer kicking Instead he was trying to twist around to face the cliff, arrab

Halfway up, the height of a five story building, Paint’s ascent slowed noticeably Caine took a deep breath He didn’t see physically His muscles were not taut; the power he had was not about ri all his power

Paint rose, but more slowly

And then he slipped Fell