“Oh!” he said. “Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Or possibly behind. On Saturday morning, we are going to be witnesses to a rare event: a total eclipse. Eden Eld will be directly in the path of totality, meaning that for a few wondrous moments, the moon will completely cover the sun. Day will turn to night.”

Eleanor’s jaw dropped. An eclipse.

A time when day and night switched places.

A magical time.

It was exactly the sort of thing the People Who Look Away adored, and Eleanor and the others had missed it.

“Today, we’re going to make pinhole cameras,” Mr. Crouch said. “They’ll allow you to observe the eclipse safely, without damaging your eyes. I’d like you all to use your cameras this Saturday and record your observations.”

There were a few groans—Saturday homework? Eleanor just sat, still and tense, trying to breathe slowly so her pulse wouldn’t race.

If they were wrong and the People Who Look Away were coming for them during the eclipse, not the solstice, they had a whole week less than they’d thought to prepare.

“If at all possible, I’d like you to pair up with your lab partners to take your observations,” Mr. Crouch was saying.

Katie nudged Eleanor’s shoulder. “Want to come over to my place Saturday?”

Eleanor winced. “I’m not sure. I might have other plans,” she hedged. Katie’s face fell. “But maybe,” she added quickly, feeling bad, and Katie perked back up.

“Now, because of our position, totality—when the moon is fully covering the sun—will last only a few minutes, so you all need to be ready well before then,” Mr. Crouch went on.

Oh, we’ll be ready, Eleanor thought with determination. But even if she couldn’t hear it, she could now feel the ticking of a clock. Time was running out.

•   •   •

KATIE KEPT UP a pleasant stream of conversation the whole time they made their camera, and Eleanor found herself grateful for the distraction. Katie was really very nice, if a bit boring, and Eleanor couldn’t exactly fault her for that given that Eleanor’s definition of “interesting” usually involved magic and mortal peril. Boring was good, actually. With Katie she could almost pretend she was a normal teenager with normal teenager problems.

They left class together, Katie still chattering about nothing in particular. Eleanor had math class next. She started to turn the corner—then stopped dead. She’d turned too soon. This wasn’t the hall to math class. There were red lockers lining the walls and the maroon-and-white floor tiles like the rest of the school, but there shouldn’t have been a hall there at all—this should have been Mr. Ryland’s social studies room.