Race to the Sun

Nizhoni’s dad knocks on her door with dinner he’s brought home for her, and the coldness between them thaws a little. Her dad asks her why she attacked Mr. Charles, and Nizhoni calmly reiterates that he threatened to kill her with a knife. Her dad stops her, telling her that the story doesn’t make sense and blaming Nizhoni’s imagination, which he frames as an inheritance from her mother. The mention of her mother shocks Nizhoni since her dad never discusses her mom. Her dad laments that her mom was “always seeing monsters lurking everywhere’” (63). Nizhoni demands to know more, but her father is focused on lecturing her against violence. She wonders if his inattention is due to some evil performed by Mr. Charles or if this is her dad’s usual self-absorption. Her dad tells her to go to bed, promising that they can talk the next day, but the chapter ends on a cliffhanger, noting that the next day will be too late.

When Mac and Nizhoni walk to school the next day, Mac admits that he doesn’t think Mr. Charles is a monster. Nizhoni counters that Mr. Charles told her he wanted to use Mac for his “special power,” but Mac becomes consumed with what this power might be. Mac implies that Nizhoni is “nuts,” which he doesn’t view as a problem but which Nizhoni sees as a reason not to tell her brother about her dream with Mr. Yazzie.

Nizhoni goes to the school library to find Davery. She admits that she sees monsters and tells him about the incident with Mr. Charles. Davery says that he believes her and then quickly goes to a library computer to research cases of monster sightings. They shift to researching Mr. Charles himself, determining that he is “a really bad dude” and that his pipeline project has been heavily protested (70). He’s also been sued by tribal governments to prevent fracking on Native American-owned lands. They look up Na’ashjéii Asdzáá, whom Mr. Yazzie referenced, learning that she is called Spider Woman, a Navajo Holy Person. Before they can explore further, the bell rings, indicating that class is about to begin.

On the way to their first class, Davery asks if Nizhoni is coming to the lunchtime meeting of the Ancestor Club. She criticizes him for his “obsession” with his ancestors before remembering Mr. Yazzie’s comment about cultural heritages being lost. She agrees to come, though Davery cautions that she’ll soon have to contribute, not just attend. He argues that the club could provide another opportunity for her to learn about her mother’s abilities.

Nizhoni struggles through her morning classes, distracted by the mysterious events of the previous day. Realizing that she forgot her lunch at home, she decides to sneak off campus to retrieve it. She quickly jogs home, so impressed with her running speed that she almost misses the black car parked in front of her house. She quickly hides behind a chamisa bush (despite being allergic) to avoid being seen.

As she struggles not to give herself away with a sneeze, she watches Mr. Charles, Mr. Rock, and Ms. Bird wheel a large trunk from her house. Mr. Charles reports on the phone that “securing” Mac won’t be a problem but that Nizhoni is “a real fighter” (75). They’re almost all in the car when Nizhoni sneezes; Ms. Bird thinks she hears something, but Mr. Charles is rude to her, and she doesn’t investigate. After the car drives away, Nizhoni hurries inside, seeking her father. She realizes that none of their possessions are missing, but her father is. He must have been inside the trunk.

She considers calling the police before deciding that they won’t believe her. She tries to consult Mr. Yazzie, but he remains a toy. She sees her lunch bag with a red delicious apple (which her dad knows she hates) inside. The word “RUN” is carved into the skin of the apple. The sound of a car outside heralds Mr. Charles’s return; he wants the photo of Nizhoni’s mom. Nizhoni grabs the photo before he can enter the house and flees out the back door.

Nizhoni rushes into the school library, shouting that Mr. Charles has abducted her father, before realizing that Davery is surrounded by the entire Ancestor Club. Nizhoni asks Davery to talk in private. As she tells him everything, the principal summons Nizhoni and Marcus to the front office over the loudspeaker for a “family emergency.” Nizhoni ignores this, planning to follow her father’s command to run.

Her first step is to find the Spider Woman. She’s surprised at how easy it is to learn that Na’ashjéii Asdzáá’s traditional home is near Chinle, Arizona, on Navajo Nation land. Davery uses his older brother’s credit card to purchase two train tickets (which will take Nizhoni and Mac as far as Gallup, New Mexico, 91 miles from Chinle) for a train that leaves in an hour. She thanks Davery and promises to text him for help if she needs it, and then she hurries to search for Mac.

Nizhoni panics when she can’t find Mac, though the principal’s increasingly irritated announcements indicate that he has not yet reported to the front office. She recalls seeing Mac’s bully, Adrien Cuttlebush, outside. She finds Adrien and three of his friends surrounding Mac, who has been knocked to the ground. The bullies mock her, and she attacks them, though it’s less coordinated than her fight with Mr. Charles, and she falls on her face. Adrien taunts Mac using anti-gay rhetoric. He snaps one of Mac’s fancy colored pencils, which Mac saved up his money to buy, and Mac screams in rage, slapping the ground. Suddenly, sprinklers turn on, all aimed at Adrien and his friends. The four bullies flee to avoid the sprinkler attack.

Mac admits that he has made water move before, but he thought he was just imagining it. He has never done something on this scale. Nizhoni realizes that he must be manifesting the “special power” that Mr. Charles referenced. Mac admits that he believes Nizhoni can detect and fight monsters, and she reveals her suspicion that Mr. Charles wants to kill her and kidnap Mac. Nizhoni tells Mac that they need to run but doesn’t reveal the whole truth about their dad’s abduction or why they need to board the train to Gallup. A text from Davery urges them to hurry, as the school security is searching for Nizhoni and Mac.

Nizhoni and Mac take a bus to the Albuquerque train station with 20 minutes to spare. They don’ t have enough money for food, and a hungry Mac grumbles that he wants to return home. Though she tries to maintain a good attitude, Nizhoni feels defeated as well. She considers stealing from a snack cart, despite her reluctance to do something morally wrong. Just as she tries to make herself snatch a bag of Hot Cheetos, Mac’s preferred snack, the snack cart worker grabs her hand. When Nizhoni’s stomach grumbles, the Navajo woman grows concerned and gives Nizhoni enough food for herself, Mac, and “the [friend] who’s coming to meet [her]. The smart one” (99). Nizhoni assumes that she’s referring to Davery but is confused about how the woman could know this.

Nizhoni admits that she doesn’t have money to pay, and the woman says she comes from somewhere that doesn’t turn away the hungry and that values sharing what little they have. She warns Nizhoni that accepting this food means she must share what she has with someone hungry in the future. Nizhoni agrees. The cart worker disappears into the crowd as she reveals that she knows Nizhoni’s and Mac’s names; when Nizhoni asks another Amtrak worker about the “cart lady,” he insists that no cart lady works at this station. She finds Mac, annoyed that he left their meeting spot to use the bathroom, and privately thinks that her irritating little brother will be a bigger obstacle on her quest than the monsters.

Nizhoni and Mac board the train. The conductor is suspicious about two kids traveling alone, but Mac bluffs that their dad told them to do so and challenges the conductor to call him. Before he can follow through on the call that will reveal their duplicity, a middle-aged Navajo woman distracts the conductor with a question. Just as the train prepares to leave, they see Davery sprinting across the platform, closely followed by Adrien Cuttlebush. Davery slides through the train doors just before they close. Nizhoni looks at Adrien through the window, realizing that he is now a monster. Nizhoni feels confused since Adrien wasn’t a monster when she confronted him at school, but Davery explains that he thinks Mr. Charles is a shapeshifter who has assumed Adrien’s form. He suspects that the bodyguards are shapeshifters, too.

Mac tells Davery about his powers, and Nizhoni tells them both about her interaction with the cart woman, who left a note in her bag advertising an “upcoming Navajo Nation Fair in Window Rock, Arizona” (108). On the back, she finds a rhyming riddle about accessing “ancient powers” and finding “home.” Davery is excited by the prospect of solving a puzzle, but Nizhoni worries about the ominous tone of the poem’s verses as she drifts off to sleep.

Nizhoni “wakes” in a dream where she is in her shimásání’s house, with her grandmother; her grandmother’s dog, Ladygirl; and Ladygirl’s puppies. She thinks about how her grandmother didn’t think of her dogs as being “owned” but as being in a partnership wherein the human provides food and the dogs provide protection. Her grandmother’s voice summons her, and she passes Mac, her dad, and her grandfather watching football in another room.

Nizhoni and her grandmother quibble over whether Nizhoni needs a coat outside, which devolves into a quarrel about whether Nizhoni is like her mother; Nizhoni does not want to be anything like her mother, but her grandmother counters that they are similar whether she likes it or not. Nizhoni reaches for her turquoise pendant but finds herself blocked by a jacket she doesn’t recall donning. More and more coats appear as her grandmother comments that her mother “had to go” because she loved Mac and Nizhoni (114).