Chapter 22 Summary

"My Oath" The author reveals lost all track of western time, but one day she woke with the conviction it was Christmas Day. When she returned to the western world, she discovered she had been right. She becomes aware that the tribe is having conversations that aren't being translated. She learns that they are discussing whether the gifts of Time Keeper and Memory Keeper, who together have the talent of aiding in detailed memory recall, are to be shared with her. For three nights, the tribe debates what to do, with several tribe members arguing against, while Tribal Elder and several others argue for. Finally the decision is made, and the author is led to what she discovers is a sacred cave, the last of the Aborigine's sacred sites (the others, she is told, have all been taken over by Mutants). The tribe...