Throughout the coming days Ayla was troubled because of her dream, but not as troubled as Marie. She had been alone in her room for quite awhile. Exactly how long she couldn't say. Every spare moment she fretted over what to do. Should she wander out to the cave of the Zelandonii? If she did what would she say? How would she explain what happened and who she was? Would she even be able to communicate to them?
She turned on the TV many times throughout the day but all she saw was the programming for April 30th. It seemed that April 30th kept repeating. That was strange enough, besides the fact that she was outside the cave of the Zelandonii and her TV was working. The even stranger thing was that her Internet was working too. She never received new emails and all the dates read "April 30th", but she could access any website she wanted to. She thought she might be going crazy. She wished she could make sense of it all. She wanted to just talk to the Zelandonii, understand why she was there and have all her questions answered.
Many times she made her way to the front door of her house and grasped the handle, ready to venture out into the ancient world. She could never make herself turn the handle no matter how long she stood there. Soon she wouldn't have to worry about deciding whether or not to leave the safety of her home. That decision would be made for her.
Matthor was making his way through the woods looking for small game to hunt. He was not old enough to be included in the smaller hunts so he was expected to join in the activities of the men who had seen sixteen summers, just as he had. Their activities did not interest him, and they did not go out of their way to make him feel included. He had always been different, ever since he had joined their cave when he was six. His mother had appeared to them in a snowstorm with a young child. She died before the next moon and he had always been a bit of a burden. Sometimes he wondered what his mother looked like and where she was from, but she had been too delirious to give any such information before she passed away. His daydreaming was interrupted by a strange sound up ahead. He froze to listen more closely.
"We have some heavy rain moving in from the North, but it should pass by Wednesday..." There was a pause and then the sound continued.
"Vamos a comprar comida para esta noche." Then there was silence again. Matthor moved closer to where the noise had been coming from. What met his eyes was not what he had expected.
Marie threw down the remote and wearily fell back onto her bed. She couldn't concentrate on doing anything; she was too confused as to what she should do. She turned to look out at the cave of the Zelandonii again, but was surprised to find someone looking back at her. She gasped and pulled away from the window. There was no avoiding meeting the Zelandonii now; they knew she was there and would obviously want an explanation. She took a deep breath and opened her window. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't think of anything to say.
"Who's there? Who's there?" cried out the young man she was staring down at.
"My...my name is Marie," she answered shakily. He appeared confused as to what he should say next. "Stay there," she yelled to him "I'm coming down." When she stepped out of the door she saw in his face how surprised he was by her appearance. She looked down at what she was wearing, a red, screened t-shirt and jeans.
Well that should be easy to explain, she thought to herself. When she reached him she saw that he was very wary of her. His hand was gripping a hunting knife that he had half pulled out of the sheaf.
"Please, I'm not trying to hurt you or your people. I know that I must look suspicious, but honestly I mean no harm to anyone. I don't know what I'm doing here or where I am or what day it is and I'm very, very confused. I just woke up here and everything is just so...." She couldn't go on and fell to her knees, tears rolling down her cheeks. Seeing how suspicious he was of her she realized just how difficult this would be. Would these people ever trust her? She felt foolish crying like this, but she couldn't contain herself. A few moments after she had started crying and knelt down toward her. His hand was no longer holding his knife and he looked genuinely concerned.
"Let me take you to Zelandonii. She can help you." Marie nodded to him as she wiped her eyes. She pulled him back before they continued walking.
"Before we go, could you promise me something?" He nodded and she continued. "Will you not tell Zelandonii about my...dwelling?" He nodded again and led her through the woods to the Fifth Cave of the Zelandonii.