That night began like any other—tap, tap, shoes, tongues, the dark, the path—except that when we reached the rock palm, it was deserted. Someone had obviously been there, though, and had dragged an old futon onto the smooth rock. There was a large rip in the center of the upholstery, and through the wound I could see a sliver of the futon’s insides: sad wet foam, the color of burnt sugar. There was a lantern hanging on a branch, swinging slightly, emitting a feeble squeak.

“This seems normal,” said Janet.

“I hope we’re not supposed to sit on this thing,” said Laurel.

I could see Janet gearing up to push her down onto it, but then we heard footsteps, and Serena appeared, coming from the direction of the tents.

“Hello,” she said. “I’ve brought us something.” She paused for effect, and then beckoned toward the darkness, and after a few seconds Luke came up the path behind her, beaming around at us all. I’d rarely seen him outside the garden before; he looked wrong here, in our place. He was too tall. His head was much too big.

“How did you get him to come?” I asked. I felt strangely betrayed, though I couldn’t have explained exactly how.

She thought about it for a second. “I went back,” she said, and both of them smiled.

“For the record,” he said, “I don’t agree with what you’re doing.”

“Then why are you here?” Janet said. She had taken a few steps away from them. Her hands were in fists at her sides.

“Serena told me what she was planning, and I thought it would be safer to have someone here to keep an eye on things. Since there doesn’t seem to be a way of dissuading her.”

“We don’t need supervision,” Janet said.

Serena walked over to her, wrapped her arms around her neck, and whispered something in her ear. Janet’s face didn’t change, but her hands relaxed slightly.

We sat in a circle, and Luke began to lead us through the bird visualization he had taught me in the garden. Sweat gathered in the small of my back. I couldn’t look at him. “Imagine yourself as a feather, floating upward,” he said.

“Imagine yourself as a bird, hollow-boned and small,” Serena said, to show him that she already knew. Luke did not look at me. He only smiled at her again.