Yet perhaps it wasn't so bad as all that. In theory, his plan should work as long as he had the strength of will and the mental focus to carry them all.

"Which," he told the babies, "is precisely what frightens me. I've never translocated anyone else before, and now there are five of you? Certainly, you're small, but... oh, do shut up, William," he said, consciously echoing what Tamara would have said about his blathering, his delaying.

What might be happening while he babbled on? The thought spurred him.

He strode over to the furs and cloaks on the ground, knelt there amongst the babies and gathered them close around. He raised thumb sucker and a dark-haired girl into his arms, and then he took a long breath and closed his eyes, focusing on his destination.