Section Break 61
- Lying in the sand, Gemma dreams that she's in her room back home listening to a radio report about a record heat wave in London.
- She can smell her mother making coffee and calls for her, but she won't come and instead seems to just turn the radio up to drown her out.
- Then, she feels arms wrapping around her, taking her out of her bed and holding her.
- And with that, we're pretty sure we know what just happened.
Section Break 62
- Gemma wakes up in the cool darkness of her room back at Ty's place with washcloths all over her body. She can't believe it, but she's actually glad to be there and thanks Ty for bringing her back.
Section Break 63
- The next time she wakes up, Ty is trying to get her to drink some water. Her legs are elevated in the air with ropes, and he tells her she's been badly burned and he is trying to reduce the swelling.
- He brings her more cool cloths for her body, which is completely blistered. He tells her she's been back at the house for about a day and would have died if he hadn't found her when he did.
- Ty explains that he found her by following the car tracks, then her footprints. That's one advantage to being the only two people in a wilderness of sand—no other people to make tracks in the sand. He rode the camel to catch up to her, figuring she would eventually start making her way back to him.
Section Break 64
- The next day, Gemma feels a little better and can eat nuts and berries. She finds the knife she'd hidden in the bed and guesses at how many more notches to make for her count of how many days she's been there.
Section Break 65
- The next morning, Gemma goes outside and sits on the porch. She thinks about how once she'd hoped for a chance to escape, but it's gradually becoming real to her that being here is her life now.
- She speculates about how maybe someday, maybe years from now, she'll be found. But how long might that take?
- In the yard, Ty is handling the snake, trying to tame it. It tries to bite him, but he calms it and begins walking around the yard with it, then takes it with him into the outbuilding.