In this chapter, Ariana, the younger sister of Rintiala is presented with a problem that literally pops up out of nowhere. She is in the south-east part of Nuegua, closest to the Galiuro wilderness, working with the Guild of Gardeners and the Guild of Builders on a vast new garden project, headed by Berylia, who is in the process of creating the Companions, those young women who failed to pass the tests of the Pregnant Virgin. Ariana is sent there during her Second Sister period as a token gesture by the Guild of Healers, who have become more secluded in the last few years, working on their own secret projects. Ariana befriends Alope, Dianire’s younger sister. From Alope, Ariana learns all about the Graspers, a cross between a kangaroo and an owl whose function it is in Nueguan society to manage the emus and turkeys, protecting them from coyotes, cougars and wolves. Ariana is befriended by Yassah and Shassah, a male-and-female Grasper pair of unusually high intelligence, Yassah especially. He is the equivalent of a bright six-year-old when we first meet him, and fascinated by the game of checkers, which Alope has taught him. More than that, alone of all Graspers, Yassah can talk in a song-song sibilance.
A threat to all Nuegua arises when Seamus Espinoza Jr. leads a party of young wild, rebellious desparados (to Seamus Espinoza Sr.) into this village of the Gardeners. Wily and skilled, Seamus Jr. has figured out how to cross the Galiuro on a series of towers and pulleys, going from rock formation to rock formation. Attempting to cross the Galiuro on foot is impossible except for a Healer, because the termites in their billions will sense an enemy human presence (anyone not a Healer) and attack.
How has the Galiuro come about? It is the resting place of the Wild Mothers, those Cactus Mothers whose growth went awry. Nueguans never destroy their sacred technologies, so they transport them to the Galiuro wilderness, leaving these ‘Wild Mothers’ to their fate. Most are dying, but some have survived to become menaces.
Seamus Jr. and his band of desparados intend to sack the Healing Temple in Clan Tiala, because they mistakenly believe that it is made of gold. (The new Healing Temple has translucent golden walls, but that is the choice of the Builders, in the process of learning to work with Mothersilk).
It is the team of Ariana, Alope, Yassah and Shassah who thwart the plans of Seamus Jr. by using tricks from the game of checkers (actually moves from the British Draughts Society). Once it is clear that Ariana’s team is winning, Berylia steps into the fray with her Companions, demonstrating the combat skills of these young girls who otherwise appear to be geisha.
When Tianara, First Sister of the Builders, and Combat Master of All Guilds (and Alopes’ eldest sister) arrives, the fight is already over. Tianara thanks Ariana, noting that Ariana did not require the powers of the Pregnant Virgin to solve this dilemna.
I wrote this chapter a long time ago, focussing on Alope and Yassah, but it needs to be rewritten so that the reader can identify with Ariana, who will be the catalyst for all the political and social changes that will occur in Nuegua Book One: The Summer People.