Across The Desert

Marty makes Jo a TV dinner and readies the pull-out sofa, but Jo can only think about getting away to help Addie. As Marty drifts off, she asks Jo about her mother’s friend, saying that sometimes keeping someone’s dangerous habit a secret is the wrong decision. Jo would like to tell Marty the truth about her home life but recalls again how Aunt Mallory betrayed her. Jo waits for Marty to fall asleep, then sneaks out.

This chapter begins with direct messages from “16 Days Ago” (94). Jo tells Addie she is reading a book about Amelia Earhart. Addie says her favorite pilot is “Queen” Bess Coleman, a Black woman who received her pilot’s license in France and became a barnstormer. The girls chat about flying away together to distant locations like Paris and Egypt.

Jo realizes she has no good plan, unlike astronaut Valentina Tereshkova before her space flights. Jo sees that walking the 80 miles to Alamo Lake is unrealistic; she decides to borrow a bike from a campground she passes, calculating that she can arrive by morning that way. She takes an electric bike, leaving a note and her mother’s cell number to reassure the owner that they will get it back.