There was a jumble of stones on the north side, watched over by a tall saguaro cactus and tangles of prickly pear. The rocks had petroglyphs scratched onto their surfaces—relics of long-gone hands carving old symbols, speaking ancient prayers to the spirits as they worked the stone. Honey gave the markings only a passing glance, her attention taken, as always, by the invisible churn of medicine that came spiraling up out of the stones and dirt under their paws.

Joe came to a stop in the middle of it, and she could see all the hairs on his back stand upright and shiver in the invisible stream.

It is strong here, he said, turning to her.

Shhh. I still need to concentrate.

The dread had returned.

It had nothing to do with the hilltop on which they stood.

She understood what the word sacred meant when she was in a place such as this, a place where the earth itself gave up medicine prayers to the sky. What she couldn’t understand was it being used when medicine was locked up between four walls and a roof, with no way to reach the sky except through intermediaries. But here, on this mesa, she could never feel anything but awe when she experienced the spiritual force of holy groves and hilltops, of secret canyons and sea-bound grottos.

No, the dread came from what she would find when she reached out to Jilly. But she couldn’t turn back now. She’d told Joe she would try, and that was the same as giving her word.

So she reached out, hard and far, the earth medicine filling her spirit and allowing her the strength to push, and push, and push again, further than she ever could have without its help. But it was still no use.

It was hard to explain it to Joe.

It’s like a nut, she told him, where the seed is also the shell which is also the seed. Jilly is the seed inside that world, but that seed is also the barrier that keeps us out.

Joe had taken human shape again and sat cross-legged in the dirt, leaning back against the petroglyph stones. There was a furious look of concentration in his gaze as she tried to make him understand.

“Tell me that again,” he said.

He nodded when she repeated it.

“So it’s like she’s trapped inside herself,” he said.

I hadn’t considered that. Honey had to think about it. Is that even possible?

“This is the otherworld. Anything’s possible, if someone can think of it. Can you show me what you’re seeing?”

I don’t know how.

You know how when you “talk” to me, you’re really just sending out short bursts of thought?

Honey nodded.