I found the ending so incredibly disappointing that I re-checked the cover, to be sure LJB was indeed the author. Had she simply run out of time, so tacked on that messy and juvenile "explanation," with the rider that Qwill is re-thinking his own disbelief? WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO THE HIKER? Why is Arch Riker so bi-polar in this one? The one high point, for me, was the explanation of home schooling, but otherwise... <shrug> Get it at the library; don't invest.