Balyet is told with a small cast of characters. The two main human actors are fourteen-year-old Jo and Mrs. Willet, a "Clever Woman" of aboriginal heritage, who was Jo's beloved sitter when the girl was younger. Stowing away in "Granny" Willet's car as the old woman sets out to tend the sites of ancestral magic, Jo churns with a mixture of emotions. Her simple act of hiding springs from several motives. Jo would never admit to uneasiness at being left on her own while her mother goes on a business trip. She is at that awkward age where one both longs for and resents adult protection. But she hates to be cooped up in the house while Mrs. Willet goes out in the country to do adventurous deeds. And Jo knows that her friend Terry is planning an outing to the same area. What...