It was already dark when Ryan and Rosita arrived in Catemaco. Their taxi had hit a pothole in the road and blown a tire. They had watched while the driver dug through his trunk for a lug wrench and a jack and removed the flat. 
 
But then he told them, apologetically, that there was no spare. He flagged down an approaching truck and got in the back with his flat tire, saying he would get it repaired at the last town they had passed through, and return for them shortly. 

They waited for what seemed like hours, then finally flagged down a passing car themselves and got a ride. But this car was not going all the way to Catemaco, so in the next town they had to hunt up another taxi, and begin again.

They had their new driver let them off at Genaro's place, as Juan had instructed. Genaro told them that Juan and Dema had gone out on the lake in his little boat, looking for the big houseboat where the brujos were meeting, so they hurried down to the shore.

As they walked to the water's edge they saw Genaro's boat, abandoned on the beach. It had been run aground, the skeg of its little motor buried in the sand, and there were two unconscious men in it, both with their hands bound behind their backs.

Rosita said, "Perhaps we can get the boat back in the water and use it."

Ryan looked up at the moon, already high in the night sky."There is no time for that," he said, "Dema is out there, and she's in trouble." He walked knee deep into the water then dove in, shifting to sea lion form as he did.

Rosita watched, startled, then broke into a broad grin. She hadn't known. She had suggested the boat only for Ryan's sake. Now she ran into the water after him, shifting to her water snake form as she dove.

They swam together then, side by side, shaman senses fully alert. In their shaman-dream awareness their minds were fully open to each other, and they suddenly both knew exactly where they were going.