The rapport they had enjoyed was shattered. It was bad enough he could read her mind -- it was humanly impossible to guard her every thought -- but her humiliating reaction to his promise now made her uncomfortable and uneasy. She had cried in front of him before but this time was different. He had touched something dark and hidden in her, some fear or need so intimate she could not name it. How could he know her better than she knew herself? Did she trust him with that knowledge? It seemed she had no choice.

For his part, Theo carried on as usual. When he saw her bucket project he took it over and in quick order hollowed the log, bore two holes on opposite sides and made a rope from tree bark stripped from a tender young stem to fashion a handle. He scolded her for neglecting her thumb and administered first aid. While he did so, Dani noticed the burn on his jaw had split again and was oozing. She picked up one of his bandage strips and scrunched it between her fingers and reached to daub the wound. He pulled his head out of reach.

"Leave it."

"Theo." Dani protested.

"Do not fuss over me."

"Fuss? Who do you think brought you back from the brink of death? Who dragged you into this fire circle? I did, from way over there, and who put this tent up to conserve our wood and who cleaned up after you when you were helpless as an infant? Who saved you from your own stupidity? I did. I think I have earned the right to fuss over you."

Anger was the great equalizer, slamming down on the awkwardness and booting it out, but she had gone too far, said too much and now Theo had an excuse to again rebuke her for saving his sorry ass.

His eyes narrowed. His anger was blatant. If Dani could see auras, his would have been spun with the green-black energy of a tornado.

"No one asked you to save me."

She withdrew her hand and stood up. "Now who is the ingrate?"

She shouldered her pack and headed for the steps.

"Where are you going?" He called after her, his voice sharp with fear or panic.

"Up top," she called back. "I have no idea how long it’s been since breakfast and I want to check the traps I set."

Her traps delivered nothing. One had collapsed and the other had not been touched at all. It would be fish for dinner, then. But she was not ready to return to Theo and the bottom cave. The fresh air tasted sweet but made her chest ache and the thin air, coupled with the altitude, left her feeling light headed and head achy even though she paced herself while gathering roots, berries and edible mushrooms. Exhaustion got the better of her so Dani took shelter under a bush that overhung a tiny spring. After soaking her suit she curled up on a thick layer of moss -- it smelled like spicy gumdrops -- and slept, waking hours later, sweaty and trembling to the fading light of early evening, the dim jangle of chimes and the clutching shreds of a memory of her trip to Israel fast on the heels of another prairie dress dream in which she and Theo had spoken in Hebrew.

She returned to their shelter her thoughts cycling in Hebrew with a catch of three small fish and her pouch filled with her earlier acquisitions and the addition of two plump pear-shaped fruit she found growing on a tree she could not identify. The skin of the fruit was a creamy white blushing pink and looked succulent and sweet. She hoped they were edible. Theo would know.

Theo was sleeping like a baby beside a small fire in the top chamber, his head pillowed on the haversack. Getting to the top floor must have taken him hours. The finished bucket was nearby, filled with cool water. Had he gone to the waterfall to fill it or had he filled it down below and carried it up those many steps? She shook her head over him. He was so damnably annoying and yet just as endearing. Her tube tent and the Mylar sheet were rolled up together around the tent poles, secured with strips of leather cord and laid beside the bucket. There was no need to go down to check the big cave because Dani had made a point not to bring anything down there that was not absolutely essential. She was sure Theo had put out the fire; he was always conscientious about such details.

She made dinner, cooking the roots and leaf-wrapped fish fillets and sliced mushrooms in embers from the fire she raked away from the center of the smokeless blaze. She woke him after the food had toasted for a half hour. The skin of the root was dark and charred but its meat was soft, crumbly and delicious, the fish fell apart in soft white chunks. They ate with their fingers and drank water from the plastic bottles, one for each of them.

During dinner Theo asked about her traps and when she described what she had found he told her about the jhinj (hinge/creeper) a needle nosed land lizard that liked to steal food from traps in the process destroying them. Its presence in the area had probably scared away the intended game. He advised her to relocate the traps but she had already done that. He called the white fruit Valyah (va-lia/heavenly). They each ate one for dessert, gnawing the succulent sweet flesh off the rusty rose colored pip. After they cleaned up they sat while the setting sun streamed in through the narrow entrance.

"This is what we are going to do." Theo announced. "We are going to read the Queen’s book, from the beginning so that I can catch up and we will not stop until we reach the end."

For a minute Dani thought Theo meant Mama’s Orphan War trilogy because he said Mama’s book, but she quickly realized he meant her journal. She had not touched the journal since her last night as Maddie’s guest. She had no interest in reading another word of it. Ever. However, Theo looked determined.

"Tonight? All of it?"

"An hour or so of reading each night until it is finished." Theo nodded.

"Why?" Dani did not bother to tell him she did not want to read it; she guessed he probably knew already and he probably knew why, though she was a bit cloudy on why.

"You are a Keeper’s Thrith, Danielle. That bond means you have a Purpose to fulfill."

It was very clear when he said Purpose that in this context it was a proper noun: capital P- lowercase -u-r-p-o-s-e.

"What purpose?"

"God’s Purpose." Again with the capital "P" and in a tone that suggested he thought it should be obvious.

"I told you, Theo, I do not believe in God."

"Belief is not a prerequisite to His existence, Danielle."

"That is not the point. I have one purpose here and that is to collect my mother and take her back home."

"Yet, in spite of ample opportunities you have not yet done so."

"What opportunities? You took my necklace first thing." Dani knew now that calling that thing a necklace was like calling a real diamond cubic zirconia. Thinking of diamonds reminded her of her own raw diamond and she reached into her handmade bag to make sure it was still there. The cold lump slid into her hand as if it had a will of its own. It still emitted that strange current but it was not as enticing as she remembered.

"You missed two opportunities to be reunited with your mother: at the pinnacle and at Pelbradyn. It seems a curious route you have taken for one so determined to get your mother back home."

"What choice did I have? If I had left you at the pinnacle you would have taken the sapphire with you. If I had waited to visit Mama at Pelbradyn you would be dead. You said it yourself; my connection to the sapphire drove all my decisions. If you had just left the sapphire alone I and my mother would be home by now and you would still be hiding out in that cave."

By now Dani was pacing.

"You cannot avoid God’s will, Danielle."

"Watch me."

"If this situation has taught me anything it is that you cannot shape your own destiny. When I found the Stone on you I thought only of myself. I thought that here at last was my opportunity to fulfill my promise. You did not factor into that decision."

Dani opened her mouth to say I told you so, but Theo held up his hand.

"You are correct, I would have kept the Stone had you turned yourself over to the King’s Scouts at the pinnacle; but when I was captured I knew it was only a matter of time before they discovered the Stone and it would be returned to you. I never once imagined you would do this, give it to me, make me your In Between. I only hoped the Bond would not take. I was certain the Keeper would not approve it, that I was a bad choice. But here we are."

The sun had fallen so low in the sky a stabbing beam of light struck the hewn ceiling.

"What is your point, Theo?"

"Has God not said, ‘That which I purpose shall succeed’? It seems our paths are inextricably joined. Do not make the mistake of thinking that your plans will derail God’s plan."

"How do you know getting my mother home isn’t God’s plan?"

"Have you considered the possibility that the Queen will not want to go with you?"

Danielle crossed her arms, realized what a defensive gesture it was and dropped them to her side and began to pace again. Of course she had considered it, again and again but what her mother wanted was moot. Dani had come to Haven to take Mama home willing or not; like it or not and Dani was as determined as ever even as that scene in the shuttle played through her thoughts again and again. It was obvious Mama had a life here. Her presence here not only benefited the King but it benefited the people. Dani had heard one bone head at Pelbradyn refer to the queen as the Wood Witch of Unicorn Mountain.

"What makes you think I will give her a choice?"

Theo only stared at her. What was he thinking? His silent stare unnerved her. Her only recourse was to continue, to finish her thought.

"Do you think she gave me a choice when she ran off with her boyfriend without a word to me about it? I promised Aunt Angie that I would bring her home. She hurt me when she ran off, but she hurt a lot of other people too -- her whole family. They deserve an explanation. They deserve to hear an apology from her lips."

She crossed her arms again, but this time did not drop them. Just let him try and tell her she had no right, just let him. He said nothing, though she could tell that he wanted to.

He shook his head and pulled his haversack near. He rummaged through it and brought out one of his pouches and shook out several of his collection of obsidian.

"I hardly think kidnapping the Queen fits into God’s plan for you."

"I told you I do not believe in God. I will do what I want. And what I want is to make my mother pay for what she has done. There is no way I am reading another word in that journal, no matter what you say. Besides I fail to see what one has to do with the other."

"Like it or not, Danielle, I have to help you find your Purpose and reading the Queen’s book is a place to start."

Dani failed to see what one had to do with the other. She told Theo.

He sighed deeply.

"I am struggling to come to terms with this situation the best that I can. I have no idea what I am doing and in this instance I am following a method completely foreign to me."

"And that would be?"

"Intuition!"

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Next Chapter: Chapter 27