End of last chapter:

"I don't know how to read the earth," Archie said. "I'm a city boy, remember?"

"I remember your father tried to teach you about nature, but you didn't listen well. You act like the spoiled child you were not raised to be."

"That's not true. I told you before, I work very hard."

"Is that what you were doing when you flipped your shiny red car, Archie? Working?"

"Yes, I was taking a research trip for a special committee I'm on in the Senate."

"At night, traveling at excessive speeds?"

Archie heard Ayala snort in mockery. He could tell she was enjoying watching him squirm.

The story continues:

"Native Americans say the Earth is our mother," Sani continued. "Seek her spirit, Archie, and she will help you dig your hole. Just relax and let the environment caress your senses. Breathe in, breathe out...  picture a large hole in the ground, one so deep we can all hide inside comfortably. Tell me when you see it."

Archie fidgeted for a while, then settled down. "Okay, I see it."

"Good, now place yourself in it. Tell me when you're there."

A few seconds passed, and then a few more as Archie wrestled with impatience. Finally, he spoke.

"Okay, I'm in the hole."

"Good, now imagine the spade separating grains of sand like a knife whittling though layers of wood. Do you see them?"

"Yes, I do."

"Then you're ready. Open your eyes and find those grains. Start digging and don't stop until you have the hole you imagined."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"What will you do?"

"I'll help the girls weave a grass blanket to cover your hole." Sani pulled out a sharp knife and cut Ayala loose with several smooth strokes.

"Come, child," he said. "You're so angry, and that's not good for your disposition or health. It'll sap your strength more quickly than the desert sun. Do you need to help Archie dig to calm your emotions?"

"That won't be necessary." Ayala glared at Archie, who held a hand up defensively.

"I wouldn't give her a shovel right now," he said.

"Oh, she'll be fine." Sani patted her on the arm.

"Really, how do you figure that?" Ayala quipped. "I was attacked by Archie, trussed up like a common animal, and dragged into this disease infested desert against my will."

"Yes, but at least you're out of that horrible prison," Sani reminded her.

"Hokee is my home."

"Most prisons are, but you're much too lovely a dove to stay in a cage."

"Dove! You should have seen her fighting earlier," Archie snorted. "She was more like a red-tailed hawk."

"I'm no hawk." Ayala's voice dripped with contempt.

"You could have fooled me," Koko said. "You turned Todd in to the Hawk Kin for having animal dreams, and now he's in the mines."

"I told you that wasn't me, and you don't know for sure where he is."

"Yes, we do. Archie and I found a book listing all the people who were sent there, and guess what? Todd's name's on the list."

Ayala's face clouded with concern. "Oh, Koko, I'm so sorry, but I promise it wasn't me who told on him. I wouldn't do that."

"Really? You threatened to turn me in."

"I didn't mean it. You know I didn't. I was frustrated because I couldn't figure out what was going on, and still can't. This whole escape thing is entirely out of character, Koko. You know what's happened to those who've tried it before."

"Yes, they've either ended up dead or in the mines, but that's not going to happen to us."

"You don't know that, and now you've condemned us to the same fate as the others."

"We'll do everything to make sure that doesn't happen," Sani interjected.

"How?"

"For one thing, you have me. I'm very knowledgable about survival, and the Cougar and Hawk people are not. They were raised in Hokee with the rest of you."

"That is true."

"Yes, and another thing, we have Archie, who has connections in the outside world, and who's very strong."

"Eh, I'm not impressed."

Sani ignored her remark and went on. "Lastly, we have each other and can work as a team. The others who've tried escaping were alone."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Koko and I researched it. Now, come help us make a mat to cover the hole Archie's digging. It's essential we find shelter from the heat."

"I'll help you, but I hope Archie falls in and breaks his neck."

Archie looked up from digging. Dirt covered his body like a brown aura. "I didn't attack you, Ayala. I just put you in a wrestling hold, so I could tie you up. As I recall, it was you who assaulted me."

"Semantics."

"Doesn't matter, anyway," Archie said. "It was for your own good."

Ayala snarled and kicked dirt in his face. "That's for your own good, Nature Boy. It'll help you connect with the environment."

Archie chuckled and continued to dig. If the worst thing the lovely headmistress did was kick dirt on him, he was fortunate. He planned to keep the spade well out of her reach.

"You're doing good, young man," Sani commented. "Just remember, the people of Hokee are orphans who were placed in a compound as babies and treated as experimental subjects. You were sent here to rescue them, son."

"I mean no disrespect, but I wasn't sent. I was involved in a wreck and carried to Hokee unconscious."

"You don't think you discovered these people by mistake do you, or that Ayala and her class found you by happenstance?"

"I assure you, I didn't do it on purpose."

"Yours isn't the only purpose at work," Sani said. "You were born to be a leader and rescuer. You've known that all your life. Am I wrong?"

Archie threw a shovelful of dirt over his shoulder, then paused to think. "No, of course you're not wrong, but I'm a senator from Texas, not New Mexico, and I assure you, I have plenty of leadership opportunities there."

"The Earth recognizes no political boundaries, only the cries of her children."

"What cries?" Ayala asked. "Our people are happy."

"Really? Then, I guess I'm wrong." Sani looked Ayala straight in her eyes and held her gaze until she glanced away.

"Now," he continued, "to make things right, Archie, ask Ayala, nicely, if she wants to travel with you to civilization."

Archie looked at Sani with his mouth agape.

Sani raised a parental eyebrow and said nothing.

"Fine. Ayala, would you, please, go with me and Koko to my world where she can get help delivering a baby your people would want to kill? You said you didn't know what was going on with Koko, but it took me under five minutes to figure it out."

Ayala paused before discharging a scathing remark, as the enormity of what Archie had revealed soaked in. She took a deep breath and turned to her sister.