Finn’s eyes landed on a plastic toy horse. She’d had one exactly like it as a kid with a button on its belly that made galloping noises.

“We saw them playing on our way here,” Zadie said.

Myron stiffened. “Oh, yeah? What were they up to?” His tone was guarded.

“Uh, tag,” Zadie lied. “They were playing tag.”

This answer seemed to put Myron at ease. He gestured for them to sit. “I was never into tag myself. Didn’t help that I was the slowest kid on the block.” He chuckled. “I suppose no one really likes doing things they’re bad at.”

“Finn wouldn’t know what that’s like,” Zadie said, sitting across from her sister. “She’s good at everything.”

“That’s not true.” Finn squeezed out a smile. “I’m only good at most things.”

Myron laughed. “You sound like Juniper, my youngest. She hasn’t figured out she isn’t good at everything yet, and I’m not going to be the one to break it to her.”

“Must be a youngest sibling thing.”

“Must be … So tell me about this supposed friend of mine.”

Finn was tired. The echoes were coming hard and fast, and it took all her energy just to fend them off. She looked at Zadie, a silent request to pass the conversational torch. Her sister acquiesced. “Her name’s Nora Wilder.”

“Nora Wilder…” Myron said, narrowing his inquisitive blue eyes like he was peering through a keyhole. “Can’t say it rings any bells.”

Zadie pulled up a photo of her mother on her phone and turned the screen to face Myron. “Oh…” A wistful expression crossed his face. “She told us her name was Wren.”

Finn and Zadie both sat up in their chairs and exchanged a look. “How do you know her?” Zadie asked.

Myron hesitated, seemingly reluctant to tell the rest of the story. “One night my family and I were driving home from a movie, and we saw this motorcycle make a U-turn in front of oncoming traffic. She didn’t get hit, but she lost control of the bike and skidded off the road. I pulled over to help her. Luckily she wasn’t really hurt, just stunned.”

Finn should have felt relieved—her mother had come out of what could have been a deadly accident with only a few scratches—but the bruised feeling in her ribs reminded her that there was more to the story.

“When was this?” Zadie continued.

“Gosh, uhhh, it was years ago. Two thousand seventeen, I think.”

Finn finally jumped in. “And you’d never met her before?”

“No. Never.”

So, Nora hadn’t known her rescuer after all. She must have been confused, Finn thought. If her echoes were any indication, her mom had been confused a lot.

Myron continued, “She refused to go to the hospital, but my wife, Amy, was worried about her, so we let her come home with us.”