Holes 43 - 45

After dark, Stanley digs in the hole and Zero sneaks into camp to get water and food. Zero finds frosted flakes, which he and Stanley both find revoltingly sweet after more than a week of eating only onions. Stanley and Zero finally dig up a suitcase and just as they are preparing to leave a light shines in their faces and they find the Warden standing in front of them.

The Warden shines a flashlight on Zero, holding the suitcase. She sees that there is a deadly yellow-spotted lizard on the suitcase. Stanley realizes he is standing in a lizard's nest. The Warden, along with Mr. Pendanski and Mr. Sir, wait for the lizards to leave. The Warden talks about how she grew up digging holes with her parents, looking for the suitcase.

Zero and Stanley pack water in the bottles and onions in the sack and plan to return to Camp in an attempt to dig up treasure and then escape. They wait until daylight before leaving. While they wait, Zero tells Stanley more about his life. Zero remembers his mother singing him the same song that Stanley sang, only with different words. One day Zero's mother left him in a park and told him to wait for her. He waited for a month, but she never returned. As they return to Camp Green Lake, Zero steers them in the right direction after Stanley takes a wrong turn. They reach camp and hide near the hole that Stanley found the lipstick tube in.