“No, I don’t mean . . . This circle in Calgary, it can’t be the first time the family branched. I mean, Gales didn’t spring up fully formed in southern Ontario and start bossing people around . . .” His voice trailed off into doubt as he shifted just far enough to be able to look into her face. “Did they?”

“No.” And once again she was reminded how much family background Jack had missed learning during his first thirteen years. “As the extended dance version doesn’t do much more than repeat the chorus a billion times, let’s stick with the basic tune: a branch crossed the Atlantic, landed in Newfoundland, circled in, and a couple of hundred or so years later branched into Ontario.”

“That’s basic,” Jack agreed. Golden brows drew in. “You and me, we were in Nova Scotia.”

“Yeah. Your point?”

“That’s pretty close. Why didn’t we check if the family in Newfoundland was still . . .”

“We don’t do that.” When Jack’s frown became a silent demand for more information, Charlie sighed. “Look, we weren’t even Gales until we got to Ontario. Right up until Allie and David, when we branched we changed our name and didn’t look back.”

“But Allie and David wouldn’t cut ties?”

“Technology won’t allow us to cut ties. The world’s gotten a lot smaller than it used to be and every generation, it gets smaller still. This . . .” She widened her gesture until it took in Calgary as well as the house and yard. “. . . is something new. The family’s still working out the rules.”

“Okay but that was before the whole asteroid thing. We could find the other branches of the family.” He said we but Charlie heard you and me. He wasn’t wrong. They could. Probably. They were Wild. Rules didn’t apply. Most rules. All but one rule. She watched him walk to the edge of the pool and stare out over the water for a long moment before turning to face her again. “We should warn them. We should all work together to stop this thing.”

Not could anymore. Should. Charlie sighed. “Jack, do you know what a group of aunties is called?”

He grinned and his eyes flashed gold. “A power struggle?”

“Got it in one.”

“I was kidding.”