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What he should do, he thought, was go out after Zero.

Stanley angrily dug his shovel into the dirt. He was angry at everyone -- Mr. Pendanski, the Warden, Zigzag, X-Ray, and his no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather. But mostly he was angry at himself.

He knew he never should have let Zero dig part of his hole for him. He still could have taught him to read. If Zero could dig all day and still have the strength to learn, then he should have been able to dig all day and still have the strength to teach.

But he didn't.

None of the others helped him dig Zero's hole, and he didn't expect them to. Zero had been helping him dig his hole. Now he had to dig Zero's.

It would have been easy to go out after Zero. There was nobody to stop him. He kept thinking that's what he should do.

He remained out on the lake, digging during the hottest part of the day, long after everyone else had gone in. He kept an eye out for Zero, but Zero didn't come back.

Maybe they could climb to the top of Big Thumb.

It didn't seem likely. Not when an entire lake had gone dry.

If it wasn't too far away. And if it was really the same place where his great-grandfather found refuge. And if, after a hundred years or so, water was still there.

Instead, he came up with a better idea, although he didn't have it quite all figured out yet. He thought that maybe he could make a deal with the Warden. He'd tell her where he really found the gold tube if she wouldn't scratch Zero.

And even if they did find refuge on Big Thumb, he thought, they'd still have to come back here, eventually. Then they'd both have to face the Warden, and her rattlesnake fingers.

He wasn't sure how he'd make this deal without getting himself in deeper trouble. She might just say, Tell me where you found it or I'll scratch you, too. Plus, it would mean X-Ray would get in trouble, too. She'd probably scratch him up as well.

X-Ray would be out to get him for the next sixteen months.

By the next morning, Zero still hadn't returned. Stanley saw one of the counselors sitting guard by the water spigot outside the shower wall.

He dug his shovel into the dirt.

Stanley was required to dig only one hole the next day. As he dug, he kept a constant watchout for Zero, but never saw him. Once again he considered going out on the lake to look for him, but he began to realize that it was already too late.

His only hope was that Zero had found God's thumb on his own. It wasn't impossible. His great-grandfather had found it. For some reason his great-grandfather had felt the urge to climb to the top of that mountain. Maybe Zero would feel the same urge.

Mr. Pendanski had two black eyes and a bandage over his nose. "I always knew he was stupid," Stanley heard him say.

If it was the same mountain. If water was still there.

He tried to convince himself it wasn't impossible. There had been a storm just a few days ago. Maybe Big Thumb was actually some kind of natural water tower that caught and stored the rain.

He returned to his tent to find the Warden, Mr. Sir, and Mr. Pendanski all waiting for him.

"Have you seen Zero?" the Warden asked him.

It wasn't impossible.

"No."

"No."

"He had nobody," said Mr. Pendanski. "He was nobody."

"Can you get into the state files from our computer?" she asked Mr. Pendanski. "I don't want anyone in the A. G.'s office to know he was here."

"Is there anyone who might ask questions? Some social worker who took an interest in him?"

"No sign of him at all?"

"Do you have any idea where he went?"

"You sure he has no family?" the Warden asked Mr. Pendanski.

Mr. Sir nodded.

"You know you're not doing him any favors if you're lying," said Mr. Sir. "He can't survive out there for more than a day or two."

All three stared at Stanley as if they were trying to figure out if he was telling the truth. Mr. Pendanski's face was so swollen, he could barely open his eyes. They were just slits.

The Warden thought a moment. "Okay, I want you to destroy all of his records."

"He was never here," said the Warden.

"I don't know where he is."

"No."

Mr. Pendanski nodded.

"He's a ward of the state," Mr. Pendanski told her. "He was living on the streets when he was arrested."

"Good," said the Warden.

"I don't think I can erase him completely from all the state files," said Mr. Pendanski. "Too many cross-references. But I can make it so it would be very difficult for anyone to ever find a record of him. Like I said, though, no one will ever look. No one cares about Hector Zeroni."