In a shaky voice, I told her about picking up Paige’s hairbrush and the terrible things that I’d seen Paige’s stepdad doing to her. My mom’s face got a little tighter and her violet eyes grew a little darker with every word I said. By the time I finished my story, I could almost feel the anger coming off her in cold waves.

“Did Paige say anything to you?” my mom asked. “Did she ever mention her stepdad to you before?”

I shook my head. “No. We’re not that close, and I didn’t see him around when I went over to her house to find her phone.”

My mom had opened her mouth to ask me another question, when a series of familiar jingle-jingle-jingles sounded. A moment later, an older woman wearing a purple silk shirt and black pants and shoes stepped into the room. At least, that’s what I thought she was wearing. It was kind of hard to tell since layers of colorful scarves covered her body, wrapping around her in a rainbow of fluttering fabric. Bright, gleaming silver coins dangled off the fringed ends of the scarves and jangled together with every step she took. Another scarf held her iron-gray hair back off her wrinkled face. The scarf was the same violet color as her eyes—as all our eyes were.

“Hello, pumpkin,” Grandma Frost said in a warm, cheery voice, coming over to stand beside the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Better, Grandma,” I said. “I have a headache, though.”

For a second, Grandma’s eyes took on an empty, glassy look, and something stirred in the air around her—something that seemed old, watchful, and knowing all at the same time.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll be fine in another hour or two,” Grandma murmured in an absent tone.

I knew she was having one of her visions. Geraldine Frost had a Gypsy gift just like my mom and I did. In my grandma’s case, she could see the future, something that she used to make extra money, telling fortunes out of her house. Grandma was an entrepreneur, like me.

After a moment, Grandma Frost’s eyes focused again, and the invisible force that had been swirling around her vanished. She looked at me and smiled.

“I’m afraid we have a problem,” my mom said, staring at my grandma. “A big one.”

My mom told my grandma about Paige’s stepdad abusing her. Soon, my grandma was radiating the same cold anger as my mom.

“What are you going to do?” I asked.

My mom looked at me. “I’m going to go talk to Paige, and I’m going to see what I can find out about her stepdad. Whether he has a record, whether he’s ever done this before. Don’t worry, Gwen. No matter what happens or what I find out, I’m going to help your friend. The gods wanted you to pick up Paige’s hairbrush so you could see what she was going through. Now they want me to help her.”