Why had Dr Foreman decided to have Natani do this now? I wondered. Was this our punishment? To be confronted by all these frightening creatures and insects so we would dream about them at night or tiptoe about this place? Was it meant to keep us confined and discourage us from wandering about the ranch? If so, it was working. Robin looked like she would roll herself up into a ball and stay that way, and my stomach was so tight and twisted inside. I thought I would donate my dinner soon to the ants and spiders and snakes.
Natani pushed all the skins and creatures aside and sat ac
ross from us.
"Traveling in the desert is harder during the day, but the poisonous creatures I show you come out only at night. Animals in desert know to burrow and sleep during day."
"Sounds like a peachy keen life," Robin said dryly. "What is all this?" She turned to me. "Are we going for a hike or something?"
"Maybe," I said.
"Not me," Robin said. "They'd have to drag me screaming and clawing. That can't be on the agenda, can it?" She looked from Natani to me for some assurances, but all I could do was shake my head.
"Let's wait and see," I said.
"Always cover your head in desert," Natani continued, ignoring our conversation. "Shorts, less clothes, are not good. Sun can be like a knife. You already know," he said, looking at Robin. "But I will teach you now how to make fire in the desert."
'Fire in the desert? That's like bringing ice cubes to Eskimos," Robin said. grimacing. "Why would anyone need a fire in the desert?"
"Fire is a way to signal, cook food, make water good. You know it can be very cold at night, too."
Natani showed us how to use a stick with a piece of dried wood or the thick branch of a bush to generate enough friction. Once the smoke started, he bore down harder, then fed the area with some dried twigs, constantly blowing on the tiny embers. They flamed up and he sat back.
"You try." He gave both of us the means to work a friction fire. Robin and I got the smoke started, but both of us failed to get the flame going until Natani demonstrated again. Finally, we both got a flame. It felt like a major accomplishment.
"Isn't it easier to just carry a pack of matches?" Robin muttered,
Natani's eves darkened, then brightened again when he looked at me. "Natani can't teach in one day what it takes a lifetime to learn, and what you learn here is good forever. Everywhere there are deserts, even in the middle of your cities."
"What is that supposed to mean? Don't worry about it. Natani," Robin said. nodding, I'm not exactly going to need to know all this when I get out of here. I promise you, I won't even look at a desert on television."
M'Lady Three poked her head into the doorway of Natani's hogan and we all turned when she asked. "Are you finished in here?"
"No," he said.
"Well, that's too bad. Dr. Foreman wants to see them now"
I looked at Natani. Something in his otherwise impossible to read face frightened me. He wasn't happy for us.
"Now," M'Lady Three snapped.
We rose and emerged from the hogan to walk to the house.
"How was your lesson from the chief. girls? Think you could survive a day in the desert without your makeup?"
"You survived, didn't vou?" I fired back at her. "Are you saying if I did it, you could do it?"
"Maybe."
She laughed.
"And then again, maybe you didn't survive." I said.
She stopped smiling and reached out to grab my shoulder and turn me around to face her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
I didn't reply. She kept her eyes fixed on me, the fury so hot between us, Natani could make a fire with a stick he held up in front of our faces.
"Get moving. You haven't changed," M'Ladv Three muttered as we walked. "You haven't improved one bit despite your act. You might have fooled some people around here. Phoebe bird, but not me. Remember that."