While checking on her horses, Snake meets Melissa, a girl with a severely burned face who helps the stablemaster, who takes credit for her work. Her scars make her self-conscious of her appearance in a town of otherwise beautiful people. Shortly after, Snake is attacked on her way to the mayor's house by a man she assumes is the crazy. She discovers that Melissa has been physically and sexually abused by the stablemaster, and uses this knowledge to convince the mayor to free her. Melissa accompanies Snake as her adopted daughter when Snake leaves for Center. Snake explains to her that dreamsnakes are very rare, and that the healers have not found a way to make them breed. Meanwhile, Arevin arrives at the healer's dwelling north of Mountainside, but is told that Snake isn't there, and goes south to find her. In Mountainside he is briefly detained on suspicion of having been Snake's attacker, but is released.