Zia

The night after the fiesta, Zia awaits the signal, and all the girls in the dormitory rise. Zia unlocks the door, and they walk to the garden. Stone Hands and the group leave without being noticed, and Zia plans to throw the key into the sea. 

In the morning, there is commotion around the Mission. Father Merced asks Zia if she knows anything about the escape, and she responds that she knows little. He wonders why they left, and Zia explains they are used to a different way of life. Captain Cordova, the head of the garrison, appears and assures Father Merced they will find the group very soon. He questions Zia, but Father Merced affirms she knows nothing. In the Mission, there is nobody to work for the day. 

After praying in the chapel, Zia goes to the beach and prays for the runaways to Mukat and Tumaiyowit, the tribe’s two gods. According to their stories, the two gods quarreled about people’s existence. Because Tumaiyowit did not want people to live, he went to another world. His death is the reason people die. She also prays to Coyote because he saved Mukat’s heart and finally goes to the chapel of the Virgin Mary.

Captain Cordova returns to the Mission and reports to Father Merced. His men are still tracking Stone Hands’s group. He then talks to Zia and asks her name. She says her name is Zia Sandoval, explaining that her mother was Indigenous and her father Spanish. Accusing the tribes of stealing things from the Mission, Captain Cordova asks Zia if she would have run away had it not been for her aunt. Zia replies that she has remained and knows nothing about the theft. Captain Cordova wants to arrest Zia, but Father Merced stops him, saying the captain has no right to be in the Mission and instructs him to leave. Captain Cordova kindly says that Stone Hands also stole calves and sheep belonging to two soldiers who demanded that he act on the case. He affirms he must arrest Zia as an accomplice. Father Merced protests, but the soldiers come and take Zia away.

Zia is transported to the garrison, to a small and cold cell. The warden, a woman called Señora Gomez, orders Zia to undress and wear a cotton shift. She also leaves some water and tortillas for Zia to eat. When she leaves, Zia looks outside the window toward the islands. Zia is freezing and remains sleepless during the night. 

In the morning, Zia notices a ship sailing near the shore and thinks it might be Captain Nidever’s. Eventually, it is clear that it’s a whaler, and the warden announces that Captain Cordova has returned. She tells Zia that he wants to know if she changed her mind. Zia insists she knows nothing. The second night, Zia is freezing again. She thinks that if she remains silent, they will get tired and release her.

Señora Gomez leads Zia to Captain Cordova’s office. Zia notices he is in a bad mood as he has not found Stone Hands yet. He interrogates Zia again, but she insists she does not know where Stone Hands is. She mentions that he promised to send her a message but she has not received it. Captain Cordova suspects Zia helped the people escape and says a key was found the morning they left. Zia did not have time to throw it into the sea as planned. Zia remains silent. Captain Cordova suggests they can wait for Stone Hand’s message, then find him, and punish him. Persisting about the key, Captain Cordova takes out an iron glove, a tool used for torture. He warns her that he rarely uses it because he is patient. Zia knows he has tortured many people and understands that he is trying to intimidate her. Señora Gomez takes Zia back to the cell.

Zia wonders about Captain Nidever’s return. On the sixth day of her imprisonment, Captain Cordova calls her to his office. He says that he has located Stone Hands and his followers, and they are camped in Box Canyon. Zia wonders why he is wearing the iron glove and what he wants from her. Captain Cordova asks her about her aunt, then wonders if Indigenous people in the Mission like Father Merced. Zia argues they respect him, then the captain questions why they left. Zia knows that Captain Cordova and Father Merced do not get along, as the father often complains about the intoxicated soldiers. The captain asks Zia if she would ever run away. Zia avoids the term, affirming she would leave if she felt like it. Captain Cordova emphasizes that Father Merced forces the people to work long hours, confusing Zia. He takes out a key, saying it was found in her bed. It is the key Stone Hands used to unlock the doors. Zia remains calm, saying she often uses it to unlock doors in the Mission. Señora Gomez leads Zia to the cell.

Señora Gomez returns Zia’s clothes to her, and the girl remains warm during the night. In the morning, Zia sees Captain Nidever’s boat returning to the harbor. She distinguishes Karana’s figure on the boat and sees her jumping into the sea and swimming to the shore. She also sees a dog following her. Zia thinks she is excited after arriving at the place she was dreaming about. She sees Karana looking curiously around. Through the cell’s bars, Zia tries to wave at her, calling he name aloud. Father Vicente sees Zia from the beach and heads toward the prison. Karana follows him. He stops in front of Zia’s cell, asking what happened. Karana holds Zia’s hand. Zia speaks to her in Spanish but Karana does not understand. Karana speaks her native tongue and Zia cannot communicate. They stand “helplessly” holding each other’s hands. Father Vicente goes to Captain Cordova’s office, and Zia hears them arguing. When the father returns, Señora Gomez releases Zia, and the girl returns to the Mission with Karana and Father Vicente.

In the Mission, they give Karana a bed in the dormitory next to Zia. Karana, though, sleeps on the floor with her dog by her side. Days later, when they eventually take her dog to sleep outside, Karana follows and sleeps in the courtyard for several nights. 

Zia and Karana struggle to communicate and manage with gestures and sounds only they can understand and try giving names to things. Zia narrates that the five fathers speak the Indigenous languages of the tribes in the Mission, but no one understands Karana’s language. Zia only knew a few words of her native tongue but forgot everything after moving to Pala village with the Cupeño people and later to the Spanish Mission. 

Karana loves the shells on the beach and is interested in the wild horses. The only word she learns is the word for horse. She also loves eating the melons that grow in the Mission. Karana becomes good at working and works faster than everyone and mostly enjoys strolling on the beach with her dog. Zia strives to make her happy. She wants to learn from Karana about the Island of the Blue Dolphins and her life there alone but never learns anything.