The Devil's Children

In The Weathermonger the mad spell is broken; at its height, in Heartsease, England is without machines and almost without mercy; here the Changes start. And in an abandoned London Nicola Gore, shielding herself from the hurt of her parents' failure to return, joins a caravan of Sikhs as their "canary": like the bird that warns coal miners of poisonous air, she, machine-phobic as the aliens are not, will protect them from what is now forbidden. But she will not, Nicky promises herself, be their friend, and that which sets them apart - their exotic appearance, their unruly counsels, their tight rein on their children - will help her keep apart. A farm deserted because it was highly mechanized offers a refuge, and the Sikhs have the advantage of having known a more primitive life in India; blacksmithing will give them leverage to barter with the villagers to whom they are the Devil's Children, and their tradition of swordsmanship will serve for self-defense. Actually, Nicky's told, they'd won most of their battles with guns: their candor is only one of the qualities that pierce Nicky's armor. Almost gladly she steels herself again when mounted robbers overwhelm the village, kill the new feudal Master, and take the children hostage; if the Sikhs are to survive, they must rout the robbers, but if they are to be safe from retaliation no harm must come to the hostages. In the ensuing melee Nicky takes a leading part (an extension of her rote as go-between); fat, quicksilver Uncle Chaha and his saber-wielding troops carry the day, however, and with it the gratitude of the villagers. Now the two sides can merge their forces, blend their prayers, decide together that Nicky be dispatched to her parents in France before England is sealed off altogether. . . but only an Englishwoman can safely accompany her to the coast: "Outside these few fields we are still the Devil's Children." Of the three, the most remarkable, and yet there is nothing remarkable about it except the majesty of the Sikhs. (Kirkus Reviews)