With the assistance of an inner-city Roman Catholic priest named Father O'Day, the kids run away, following the map's route leading toward the Blue Ridge Mountains. As their memories begin to return, they realize that they are actually of extraterrestrial origin, their people having come to Earth because their own planet was drifting toward one of its two suns. Their flying saucer was shot down over Hungary, which resulted in the deaths of all but Tony, Tia, and Uncle Bené—a non-relative but one of their own people, who rescued the children from Soviet captivity. The book ties this event to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.