Muttering about not having time for this kind of nonsense, Edna left the shop with her dreams. Lishta let out a shaky breath and bit into a saltine. Maren wondered if it were possible for a person to burst into flames from guilt. She had to come clean—this entire situation had gotten out of hand.

“Gran-Gran?” she began.

“Yes, darling?” Lishta said.

“There’s something I have to tell you.” Maren’s nerves sputtered like a car running out of gas.

Lishta set down her saltine and peered at Maren. “What is it?”

“I… There’s this… I mean…” Maren gulped and tried to figure out how to explain that she’d broken the rule but it wasn’t her fault. The words refused to come out. “Do you think Edna will be all right?” she finally said, hating herself for being so spineless.

“Of course she will.” Lishta’s smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “That woman is tougher than nails. Tougher than iron rail spikes, I’d say. It’d take a lot more than a few nightmares to run her out of town.”

But the Zottery family had left town. Maybe somebody had been threatening them, too. Even though they’d moved away before Maren started stealing nightmares, it probably wasn’t a coincidence. Hot shame washed over Maren’s face.

“I almost forgot to tell you,” said Lishta. “I found out that little girl’s name. The one who wanted revenge on her brother.” She pulled a slip of paper from her apron pocket and slid it across the counter.

Obscura Gray, it said in Lishta’s old-fashioned cursive writing. Maren shivered. It felt like just thinking the woman’s name might summon her.

“I met an old neighbor of hers, and then I looked her up on the internet.” Lishta’s proud tone made it sound like she’d traveled to the moon to get this information. “She moved away from Rockpool Bay as a teenager and became a ballerina, a principal dancer with the Copenhagen Ballet Theater. Quite a remarkable achievement, I’d say.”

“Did she retire or something?” said Maren.

“The articles were rather vague, but it seems she left the company about a year ago,” said Lishta. “There was no mention of why, and nothing’s been written about her since. She seems to have disappeared. Until she showed up at our shop, that is. I’ve put out a few feelers around town to see if anyone else has spotted her, and your mother said she’d help me do some more internet searching.”

Maren reached for the slip of paper. “Can I have this?”

“Of course.”