As she rounded two large boxwoods that Lynn had planted strategically to block any view of the gate, Roxy sighed in relief to see a blond-haired woman standing at the fence line, her hand on one of the iron posts. More white than blond these days, Roxy thought. But aren’t we all.

“There you are,” she said. She watched as Lynn turned slowly, her hand remaining on the fence. “It’s a bit early to be tromping about in the woods.”

As she approached, she could see that Lynn was trembling. The binoculars that hung on a strap around her neck rose and fell with heavy breathing. When Lynn teetered, it became immediately clear that she wasn’t casually leaning on the fence, but rather clinging to it to keep from falling.

“Lynn!” Roxy rushed forward, grabbing her friend. “Lynn, what’s wrong?”

Even when supported by Roxy’s arm, Lynn still clung to the fence. “Roxy … you have to go away.”

“What are you talking about? Come on, let’s go to the shop and sit down.”

“Are my ears bleeding?” Lynn turned her head.

“No, not at all.”

“My head isn’t hurting. I don’t feel pain…”

“Honey, let’s go inside. I’ll call the doctor—”

“No,” Lynn shook her head. “You have to go. Right now. And don’t let Anne come to the shop. Close it. No one comes anywhere near the property.”

“I’m not going anywhere. What the hell is going on? Do you feel like you had a stroke? Does your chest hurt?”

Lynn closed her eyes. “I’m afraid it’s happening. After all this time … it’s happening.”

Roxy lifted her chin. “Well, let it come, then. I’ve had a good, yet increasingly strange, life. And if it ends standing outside the damn woods with you, so be it. But I can tell you, I feel just fine. Maybe irritated that I haven’t had enough coffee, but I’m not dying.”

“Roxy, please. It could be happening—”

“Look at me. I’m fine. No one is dying, OK. Start with explaining to me why you think … after all this time … you’ve been triggered.”

The words still felt heavy, difficult to say. Even after everything she’d learned, everything she’d seen that Colorado night that haunted her, Roxy still struggled with discussing it: a nightmare that should disappear in the morning light but proved to be just as real as the grass they stood upon, the branches above, the very air around them.

They all carried the burden. All of them who survived that frantic escape from Argentum. How do you pay the gas bill, clean your windows, go to Bunko, go on living a normal life, knowing what’s beyond the night sky?

“Just talk to me,” Roxy said softly. “Why did you go into the woods this time?”