M'rel finished tying the two bags of Sarla's belongings to Graith's back. The wooden dragon was carefully wrapped, buried in the middle of her clothes. He jumped back to the ground and walked over to where Sarla was hugging Dralina as if she would never let go. "Whenever you're ready, sweetheart," he said gently, patting her shoulder. Sarla clung to Dralina for another moment, then let go and turned to hug Sudina. Tristio was next; she didn't hug him, but he put his hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for believing me," she whispered. He smiled down at her and said, "Good luck, Sarla." She returned his smile and began walking toward Graith, then suddenly turned around and ran back to Dralina, wrapping her arms around her.

"I love you, Dralina," she cried, bursting into tears. "Thank you for being my mother."

Dralina was weeping, too. Dropping to her knees, she hugged Sarla hard and said, "You be good. Be happy. Make me proud."

"I will, I will!"

"Come back and visit me!"

"I will!"

"I should be able to get you up to the Weyr for the Hatching, Dralina," M'rel said. Sarla's face lit up.

"Oh, that would be wonderful! You can come to the Hatching, Dralina!"

Dralina stood up again and managed to smile. "I'd be honored, M'rel. Thank you... well, thank you for being such a good father to her." She gave Sarla one more hug. "Goodbye now, darling. You should go, it's getting late."

"All right... Goodbye, Dralina. Goodbye, Sudina, goodbye Tristio!"

"Goodbye!"

"Good luck!"

M'rel put his arm around his daughter and walked with her over to Graith. Sarla scrambled up the dragon's leg; M'rel stepped quickly up, and strapped them both into the harness. With a whoosh and a shriek of delight from Sarla, the big brown was airborne. He circled the Hold, spiraling up to gain height, and giving her one last look; she waved at the three down below, and then they were between.

They emerged over Telgar Weyr. Sarla could see several dragons in the lake, and many more sunning on ledges. Graith landed in the Bowl, near the entrance to the Kitchen cavern, where Nurevi was waiting. She was smiling as M'rel untied Sarla's bags and helped her down; he gave her a little push toward the Headwoman. "Well, here she is, Nurevi!" he said, beaming down at Sarla. Suddenly shy, Sarla couldn't speak.

"Welcome to the Weyr, Sarla! I hope you'll be happy here," Nurevi said. She was so pleasant and comfortable that Sarla felt easier almost at once. "Come on then," the Headwoman continued, "right through here. I've got someone waiting to meet you." They made their way into the cavern, where a woman was sitting by the hearth. "Here she is! This is Sarla. Sarla, this is Fallera," Nurevi said. "She's going to be your foster mother here."

Fallera was smiling as Sarla came up to her, and she smiled tentatively too. "Hello, Sarla," Fallera said. "I'm so glad you've come. I always wanted a daughter."

"Hello," Sarla said softly.

"Hey, Fallera, where should I put these?" M'rel hefted the two bags. "Or do you want to take them?"

"Well, let's see," Fallera said. "Sarla, do you think you can carry those?"

"Yes," Sarla said a little louder, almost indignantly. "I carried them all the way outside before!"

"Well then, you can carry them to your room and start putting your things away. Maltia!" A girl about Sarla's age ran over.

"Yes, Fallera?"

"Can you show Sarla where her room is? I'd like to talk to M'rel for a moment."

"All right."

"Go on then, Sarla. I'll be there in a few minutes."

Sarla followed Maltia into a side passage. "Your room is right next to mine," the other girl said brightly. "We can go to meals together, if you like."

"I'd like that!" Sarla said happily. Maltia had slowed down a little so that she could keep up with the bags; they weren't too heavy, but they were awkward to carry.

"Here, let me take one those," Maltia said. Sarla willingly handed the smaller one over. Maltia looked at her curiously, and lowered her voice. "Is it true that you got caught in a rock fall during the earth shake?" she asked in awe.

Sarla looked at her in surprise. "Yes," she said warily. "How did you know?"

"Oh, I was in the Dining Cavern when the fire lizard came with the message for M'rel. The poor thing was half-crazy – it took forever for it to calm down enough to get the capsule off! I was close enough to hear M'rel say that his daughter was missing and may have been caught in a rock fall, and then he rushed out of the Hall. He didn't come back until after I was in bed." She paused and looked at Sarla. "What happened? What was it like?"

Sarla told her about the rock fall and her climb down the boulder field. Maltia's eyes grew wide when she described the tunnel ceiling falling down. "Oh my goodness!" she gasped. "I'm glad you weren't in that part of the tunnel!"

"So am I!" Sarla said, shivering at the memory of the rocks crashing down.

"Why were you back there, anyway?" Maltia asked curiously.

"Well..." Sarla wasn't sure how much to tell her new friend. "I was exploring. I like exploring in the old tunnels, the ones in the back of the Hold, that no one uses. It's so exciting – you never know what you'll find – "

"- And there's something new around every corner!"

Sarla stopped short and stared at Maltia, who gave her a conspiratorial grin. "Come on, let's drop your things off and then I'll show you some of my favorite tunnels. I'm always exploring them. Just you wait – there's a tiny little passage that goes around right behind the Hatching Ground..."

Sarla couldn't contain herself and laughed joyfully. Everything would be all right. She had a new foster mother, and a new friend – and there were still tunnels to explore!