Bone

Smiley, Fone, and the rat cub make their way towards the mountains. Smiley has become attached to the cub and named him Bartleby.

The Stupid Rat Creatures appear. Smiley tries to ward them off by reading Moby Dick to them, but it doesn’t work. When Fone tries it, the rat creatures fall unconscious.

Fone tells Smiley that it’s best to leave Bartleby with the rat creatures. When the rat creatures come to, they ignore Bartleby and chase after the Bones. The cousins duck into a crevice, and Bartleby defends them. The rat creatures plan to kill him for his treachery, but Smiley chases them away.

They are confronted by a giant mountain lion named Roque Ja. He introduces himself as the Master of the Eastern Boarder and informs them that they are trespassing. Roque Ja asks the trio if they are with “them or him” (621), in reference to Grandma and the dragons or the Hooded One, respectively. When Smiley refers to Fone as “Fone Bone,” Roque Ja recognizes the name: “Yes. The one who bears the star is named Bone. Do you know him, perhaps?” (623). The Bones demand to know what the Hooded One wants with Phoney and learn that she sees Phoney as a threat to her conquest.