- The poem picks up the story of Corn Mother and hummingbird—remember, Corn Mother has disappeared, the people are starving, and hummingbird is the only one around who's been enjoying the all-you-can-eat buffet three worlds below.
- The people figure that's where their mother went and ask hummingbird how they can get down there. He says they need a messenger and tells them how to grow one. Yes, grow one. In a jar. Just go with it.
- A page break indicates another leap through time to the day Rocky and Tayo sign up for the army.
- The Army recruiter is sort of skeptical that Tayo and Rocky are brothers, since Tayo has lighter skin and hazel eyes. But he lets them sign up together anyway.
- Tayo is happy that they'll be traveling around the world as brothers. Rocky is optimistic, too—he's excited about the prospect of seeing different people and places.
- But as soon as they return home, Tayo feels guilty. He had promised to stay home and help Josiah with the cattle.
- For some reason the feeling is the same as when Tayo's mother died—regret, loss, and emptiness.
- Auntie is upset that both boys are leaving—Rocky was supposed to go, but Tayo was supposed to stay. Josiah and old Grandma try to convince her that it's OK. This way the boys can watch out for each other.
- The night before they leave, Tayo promises Auntie he'll bring Rocky back safe.
- There's a page break, and suddenly we're thinking about cattle. Moo.
- So Josiah makes a $500 deal for some cattle with a guy named Ulibarri. That includes delivery.
- Tayo helps Josiah select the best cattle from the herd. The cows are ivory with brown spots. Pretty.
- Josiah is excited about getting into the cattle business, and he has a strategy. See, these aren't your ordinary cattle. They're extra tough, super-strong desert cattle. Cattle with survival skills. Cattle that could survive the zombie apocalypse. (Or a drought, or whatever.)
- Josiah gives Tayo a little speech about cattle. See, when you separate cattle from the land for too long, they get soft. And then when they get turned loose in the world, they get scared and lost, and die easily. Hmm . . . are we sure he's just talking about cattle here?
- All the other guys are buying soft, white-faced Herefords, but Josiah knows those cows can't survive the drought.
- In fact, everything Josiah reads in the cattle-breeding books about how to raise ideal beef cows ignores the kinds of problems you find in this part of the country—things like drought, blizzards, and dry thistles. Josiah realizes these books are written by white men who don't know anything about the kind of land he lives on.
- Josiah intends to breed a new kind of cattle, one that's particularly adept at surviving on Indian land. He jokes that he might even write a book about it.
- Tayo and Robert like Josiah's ideas, but Rocky is critical—he thinks the white scientists know everything there is to know about raising cattle and that the problem is that the Native American cattle ranchers don't know what they're doing. Auntie backs him up.
- Auntie is extra biased against this cattle deal because Ulibarri is the cousin of "that whore," whom she's convinced is playing Josiah. Apparently she's referring to Josiah's girlfriend—not nice. (X.29)
- Auntie gets ready to go to church (alone) so she can pray for all her family's heathen souls.
- Auntie likes to play the martyr, and her family doesn't take her seriously. Rocky just ignores her, and Grandma does a metaphorical eye roll at Auntie's theatrical piety.
- Oh, and we find out that Auntie's name is Thelma.
- Another page break, and it's a week later—the boys have just gotten the delivery of the cattle. They're a little skinnier than last week, but they're beautiful and fast.
- Josiah and the boys let the cattle lose on the Sedillo Grant, but they're not there a week later when the men go to find them.
- The men ride south, searching for the cattle. The cattle have broken through fences, and Tayo wonders if they've gone all the way back to Mexico.
- But Josiah thinks it's a good thing that the cattle have gone missing. It's just further proof of their spunkiness.
- Eventually the cattle settle down a little, but they still have a tendency to wander south whenever possible.
- Josiah decides to brand the cattle, seeing as how they're so good at running off.
- A few calves are born, and Robert admits he can sort of see Josiah's vision. These babies are tough like their Mexican mommies, but meaty like the Hereford bull that sired them.
- They brand the cattle with Auntie's brand, which looks like a 4 with a hat on it.
- Josiah goes to see "her" the day after the cattle are delivered. His sneakiness and the cute way he gets all dressed up let us know that he's going to see the Mexican woman he has a crush on—the one who told him about the cattle.
- He tells Tayo he's only going to visit her to say thank you and says not to tell Auntie or Grandma. Tayo figures they probably already know.
- Page break. All of a sudden we're in Josiah's head.
- Josiah is looking at his special lady friend, who is sitting on the porch with her eyes closed. He likes the fact that her face has lots of laugh lines, the way she talks, and her hazel eyes.