“Sorry, Miss Kate. Can’t talk now. I have to stay in character,” she stage-whispered before returning to her strolling and hawking. “Extra! Extra!”

For her part, Kate remained rooted to the spot.

“But if I was able to talk to you, I’d say you should come downstairs.”

“What?” Kate whispered back, starting a complete conversation in hushed tones.

“You’re supposed to follow me.”

“Oh.” Whatever was happening here, whatever character Susan was meant to keep and whatever was happening to this town, it was clear there was a plan and an order in place. Kate just didn’t know them. But if she knew anything from a lifetime of working with and around children, it was to play along with their games. “Okay. I’ll be right down.”

She gathered up her skirts and did as she was told, skidding down her steps towards the town square. Once out on the street, following close behind the little girl as she hawked her papers, Kate couldn’t contain her curiosity.

“Hey, Susan?”

“Yes, ma’am?”

The little girl must have felt Kate’s distress radiating off of her because she dropped her character in order to answer. God bless children and their inability to pay attention to anything for more than ten minutes.

“Is this a dream? Am I dreaming?”

She didn’t exactly believe she was dreaming, but it seemed as likely as Clark suddenly having a change of heart and giving her the festival back.

“Hmmm.” The little girl tugged on her cap, considering the question. “I don’t think so. If you were I hope I’d be wearing something much cuter.”

Unconvincing as the argument should have been, it swayed Kate. After the events of last night, would this bizarre journey through Miller’s Point be something she would dream about? Unlikely.

By Sherlock Holmes logic, it meant she was definitely, for real, walking through the festival facsimile of A Christmas Carol in a sweeping ball gown on Christmas morning.

Susan led her around the empty square, all while Kate puzzled out what little she understood about her surroundings. Dickens. Susan. None of it made sense, but she decided she saw no harm in playing along. Her heart broke yesterday. It couldn’t re-break. Besides, the pieces were too small to be crushed into anything else. What did she have to lose?

When they reached the corner beneath Scrooge’s house, Kate turned to Susan for instructions. Susan, for her part, tapped her toe on the sidewalk and stared up at the closed windows.

“What are we waiting for?” Kate asked.

“I’m really not supposed to break character, but—”

“You there, boy!”