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"How did you know I'd be here?" He said, still watching the cattle. She laughed and shook her head, "the way you talk!" she said. "I was here almost a week before you came. How did you know I'd be here? Tell me that first."

After being helped by a woman on his search for Josiah's cattle, Tayo dreams of her almost constantly. Then, the following summer, Tayo goes out to the ranch to care for the cattle and the new calves. When he arrives at the ranch, he finds the woman camped nearby. From her first appearance in the novel, she has offered Tayo almost magical assistance. Here, she confirms her role as one of his teachers, reminding him of the complexity of the world. Her words underline the cyclical nature of all things. Discovering who came in search of whom is like determining whether the chicken or the egg came first. She also points to the existence of designs greater than the plans or intentions of any one person. Tayo has been dreaming of meeting her for months, since she will play an integral role in the completion of the ceremony that the medicine man Betonie has already outlined. However, without any planning or communication, their meeting cannot have been consciously or mortally organized by either of them.

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