photo by Girinath Gopinath
Chapter 1
At Thanksgiving Kyra and Delaney are invited to Dominick Flood´s party. Kyra´s mother Kit joins them, and Jordan stays at home with his nanny Orbelia.
At the party Delaney talks with Jack about his work, his article on the coyote and the fact that those animals are not evil because everything that has happened is the human beings' fault. They talk about the new wall which has been built for more safety in general and against coyotes in particular. Delaney is against this wall, but Kyra who joins the discussion thinks that the wall is a good thing. Kyra and Delaney start arguing. They are angry about each other and part in different directions. Kyra goes into the house and looks at all the rooms. At the same time Delaney who is hungry eats something till somebody screams that there is a fire in the canyon.
Delaney and Kyra go back home because they want to be with Jordan . Having arrived, they turn on the TV and watch the report on the fire. They think about evacuation, but they don't actually leave.
Chapter 2
In the second chapter of the third book, América misses civilization. She hates Cándido because he has made her come to the U.S. and live like an animal there.
But when Cándido brings home a thanksgiving bird, América cannot be angry anymore. Cándido makes a fire to roast the bird, but the fire gets out of control and turns into an inferno. The whole area has to be evacuated. To save their lives, Cándido and América escape and have to leave everything behind. They hide further up in the canyon. América can hardly move because their baby is about to arrive, and she is in big pain. Since Cándido has caused the fire, he can't take her to hospital. But he leaves América behind to try and find help in nearby homes, which are sourrounded by a wall. Close to the wall Cándido finds a shed, a place where he can take América to give birth to their baby. However, even in the shed they are still endangered by the fire because the wind constantly changes its direction.
Chapter 3
The police evacuate the Mossbachers' neighbourhood, and the family have ten minutes to get their belongings and leave their house. They are allowed to wait outside and see if the fire approaches. Delaney argues again with Kyra and she turns away from him. He talks to Jack who gives him a bottle of alcohol.
Jack and Delaney see two Mexican campers, and they blame them for starting the fire. The police have to stop the angry crowd from attacking the Latinos.
The following day everybody is allowed to return to their homes after having spent the night in hotels or in their cars. Back home there is still a tense atmosphere between Kyra and Delaney, and they still argue. Kyra is afraid that the Da Ros house is destroyed since Sally has indicated to her that there has been a TV report on it. Kyra wants to drive to the Da Ros place, but it seems too dangerous.
Kit has got a monitoring device smuggled into her purse by Dominick Flood. They all realize that he plays a nasty game on her.
Jordan cannot find their cat that has got lost during evacuation.
Chapter 4
América wants to leave the place because the fire seems to come closer. But as soon as she starts moving, the baby is born. Cándido tries to substitute for a midwife as best as he can.
They have a baby-girl, which disappoints Cándido a little because he has looked forward to having a son. América calls her daughter Socorro.
At night Cándido can't sleep, so he watches the fire from the roof of the shed. Since his little family need something to eat, Cándido climbs over the nearby wall to find something edible.
In a garden he finds some vegetables and some fruit for his wife. He himself eats dog food which he takes out of a dog house. From a garden shed Cándido also steals some wooden pallets and some other things he needs for building a shack for his family. Later Cándido, América and the baby move from their makeshift home into the newly erected shed.
América wants to return to her mother and show her the baby. She is fed up with having to live like an animal in the US.
Chapter 5
Kyra drives to the Da Ros place to see what the fire may have done to it. She is really shocked by the fact that nearly nothing is left of it. It will be hard for her to sell the property. She is convinced that Mexicans are responsible for the fire, although there is no real proof. Kyra calls Darlene and complains about what has happened.
Delaney arrives at Da Ros and tries to console Kyra. Both have a walk and search for the cat which is still missing. They meet Jack and he takes them to the wall around the development. During the car ride he talks about Dominick Flood who has left the country. On the wall there are large graffiti insults in Spanish. They all get angry about the Mexicans, and their anger turns into hate.
A month later Delaney decides to guard the wall because the police and the hired guard aren't effective enough. Kyra doesn't like Delaney's idea; she worries about him. Delaney is on guard every night, and he is so much engaged that he forgets about his other duties. There is just one night he does not guard the wall because he takes Kyra to dinner and to the movies. At that night his surveillance camera takes a picture, and when he checks the pictures he sees a Mexican's face. It is the face of the man involved in the accident in the mountains.
Chapter 6
Cándido goes back to the canyon. He wants to look for the money left behind. He finds their 'safe', a plastic bottle, which is now melted; their money is destroyed. Cándido is full of self-pity.
América waits for Cándido to return with the money. She wans to buy a bus-ticket to go home with or without Cándido for their baby's sake. América also realizes that Socorro is blind. She wants to consult a doctor, but since their money is gone, they can't afford one.
Cándido tries to find work, but he is not very successful, since he is afraid of being caught. To feed his family, Cándido catches cats in the neighbourhood whose meat they eat. Trying to find work, Cándido happens to meet Delaney again whom he remembers from the accident.
Chapter 7
While driving Delaney sees a Mexican who looks like Cándido. He reacts immediately and calls the police. Because of that he causes a car crash and loses the Mexican. Furthermore, the policeman arriving does not care about him. So Delaney decides to follow the Mexican’s footprints to find him. He follows the footprints up to Arroyo Blanco Drive where they turn into the road. Delaney is not surprised about that because of the Spanish-looking graffiti and everything that has happened there. He gets angry about it and ideas of Cándido’s death in the car accident come to his mind. Even though it rains and gets dark outside Delaney keeps on looking for the Mexican. He walks home to pick up his gun, purchased together with Jack and of which he has always been afraid. He walks over to Jack’s place to develop the pictures of graffiti-spraying people. When he recognizes that Jack Jr. is the sprayer, he almost stops his plan of trying to find the Mexican, but he changes his mind quickly. So he leaves the house again and walks to the canyon where he further searches for the Mexican. After a while he sees smoke and walks into that direction. Kyra drives to pick up Jordan at a friend’s house. While she drives there she listens to her whale sound tape and relaxes and thinks about her life. She is tired of her job and wants more time for her family. On her way she passes a sign at a house that is on the market and she gets interested in it. When she sees the house, she is surprised and her interest is aroused even more. So she goes and meets the owners.
Chapter 8
Cándido returns to the camp to tell América about his meeting Delaney.
With a gun in his hands, angry Delaney follows Cándido to the Mexican's shack. He sees that the house is built of material stolen from his premises when a flash flood rushes down from the mountains and washes the shack, its inhabitants and Delaney away. Cándido and América try to surf on pallets towards Topanga Creek, are sucked under water and can finally save themselves on the roof of a building where they realize that they have lost their daughter.
Chapters 2,4,6,8 by MAREN SEIBOTH
Chapters 1,3,5 by LAURA HECK
Chapter 7 by TAMARA KNUDSEN