| And All Between | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Zilpha Keatley Snyder |
| Illustrator | Alton Riable |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Green Sky Trilogy |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy |
| Publisher | Atheneum |
| Publication date | 1976 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 216 pp |
| ISBN | 0-595-37030-6 |
| Preceded by | Below the Root |
| Followed by | Until the Celebration |
And All Between is a science fiction/fantasy novel by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, the second book in the Green Sky Trilogy.
The book's title comes from one of the Green-sky chants, containing the phrase "And all between becomes among, / And they are we and old is young, / And earth is sky, / And all is one."
Eight year old Erdling Teera lies awake, hungry. She thinks of stories told about the early days of Erd when food was plentiful and their population was in the hundreds as opposed to the thousands now living in caves below the root, trapped there by the cruel Ol-zhaan. Erdling numbers have greatly expanded but their food supply—catching fruit and nuts accidentally dropped from by Kindar harvesters above—has stayed the same, and they are in the "time of hunger."
Teera's thoughts are interrupted by her parents who tell her that the Council has decided that her beloved pet, Haba, would have to be killed for food. Teera is one of the last to be permitted a pet due to her being an only child, but now the hunger situation has become too dire. Left alone to cry, Teera decides to run away. She packs some necessities and her pet into a bag and sneaks off through the tunnels of Erd into an old abandoned section. Checking various surface vent openings for small amounts of grass for her and her pet to eat, she eventually gets lost. Searching for a way back home, she stumbles upon a wider-than-usual opening in the root and lets her pet out to graze. When Haba is frightened by a nesting animal, Teera lunges out to grab for him, eventually finding herself on the other side of the root.
Teera's parents are not overly concerned about her disappearance initially. They check with their neighbors' caves and then set out for the orchards, the most likely place for Teera to have gone. With Teera still nowhere to be found a day later, they appear to the Coucil, who release some workers to aid in the search for her. Breathing fresh above-ground air for the first time, Teera takes in the sights of a world far more beautiful and interesting than the one she has known. She wanders about and finds a little food to eat. She tries climbing a vine hanging from a tree only to find herself paralyzed by a fear of heights, something never encountered in the crouched tunnels underground.
The next day, pangs of homesickness begin to creep in. In despair, Teera leans against a giant tree and begins to call out when two people suddenly appear. From the green-gold seals they wear, Teera recognizes them as Ol-zhaan. They are surprised to find that she can speak, eventually convincing her to return to the trees with them using promises of plentiful food and kind treatment. Bundling her pet into a makeshift carrier, the Ol-zhaan Raamo and Neric slowly coax her upwards, eventually arriving at the dwelling of Raamo's family.
Teera stays with Raamo's sister, Pomma. Pomma is initially sickly, but seems to recover as she spends time playing with Teera, regaining her lost appetite as she watches the Erdling hungrily devour food. The two play games and teach one another about their different backgrounds, revealing to Pomma that the Erdlings (or "Pash-shan", as Kinder refer to them) are not gruesome monsters, but people just like them.
Meanwhile underground, more than half of the Erdlings have been called upon to search the tunnels for Teera. After several days of looking, the Council decides to abandon the effort and send everyone back to work, with the exception of her parents who may look for as long as they like.
Raamo and D'ol Neric pay a visit to Pomma and Teera, but just as they are preparing to talk to them, Raamo's fellow Chosen, D'ol Genaa, bursts in. She aggressively interrogates Teera, but the Erdling begins to sob and Pomma orders the Ol-zhaan away. After comforting Teera, who drifts off to sleep, Pomma rejoins the them and is allowed to sit in as Raamo and D'ol Neric reveal to Genaa that they have been tracking the activities of a secret group of Ol-zhaan known as the Geets-kel. They tell her about their descent to the forest floor and the discovery of Teera. They wonder what the Pash-shan monsters who supposedly entrapped Teera are like when Pomma reveals to them that Teera is herself a Pash-shan—that they are actually human.
In the days following, Pomma and Teera return to their activities. Pomma is healthy as ever, and the two of them are evan able to engage in spirit-games, an ability Pomma thought she had lost and Teera has never before experienced. The three Ol-zhaan are expected three days later, but when the appointed morning arrives, D'ol Genaa appears without the others. She speaks to Teera alone and then drags her out by the hand, telling Pomma that she is headed to the forest floor ahead of Raamo and D'ol Neric. Pomma is relieved when they all return together in the evening with a sense of joy about them. Once alone, Teera tells Pomma how Genaa made contact with her long lost father, who was thought dead but is actually living below the root, trapped there by members of the Geets-kel.
Their activities have not gone unnoticed, however. D'ol Salaat followed Teera and the three Ol-zhaan to the forest floor and witnessed them talking to an unseen Pash-shan. He reports his findings first to D'ol Falla, then to D'ol Regel. Upon hearing this news, D'ol Falla summons Raamo to her quarters. D'ol Regle dispatches Salaat to the novice quarters where he observes Neric and Genaa leaving in the middle of the night for the house of D'ol Falla. He is able to eavesdrop on a secret conference between D'ol Falla and the three conspirators where they make plans to expose the secrets of the Geets-kel and Pash-shan, retrieving Genaa's father from below the root as living proof of their claims. Equipped with a map drawn by D'ol Falla, Genaa and Neric immediately set out on their quest as D'ol Salaat returns to D'ol Regle. After hearing of Falla's plans, D'ol Regle and his assistants storm into the D'ok household the next morning to seize Pomma and Teera. He then calls for a meeting of the Geets-kel to discuss the situation and formulate a plan to stop it. Finally, he retrieves an ancient weapon from D'ol Falla's house and then confronts her with a threat to harm the children if she and Raamo attempt to go forward with their plans.
Once on the ground, Neric and Genaa follow their map to a hole containing the secret metal hatch that grants entrance to the Erdling tunnels. They enter the unfamiliar darkness and make their way through tunnels by feeling the walls, dropping pieces of fern along the way in hopes of retracing their steps back to the hatch later. After many hours of traveling, they collapse in the tunnel and drift off to sleep. Suddenly they hear a shriek, awakening to see two lanterns bouncing off into the distance. Resuming their walk in that direction, they eventually reach mining car tracks and finally a dimly-lit cavern with a high ceiling and stalactites. There is a yell, and then from behind the rocks dozens of Erdlings appear, armed with metal tools.
Neric and Genaa are taken to the center of the Edrling world where they explain themselves and their plans to the Council, and then to the whole population in a large forum with debate by different Erdling factions. Genaa is reunited with her father, Hiro D'ahnk. It is decided to send the Ol-zhaan back with Hiro in addition to Teera's parents who will serve as representatives of the Erdling population. They are led back to the mines with a security detail to prevent any disagreeing Erdling groups from interfering with them.
High up in the trees, imprisoned in a secret room within D'ol Regle's quarters, Pomma and Teera pass their time with spirit-games, which they are getting increasingly good at. At one point their minds seem to work together, reminiscent of a long-lost ability called uniforce. After several days, Neric and Genaa return, only to hear that their plans are known to D'ol Regle. Neric's first instinct is to tell to population of Kindar the truth about the Pash-shan immediately while they have a chance, but Regle's men have been keeping watch over D'ol Falla's vine palace. They barge in and escort them all to a meeting of the Geets-kel.
Presenting his prisoners to the Geets-kel with the weapon by his side, D'ol Regle argues that the Pash-shan and Kinder can not be reunited, or else their pure society will be destroyed. When Kinder learn about their past and find out they they have been deceived all these years, everything the Ol-zhaan have built will fall apart. Therefore, Regel says, the prisoners must never be allowed to mingle with the Kinder again. Not all the Geets-kel are convinced and they ask to hear from D'ol Falla, who says that their society has already been falling apart as evidenced by the loss of the spirit-skills and appearance of illness. She blames this on the separation of Kinder and Erdling, which Regle tries to discredit as the delusions of an old woman. D'ol Falla appeals to Raamo to use his spirit-skills to summon an answer, but as he does Pomma and Teera lift their arms up and the weapon begins to float into the air. All the Ol-zhaan present stand in awe, realizing they are witnessing the long-lost uniforce.