“Have a fun rest of the trip,” Darcy says, her arm still around me. “I’ll be following your pictures. You’re basically my family’s official favorite photographer.”

“Ha, thanks.”

I head into the RV, and Darcy begins her goodbye to Ruth. I watch from the window, wondering what they’re saying. Maybe it’s not possible to have the power to be everything for everyone every time. Maybe Darcy’s right, and that wouldn’t be fair. Or would it mean everyone was identical, with the same power? Would that be better or worse than one person’s power not being enough?

Ellie is the last one to climb back aboard the RV. She gives Darcy a long hug first, delaying as long as possible the final drive away. When we’ve all finally said goodbye, we wave to Darcy through the window as we pull away. When we’re officially on the road, I settle into my loft.

On our last trip, Ruth didn’t really have a plan for our Something Magic days, because she said that’s sort of the point; you can’t plan for the magic. We found the New sign and the old dinosaur bones because we were looking for something specific, but Ruth said Magic is different. Magic you have to let happen, and capture it when it does.

Normally I’d agree with her, but since this trip is about repeating the pictures from before as much as possible, I do have a plan, even for Something Magic. An epic diamondback-rattlesnake bridge plan. And this time, I hope my plan actually works.

I go between checking my phone and watching the Texas sky swim past. The clouds seem like they’re glittering, and I’m getting some really nice comments on my pictures. I think my pictures are even getting better. Good signs for Something Magic, I hope.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Ruth sigh and turn up the volume on her iPod. She’s wearing pajama pants and she looks like she might throw up. I’m still wondering if she’s virus-type sick or if it’s something else. If this is a wrong-dosage kind of nausea. The medication she’s on has worked for a long time, but from the beginning Mom said things can change, and we’d take it one step at a time.

Ellie gets up from her seat and chooses a bag of chips and a Gatorade. Ruth’s earbuds are in, and Ellie doesn’t say anything to her, just opens the chip bag and sets it and the Gatorade at her side before sitting on the couch across from her. We both watch Ruth mindlessly reach her fingers into the bag and nibble on a chip or two. Again, just a few bites and sips of drink seem to help.