I stand over my mom on the couch for a moment, looking down at her sleeping form. I crouch beside her, and think: Either I’ll succeed and see her again and the curse will be broken, or I’ll never see her again at all. Ever so gently, I touch her shoulder and give her a soft kiss on the cheek.

“I’m going to fight the Memory Thief. I’m not sure if I’ll be back,” I whisper. “But if I do come back, I hope you remember me then.”

I step toward the door. Then I gasp. Extra batteries. I almost forgot.

Germ directs me to a pack in one of the kitchen drawers, and I stuff them into my bag. Then I follow her out into the yard. Ebb has promised to meet us halfway between our houses.

It’s not until we are a few minutes down the trail (walking, this time—too loaded down to bike) that I realize Germ is also carrying a backpack. I halt abruptly.

“You’re coming?” I say.

Germ looks slightly sheepish.

“I thought I could take you just as far as I can.”

I stand there hesitating, unsure whether I should let her come or not.

“I left a note for my mom. I told her I’d be gone for a few days and I’d explain when I got back and to try not to worry. If at the end of three days, we haven’t found anything, I’ll turn back.”

“That’s six days. And worry? She’s going to lose her marbles.”

Germ doesn’t say anything for a minute because she knows I’m right. “I brought tons of beef jerky. Tons.”

I still don’t know. The thought of having Germ with me as I set off into the woods is about the most comforting thing I can imagine in the world right now. But I want her to stay.

“Rosie,” Germ says. “I know I can’t fight a witch. I know it’s not my destiny like you. My destiny is to be, like, a normal person. But I still want to help. I’ll come as far as I can. And then I promise, I’ll let you go.”

I don’t know how many days or miles it will take to get to the witch. It may be that it’s a distance too great to travel and that I’ll have to turn back anyway. But I soften as I think, At least I will have Germ for part of the way.

“Okay,” I relent. “But when it’s the right time, you’ve got to let me go.”

Germ nods. “I will. I promise.”

Ebb is waiting for us in a patch of moonlight at a familiar boulder where I asked him to meet me. There’s a light dusting of frost on the ground, and trees that make everything sparkle.