The ride down was fast, though, and soon they were back out onto the streets and heading more or less northward.

Emily didn’t have the keenest sense of direction, but she could keep track of which way was which if she put in some effort.

The trip was mostly spent keeping her sisters in line. Teddy was being a little bossy to the others, which, while somewhat helpful, wasn’t very nice. Athena kept pulling ahead, and Emily only had so many hands and eyes to keep track of Trinity.

Maybe half an hour later, Emily found herself approaching the street where the home Cement had pointed her to was. “We can’t just walk up to it,” she said. “We’re going to need to either costume up and . . . walk in, or we can try being a little sneaky.”

“I can go in on my own,” Trinity said. “Just one or two of me, while I stay with you.”

It wasn’t a terrible idea. The problem was trusting Trinity to properly communicate what she saw. Still, it wasn’t as risky as moving into the house herself.

“There should be some room behind the homes,” Emily said. Most of the lots had fenced-in backyards, and past those was a section of forest before a highway leading into the city. Plenty of room to sneak past.

Emily found an alleyway to change in, a little nook where someone could hide away for a second or two. They took turns getting changed, and when all of them were in their costumes and her stuff was tucked away in a duffel bag hidden in a corner, Emily led her sisters to the backstreets and into the little strip of woods, with cars whooshing past just a hundred feet away.

“All right,” Emily said when they reached the right house. The backyard was plain, with nothing but a firepit in its middle and a little gazebo in the back to make it stand out. “Trinity, you’re up.”

The girl nodded, then two of her bodies fell down next to the wooden fence and she boosted herself over it to crash on the other side with a thump. “I’m okay!”

Emily sighed and helped the second Trinity up and over the fence. “Good luck.”

“I’m still here,” the Trinity staying behind said.

“Right, right,” Emily replied.

She wondered where her life had gone so crooked that breaking and entering was more of a chore than anything else.

CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

Tippy-Toe Thief

Trinity, the sneakiest sister, walked across the lawn with little tippy-toe hops.

Well, two of her did. The last was standing with Best Sister Emily, but she couldn’t help bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet. It wasn’t fair that only two of her were getting exercise. If she wasn’t careful, one of her might not get enough, and she could become one-third fat.