Or maybe, Alice thought with a sigh, I’m just on a wild-goose chase.

Frustrated that her big break had turned into a big nothing, Alice folded the wedding announcement, dropped it carelessly into her bag, and stood up. She thanked Mrs. Snowden for her help and headed back to her car.

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter

• SIXTEEN •

Alice lay in bed that night, tossing and turning. Her mind wouldn’t shut off. She knew Charlie was still awake, too. She’d seen the light under her sister’s door when she got up to pee a few minutes ago. Normally she’d just stroll right on in, jump in Charlie’s bed, and they’d talk until they both fell asleep. But it hadn’t been normal between them for days now. Alice couldn’t speak about what was actually preoccupying her. So what would be the point of conversation? Not that she was capable of having a coherent conversation. Or of even having a coherent thought. Her brain was starting to feel to her like a hamster on a wheel, expending energy furiously, getting nowhere. And she hadn’t taken out her sketch pad in nearly two weeks. With a wince of guilt she remembered her dad telling her that if you wanted to become an artist, you had to perform your craft every single day, even if it was only for half an hour. Remembered, too, the sound of him practicing his scales in his and Maggie’s bedroom every morning at seven A.M. sharp, the sessions more reliable than any alarm clock, the sessions so reliable she used them as an alarm clock, interrupted briefly by the seven-fifteen commuter train out of Porter Square, then resuming until seven thirty. She was starting to look forward to the prospect of school starting in eight weeks, new kid on the block or not. Anything to take her mind off Camilla. Camilla, who dogged her every step. Camilla, who occupied her every thought. Camilla, who obsessed her and haunted her and would not leave her alone, who followed her even into her dreams.