Healer of the Water Monster

Nathan feels unworthy of the quest the Holy Beings assigned to him, considering himself “a flawed chubby human” (153). He decides that Devin the medicine man is a better candidate. Meanwhile, his family has other problems. To pay for the expensive ceremony, Nali pawns her family’s jewelry and sells her cherished rugs. The white pawnbroker offers her $400 for each of the rugs, which upsets her because she spent a year weaving each of them and because she knows that the pawnbroker sells Navajo-woven rugs for thousands in Phoenix. Nathan comforts Nali by reminding her that she is making this sacrifice for Jet. Nathan’s mother is still covering the protest and doesn’t know when she’ll be back home, but talking to her on the phone makes him feel better. 

The night after the visit to the pawnshop, Wind carries Nathan to meet with Pond and Darkness. Nathan is terrified of Mother Water Monster and tells the Holy Beings that he cannot go to the Third World. Pond explains that his mother won’t hurt him if Nathan can sing water monster songs because the music will prove that Pond sent him. The water monster assures the boy that he “wouldn’t send [his] friend into danger” (169). Warmed by these words, Nathan promises to complete the quest even though he is “still scared to [his] bones” (170).

Wind creates a painting with moon sand, and Darkness blesses Nathan with moon sand to help him learn the water monster songs. Nathan needs to remain hopeful and joyful throughout the blessing for it to take effect. He tries to focus on happy thoughts of his mother and father, but tense, painful memories of their separation intrude. Darkness encourages Nathan to focus on his parents’ love, and this helps Nathan imagine a hopeful future in which Pond is healed, Uncle Jet is well again, and the rains return to the desert. Darkness and Nathan complete the blessing with a prayer, and the boy feels ready for his quest. 

Pond explains that the songs he will teach Nathan are holy and must not be recorded or practiced where other humans could hear. The water monster sings a lullaby that lasts for hours, prompting Nathan to worry that he will be unable to learn all four water monster songs in time. Instead of carrying Nathan directly back to Nali’s mobile home after the music lesson, the water monster brings him to his old pond.

Pond tells Nathan that he lost some of his trust by trying to break his promise, and Nathan apologizes for hurting his friend. Pond uses his water monster songs to make groundwater rise to the surface, turn the water into a cloud, and make it snow, which is Nathan’s favorite form of precipitation. Pond melts the water into a gushing stream, and it creates a path like a waterslide to Nali’s home. Pond returns the water to the ground, filling the air with the “sweet floral scent” of petrichor, the smell of rainfall on warm, dry soil (181). Nathan watches Pond’s uneven gait as the water monster returns to the desert, and he resolves to save his ailing friend.

The next morning, grass and flowers sprout where Pond watered the ground. Nathan tends to the corn and takes measurements for his science project. Devin comes to Nali’s home and informs her that Uncle Jet’s Enemy Way Ceremony can occur months sooner than they expected. First, they need to obtain permission from the other patient, a woman from a different clan. Nali sends Nathan to wake up Uncle Jet, but the man smells like alcohol and frightens Nathan away. The boy wonders if the Ash Being has already returned to his uncle, but he can’t find any sign of the vengeful entity.

Nali and Nathan decide to make the two-hour drive to visit the female patient without Uncle Jet. Once Nathan’s phone has reception, he sends messages to his friends and both of his parents. The female patient’s large house indicates that she is affluent, and the residence seems all the more luxurious to Nathan because Nali’s mobile home does not have air-conditioning, running water, or electricity. Nathan befriends the patient’s daughter, Andrea, and they play video games together while Nali and the patient discuss the ceremony. On the drive back, Nali joyously explains that Uncle Jet’s ceremony will be in three weeks and that she feels like the Holy Beings are helping them, to which Nathan agrees.

During the nightly music lessons, Nathan’s confidence and mastery of the water monster lullaby grow. One night, as Nathan prepares to call upon Wind to carry him to his lesson, he sees Uncle Jet emerge from the hogan. Nathan hides in the back of the truck, which the boy thinks is still broken. To his surprise, Uncle Jet climbs into the driver’s seat and drives away from Nali’s mobile home. Uncle Jet parks near a dilapidated hogan with light spilling through its cracks “like a sad jack-o’lantern” (193). Uncle Jet spots Nathan, and the boy quickly cobbles together an excuse about lying in the truck bed to gaze at the stars.

Jet brings Nathan inside the hogan and starts drinking beer with the crowd gathered inside. Nathan feigns sleepiness, so Uncle Jet gives him the keys and tells him to sleep in the truck. Before the boy can call out to Wind or Darkness to carry him away, he gets caught in the scuffle of two brawling men and is rendered unconscious. When he wakes up, his head is throbbing, and his glasses are scratched. Even worse, the bow guard with his communication stone is gone.

Nathan learns that a large, violent man stole his bow guard and intends to sell it. The boy summons Darkness by speaking Darkness’s Navajo name. Even without the communication stone, the boy can speak with this Holy Being because Darkness invented communication. Nathan lures the thief away from the other adults by throwing a rock at him, and then Darkness envelops the man and makes him fall asleep so that Nathan can reclaim the bow guard.

Nathan still has the keys to the truck and doesn’t want to leave his uncle stranded. Darkness reluctantly agrees to let Nathan skip a night of practicing the songs and departs after reminding him that Pond is growing weaker. Nathan finds Uncle Jet asleep in the truck. The intoxicated Uncle Jet insists that Nathan drive them back to Nali’s home, a task that he claims will be “[e]asy-peasy lemon-squeezy” despite the fact that Nathan has never driven before (205). When they arrive, Nali is standing outside the mobile home in her pajamas, and she glares furiously at Nathan.

Nali orders Nathan to go inside the mobile home. Her calm actions belie the coming storm. Nali and Uncle Jet have a furious argument, and Uncle Jet packs his things. Nali asks Uncle Jet if he’s going to spend his whole life running away from his problems and tells him that his father would be ashamed of him. With “tears in his bloodshot eyes” (209), he retorts that his father was “worthless” and a “drunk” (209). Nali prevents Nathan from running after Uncle Jet when the man leaves.

Nathan moves tentatively around Nali the way he used to behave when his parents were fighting. However, the uneasy silence between them soon erupts in more pain and trouble. Nali orders Nathan to stop meeting the Holy Beings because she does not want him to be alone in the desert. Nathan shows her the bow guard in the hope that the communication stone will allow her to speak with the Holy Beings and change her mind.

Instead, the sight of the bow guard makes her distraught. Uncle Jet stole the wrist guard from her, and she could have kept her mother’s cherished rug if she had been able to sell the bow guard instead. Nali takes the bow guard to her room, leaving Nathan to fret over how he will explain losing the object a second time. He asks Darkness to make another communication stone for him, but Darkness explains that he formed the stone from a piece of Nathan’s heart and that taking another piece would turn Nathan into a hateful person. Darkness leaves in disappointment, and Nathan feels powerless to save Pond.