Eleanor flinched. Her mother had been missing now for almost a year, ever since their house burned down with Eleanor in it. At first, Eleanor had thought her mother set the fire and abandoned her. Then she found out that her mother had to run away because an evil society of the descendants of Eden Eld’s founders was after her. And last spring, she’d discovered that her mother had been chosen by the hedgewitch, one of the Prime Stories, before Eleanor was even born. Her mother had tried to resist the story as long as she could, but eventually it took her over and erased the person she’d been before. When Eleanor had seen her a few months ago, she hadn’t even remembered Eleanor.

“Okay, so sister number two is the queen of the Wending, or whatever,” Pip said. “What does it mean that it’s open?”

“Most of the time, the Wending is impossible to access,” Wander said. “If its mistress has opened it, it’s because she needs to use it. The timing suggests that you are the reason for that.”

“The clock in the hall isn’t ticking. Or running backward,” Eleanor said. She checked every day. When Mr. January and Mrs. Prosper came after them, the clock warned them, but it had been quiet for months.

“So maybe we still have some time,” Otto said, but he looked as uneasy as Eleanor felt. “What do you think she’s going to try to do? Bring some big nasty monster from another world?”

“Monsters aren’t a problem,” Pip said, tapping a finger against Gloaming’s hilt.

“I dunno, I have a pretty big problem with monsters,” Otto muttered.

Eleanor didn’t reply, lost in thought. The People Who Look Away—Mr. January, Mrs. Prosper, and their sister—each had a special day they claimed as their own. For Mr. January, it was Halloween. For Mrs. Prosper, it was the spring equinox. They’d considered everything from the summer solstice to National Ice Cream Day as dates of interest for the final sister. Pip had also suggested the last day of school, which was a couple weeks away, but Eleanor had tactfully pointed out that the Eden Eld Academy academic calendar probably didn’t have mystical significance.

“The summer solstice is in three weeks,” she said.

“The timing seems about right,” Otto said, following her train of thought.

“And National Ice Cream Day doesn’t have quite the right mystical ring to it,” Pip agreed. “Three weeks, huh? Well, it’s more warning than we’ve had so far.”

“Wander. If I could speak to you for a moment in private,” Jack said. She nodded and rose from her spot, and the two of them drew off to the side as Jack spoke in low, serious tones.