Zoe dived out into the swirling storm. She felt the sand beating against her skin, stinging her like sharp needles. Bent over, she stumbled around, calling out for Jossy. But her voice was muffled by the howling wind.

He’s not a trained animal, Zoe realized. He won’t come to my call, but he must be somewhere nearby. He might even have gone back to the shelter. She turned, but couldn’t see the sail any longer. She was totally lost now.

Zoe fought down her rising panic as she crawled on, trying to find something to focus on, anything that would tell her where she was. But she couldn’t make out any landmarks, just endless swirling sand. She should have stayed in the shelter with Ben, but she knew she’d had no choice. She had to find Jossy.

The sand was pelting her goggles. She started to feel dizzy as she watched its swirling movement. She took an uncertain step forward, stumbled, and fell heavily. As she stretched out her hand to pick herself up, she felt her fingers come into contact with something warm and moving.

Zoe’s instincts kicked in. She pulled back her hand and curled up, arms over her head, fearing an attack. She could hear something crying out and growling.

Suddenly, there was a nose nudging at her arm. Zoe risked a peek. A familiar face was staring up at her.

“Jossy!” she said, clasping the trembling cub tightly and curling around him. “I’ve got you. You’re all right now.”

The lion cub seemed to sense that he had reached safety. He lay in Zoe’s arms, sneezing and shaking his head to free himself of the fine sand that covered his snout.

Zoe wished she could contact Ben on her BUG and tell him she’d found Jossy, but all Zoe could do now was to wait until the storm moved on. And she had no idea how long that would be.

* * *

Ben lay under his shelter, fighting the urge to race to Zoe’s rescue. He admired her courage for going after Jossy, but she’d taken their mission too far. The sound of the sand beating on his shelter was deafening. As the wind whipped around, it caught the corners of the sail, making it hard to keep the shelter stable.

Ben could feel the sand beginning to cover him. First his feet, then his back. He kept shaking it off, horrified at the thought of being buried alive.

After what felt like an eternity, the sound of the storm began to die away. Ben cautiously raised a corner of the sail and looked out. Zoe was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Jossy. The air grew still. The blown sand was banked up in smooth slopes and mounds against trees and around bushes and rocks.

A terrible thought came to him. Was Zoe somewhere under there, struggling to breathe?

Ben jumped when he heard a shout close behind him. He leaped to his feet, threw the sail aside and turned. Just a few paces away was a shallow bank of sand.

Zoe was emerging from the far side with Jossy in her arms! Ben gave a shout of relief, ripped off his goggles and cotton scarf, and ran toward his sister.

“That was scary!” called Zoe, uncovering her face. “If only I’d known I was so close. But I did find our naughty little friend!”

“I’m not sure who was the naughty one,” said Ben sternly. “You should never have left the shelter in a storm like that.”

“I know,” admitted Zoe. “But if I hadn’t, we might have lost Jossy for good.”

Ben grinned. “And you say I’m the one who takes all the risks!” he said.

Jossy wriggled in Zoe’s arms. “Okay, boy,” she said soothingly. “We’re going now.”

Ben reached out and stroked the cub to help calm him. Then he looked up at the sky. Over in the west, the sun was beginning to sink toward the dunes. “We won’t get much farther before nightfall,” he said. “We should set up camp for now, and head for the pool in the morning.”

“Good idea,” Zoe said. She wiped her mouth with her hand. “And I need some water! I’m really dried out after that storm. I bet Jossy would like a drink, too.”

Ben held up the water bottle and shook it. “Not much left,” he said. He saw the look of alarm on Zoe’s face. “Don’t worry, we’ll think of something. There are a few plants growing here, so there must be water somewhere.”

“I just remembered something I saw on TV,” said Zoe. “A program about the people of the Kalahari. They dug up melons and drank the fluid inside. The melons had leaves that looked like dandelions and were on long stalks under the surface.”

“Then let’s get digging,” said Ben.

Jossy seemed sleepy again, so they made him comfortable in the backpack and began their search. There were clumps of yellow spiky grass and thorn bushes pushing up through the newly laid sand, but no sign of the dandelion-like leaves.

The sun was very low now, and sinking fast. Zoe began to scrape away the sand, trying to ignore the overwhelming dryness in her mouth.

They searched and dug until darkness fell, but they didn’t find anything.

“Time to stop,” said Ben, running his tongue over his dry lips. “We’re not getting anywhere. The sandstorm hid any melon leaves. We should get some sleep.”

“Agreed,” said Zoe. “I’m even thirstier now.”

Ben handed her their water bottle. “There’s about three sips each, so make the most of it!” he said.

Zoe felt the drops of warm water disappear in her dry mouth. She took out Jossy’s milk. The little lion cub looked at her drowsily as she gently pushed the teat between his teeth. He began to suck. Before long, the bottle was empty.

“He’s drank it all!” she said in alarm. “There’s nothing left. What are we going to do?”

“Don’t worry,” Ben said. “I’ve got an idea.” He pulled the sail across the sand and draped it over a couple of nearby bushes, letting it dip in the middle. “We’ll sleep under here, and we’ll find water in that hollow when we wake up.”

“I’m not falling for that one, Ben,” said Zoe, smirking. “It’s not going to rain tonight.”

“But there will be condensation,” said Ben. “The moisture in the air will condense on the sail and run down into the hollow.”

Ben heaved the backpacks under the shelter, crawled in, and pulled out an energy bar. “At least we have a little food left,” he said.

It was hard to eat the energy bar without a drink. It stuck to the roofs of their mouths. Their lips cracked open as they chewed.

Zoe wrapped up the rest of the bar and put it away. Ben wasn’t doing much better.He took up his BUG. “It’s working now that the storm passed,” he said, tapping at the buttons. “I just texted Erika that we’ll be near the pool in the morning. She said to contact her again then.”

Zoe looked down at the little lion cub. His head was on his paws and his eyes were closed. “I’ll check on your mother,” she told him, “and see how far she’s gotten.”

But when the signal appeared on her screen, Zoe’s face fell. “She still hasn’t moved, Ben.” She gulped hard. “What if I killed her?”