by Libbylawrence
“So you live here on Lost Mesa now?” asked Diana.
“Yes,” said Rob, “along with Chief Thunderhead’s tribe… well, Chief White Cloud’s tribe now, since the old chief died a couple of years after I left. It didn’t take much convincing, since this mesa is considered a sacred place to all the local tribes. Quorak came to live here, too, which was a given since his great-uncle Quoag had been the mesa’s first caretaker. This place is still hard to reach, but it’s easier to visit and to leave than it was back in the 1930s.”
“And, as it turns out, Quoag had been wrong about the mesa this whole time,” explained Roy Harper. “As I learned from Robin, the real Lost Mesa has been populated by Pueblo Indians for over 400 years, since the days of the Spanish Conquistadors! Batman and Robin discovered it themselves in 1944 while tracking down a couple of fugitives. (*) Quoag knew only vague legends of Lost Mesa and assumed that this mesa was the very same place. So this isn’t even the real Lost Mesa, after all — not that it matters to us. As long as that other Lost Mesa remains lost, this is the only Lost Mesa we’ll ever need to know about.”
[(*) Editor’s note: See “Crime Comes to Lost Mesa,” Batman #26 (December, 1944-January, 1945).]
“I can only imagine how excited Oliver Morgan must’ve been to finally see your Lost Mesa, at least,” said Diana. “Did Ollie bring all of you here?”
Rob Harper looked away and nodded his head. “The original G.A. was a swell guy,” he explained. “After he found out about our own heroic career, he embraced us. Of course, he’d already been close to my Oliver, anyway, who was like a nephew to him. Roy did finally satisfy my Oliver’s curiosity when he revealed the location of Lost Mesa, and they did offer to bring us all out for a visit, but only Roy and I were able to go. Since we’d quit the costumed game after Oliver Queen and Roy were rescued by the JSA, we figured there was plenty of time for travel. But… not long after, while I was still visiting Lost Mesa, Oliver Morgan — my Green Arrow — died fighting Professor Million.” He sighed as the memories flooded over him once again. “We never told anyone that the second Green Arrow had died, and since Oliver Queen was back as Green Arrow by then, too, no one knew that one of the city’s great heroes was killed.” (*)
[(*) Editor’s note: See Green Arrow: Times Past, 1972: The Final Bullseye.]
“I’m sorry,” said Diana, beginning to tear up as she heard the story. “I’m sorry for endangering you all, being arrogant, and just taking too many things for granted.”
Arrowette messed up Queen Arrow’s golden locks and smiled. “You’re forgiven.”
Queen Arrow smoothed down her curls and smiled back at all of them. “Well, I have learned a lesson. I guess I need a mentor myself. I can’t lead my team, I now realize, just finance it. I need a mentor. How about it, Rob?”
He smiled, and they talked into the night.
The End