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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. After Bess is well, what do she and Venters do everyday in Surprise Valley?
(a) Build a home where the cliff dwellers were.
(b) Wander and explore.
(c) Worry that Bess will still die.
(d) Worry about what will happen next.

2. When Bess and Venters remember Surprise Valley they agree to return someday, but what if Balancing Rock falls?
(a) Venters can swim in with the water.
(b) Venters knows an underground cave entrance.
(c) Venters knows a way to climb in with ropes.
(d) It will be closed forever.

3. After his time in Surprise Valley, Venters believes that it was wrong of Jane to love him. Why?
(a) He is really a Mormon.
(b) He never loved Jane.
(c) It put Jane in a bad position.
(d) He works for Tull.

4. The morning after the storm, what does Bess ask Venters?
(a) If he was scared of the storm.
(b) If she was a baby.
(c) If he loves her.
(d) If he's leaving today.

5. When Venters returns to Surprise Valley, who follows him?
(a) Dyer.
(b) Tull.
(c) Lassiter.
(d) Rustlers.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Mrs. Larkin dies, what does Lassiter tell Jane to do with Fay?

2. After his stay in Surprise Valley, what does Venters tell Tull about the red herd?

3. What does Lassiter do to Withersteen house when he and Jane flee?

4. Venters tells Bess he must return to Cottonwoods after the storm but will come right back. What does he tell Bess he is returning for?

5. After Mrs. Larkin dies, Jane continues to hear something in the fields by her house. What does she hear?

Short Essay Questions

1. After Lassiter leaves Surprise Valley, what is Venters worried about? Why is he worried? What actions will he take at this point?

2. When Venters tells Bess he must return to Cottonwoods for supplies, what does she think? Why does Bess not feel worthy of Venters attention? What has changed Venters since he came to the valley?

3. What do Bess and Venters think about when they find human bone in the cliff dwellings?

4. What is the bet between Venters and Jane about the speed of the horses? Who is right in the end?

5. Judkins comes to tell Jane the white herd is missing. What happened to them? Who was lost? How does this compare to Lassiter's work earlier in the novel with the white herd?

6. When Lassiter returns from Surprise Valley, what do he and Jane discover about her horses? Why is this important? What does this mean to Jane and Lassiter?

7. The title of the book is used for the first time in Chapter 22 as Bess looks at the band of riders and calls them sage riders. What does this mean? How is this different that rustlers?

8. Why does Venters shoot Wrangle? Why didn't one of the men do this before now? What keeps them from shooting the horses?

9. Lassiter tells Jane he is going to follow Venters to see where he is going. What does he reveal about Milly Erne in this moment? How does this parallel Jane's life?

10. What does Lassiter bring back to Jane after he pursues the men? What does this do to Jane? How does her will to live change?

(see the answer keys)

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