Leaving Time

Alice discusses the mating songs of elephants. She distinguishes between the sounds made when elephants are in heat. For males, heat is called musth; for females, it’s called estrus. Females are sexually receptive for only six days. If males are out of pheromone range, the female’s song becomes an important means of attracting a large selection of mates.

Scientists have proven that whale songs are passed down from generation to generation. Alice wonders if the same may be true of elephants. She speculates that female elephants who know the best songs can attract the best mates, and also that “the daughters learn from their mothers’ mistakes” (252).

Serenity confides to the reader that there was another time in her past when she couldn’t communicate with the dead. A client wanted to reach her dead father, but the man had committed suicide and his wife said, “Good riddance!” When Serenity tries to record a session for her client, all she gets is static. She concludes that maybe the reason she can’t talk to the dead is that they don’t want to answer back.

Virgil and Serenity plan to travel to Tennessee to find Gideon. Before they leave, Virgil asks Serenity to try to communicate with Grace to find out why she killed herself.