noon
Ice formed on the rain pools and they ate breakfast with numbed hands . As usual , however , the mercury began to climb with the sun and when at mid-morning , they entered a huge purple depression in the desert , coats were peeled and gloves discarded . The depression was an ancient lava bed , deep with lavender dust that rose chokingly about them . There was a heavy wind that increased as they rode deeper into the great bowl and this , with the swirling sand , made the noon meal an unpleasant duty . But , in spite of these discomforts , Enoch managed to ride many miles , during the day , with his horse beside Diana 's . And he talked to her as though he must in the short five days make up for a life time of reticence . He told her of the Seatons and all that John Seaton had done for him .