Lani had come rushing down to the cabin excitedly, and had thrown her arms around her mother joyfully. They had kissed each other again and again, Lani overjoyed to see her mother, but Ann unable to shake the lingering visions of her daughter thrashing under that strange man's weight not even a half hour ago. They had gone to sit in the shade of the towering oak in front of Lani's cabin, and begun to exchange trivial bits of news with each other, how it was in the commune, and how it was in South San Francisco, and on, and on. Finally, Ann had been able to take no more of it, and had abruptly stated that she wanted Lani to come home with her, that the commune was an evil place, and that Lani must leave it at once.

Lani had been taken completely by surprise by the fierceness and irrationality of Ann's attack, and had immediately begun defending The Zodiac and the people who lived there, with fiery intensity. She couldn't understand how her mother could be so dictatorial and show such a lack of understanding after having so long seemed amenable to the idea of her living in the commune. And as Lani had become more and more defensive, Ann had become more and more insistent, until at last they were arguing with each other almost violently, the first time Ann could ever remember having done so.

And now her daughter had left her angrily, saying that there was no way she would go back to South San Francisco, that she loved it in the commune, and was staying there. Ann sat forlornly under the spreading oak, trying wildly to think of another plan of action, and rebuking herself for having lost control with her daughter. She should have known that to insist would only make Lani more insistent on staying. But now what? Her daughter was locked in her cabin, and she was alone, with no one to turn to for help.