He had refused to answer their questions about what had happened to him out in the desert, saying he couldn’t remember. Not yet, anyway.

In that same instant Angie’s face sprang to life, emotions fluttering across it like a TV flipping through channels: confusion, fear, suspicion, and finally lots more confusion. She touched her own head gingerly with her fingertips, as if checking to make sure her ears hadn’t fallen off at the stroke of midnight.

The five of them were standing in a row in front of the car, arms crossed—sort of like a band posing for an album cover, Jessica thought. Even the still-seething Melissa had decided to join them, once she realized that this little moment of surprise was the only revenge she would get to wreak on Angie.

The woman’s eyes widened as she saw them through the front windshield.

“Come on out,” Rex called. “Let’s talk.”

Angie slowly pulled herself out from the battered Ford and stood facing them, staying behind the protection of the open car door.

“Wow,” she said softly.

Jessica guessed that people appearing out of nowhere might be a lot more impressive than a few dominoes jumping around.

“How’s your mind doing?” Rex asked. “Still feel like yourself?”

Angie puzzled over that one for a moment, then shrugged. “I guess so.”

“Like I would dirty my hands with your rank little brain,” Melissa said.

Jessica gave her a sidelong glance. So not true.

“Then let’s talk about the history of Bixby,” Rex said.

“I thought we already covered that.”

“Maybe I want to hear it all again.” He patted Melissa’s shoulder. “And this time I can be sure you’re telling the truth. Or at least, if you think you’re telling the truth.”

“It’s all true,” Angie said. “I can show you the documents.”

“Just talk,” Rex said.

Angie nodded and began telling them all about the early midnighters, the Grayfoots’ revolution, and the rest of the other secret history of Bixby. She started slowly and softly, her baffled expression at their sudden appearance taking a while to fade. But gradually her voice gained in strength, and soon she was declaiming with the utmost confidence.

Rex had already explained most of it to them while they’d waited for the blue time to end, but as Jessica heard the revelations repeated in Angie’s methodical tones, the story began to settle in her bones alongside the desert chill of the Oklahoma autumn night.

If this was all true, then how much had Madeleine known about everything that had gone on back in her day? She’d only been seventeen when the Grayfoots had swept the midnighters from power, but she carried the memories of generations of mindcasters. Wouldn’t she know about it if midnighters had been doing creepy things for thousands of years?

And would any of them have the guts to ask her what she thought about all this? Of course, Melissa wouldn’t have much choice in the matter the next time the two of them touched. Jessica was just glad it would be Melissa, and not her, doing the asking.