He acted as if he’d been away for days: he hugged them both hard, took their hands and walked with them toward the house. He had looked the island over. He’d seen no trace of Jamie. He shot a significant glance at Kellen, which told her he’d also seen no trace of Mara. He told them the oncoming storm had gathered strength, and he asked them what they’d done while he was gone. The search of the Conkles’ cottage made him look solemn, and he seemed taken aback when Rae reported they’d entered the cemetery and found Hermione’s grave, and he stared up at the house as if stricken by the same suspicion Kellen entertained. But he kept walking up the stairs, through the front door and into the library. There he sank wearily into the overstuffed chair. “Sweetheart, would you get Daddy a glass of water?”

Rae ran toward the kitchen.

“Did he remember where he put…where Jamie is?” Kellen kept her voice low.

Max was quiet, too. “No. He’s under the influence of something powerful. Not…what we thought.”

“Not moonshine?” They’d spoken of it. She’d assumed…

Max gave a quick shake of the head. “I didn’t stick around to find out what the EMTs had learned, but I got the impression that wasn’t it. Maybe he smoked the wrong weed. Mother Nature’s got some powerful hallucinogenics, and Dylan would be the one to try them.”

Rae came back with the water.

Max drank it in big gulps, as if he had been running rather than flying. “Dylan kept talking about Jamie and the birds. He said she loved the birds.”

“She’s dead, isn’t she?” Rae asked in a small voice. “She’s got to be. There was so much blood.” She broke down and for the first time, she wept. “Why didn’t we know? Why didn’t we help her?”

Kellen sat on the floor with her, pulled her into her arms, and looked helplessly up at Max.

“We didn’t know because we didn’t know, and we didn’t help her because she didn’t want to be helped.” Max made his voice matter-of-fact. “I don’t think Jamie Conkle would have known how to ask for help.”

“She didn’t deserve to be hurt!” Rae shouted.

“No one deserves that.” Not true. Kellen could think of one person. But she wouldn’t discuss Mara with Rae. “Bad things happen. Sometimes they happen to people who don’t deserve it. Wondering why them, why in this place, why at this time—that doesn’t accomplish a thing except make you feel wretched, and we’re already wretched enough.”

That didn’t help. Rae cried harder.