Nada knew her plan was in trouble. She had thought that the cookie trail was upriver, not down, because they had fallen down to this region. Now she realized that the cookie trail could go wherever it wanted, including down—and it had done so. So she was the one who had found it, not Electra. Her princessly sacrifice had been for nothing.

What was she to do now? She still knew that Electra was the proper one to marry Dolph, and that would never happen if Electra didn't find her way out of the gourd. Certainly Nada didn't want to leave Electra here, because then she would have no chance to marry Dolph, and would die within the week.

Nada pondered, and considered, and thought, changing forms for each activity, and finally realized that there was a way out of this mess. All she had to do was avoid the cookie trail, so that it didn't vanish, and hide. In due course Electra, failing to find any cookies upstream, would come downstream and find it here. She would assume that Nada had already taken it, for she didn't know that it was a one-use trail. She would follow it out, and the plan would be intact.

Nada backed away from the cookie, trusting it not to vanish. She was right: it remained in place, because she had not passed it. She assumed her serpent form and slid into the brush. When she was well hidden, she became absolutely still. She intended to watch to be sure that Electra did come. If she did not, Nada would have to go look for her, for at least one of them did have to make it on through the gourd. Che Centaur needed rescuing, after all.

Now that her notion was being implemented, Nada had a second thought. How could poor little Electra rescue Che from the mean goblins? She could shock one of them, but where there was one goblin there were always twenty more. Didn't Nada know that, from her father's endless war against the encroaching goblins of Mount Etamin! She was really deserting Electra, and that made her feel increasingly guilty. Yet this was her chance to do the right thing by Electra, and by Dolph too, and she really had to follow through. So she kept still, and waited.

Before long Electra did come. She hadn't found the cookie trail, so was trying to catch up with Nada, who she thought must have found it.

Nada watched as the girl ran by. Such vigor! Her light brown braids flounced busily, and her freckles seemed to bounce off her face. She had such joy of life, no matter what she was doing. She would be so good for Dolph, who had such little notion what life was about.