Finn did not turn. She did not move.

Zadie took another cautious step forward. “You’re having an echo, Finn. Do you remember what that means? It means you’re not yourself. It means whatever you think is happening happened a long time ago … to someone else.”

Six feet of water still stood between her and her sister, only it wasn’t really her sister. Finn was trapped in a memory, and Zadie had a pretty good guess as to whom it belonged to. It was her she needed to reach.

“Mom?”

Finn stirred. She was listening.

“Mom, I know it’s you. Look, I know things didn’t end great between us.” She crept closer. “Some of that is on me.”

Finn’s head turned slightly.

Zadie continued, “I was angry. But I’m not anymore. I want us to work this out, but I need you to come to me.”

Slowly Finn began to turn, like a music box ballerina on her last pirouette. When she finally faced her sister, Zadie’s breath caught in her throat. The light behind Finn’s eyes reminded her of their mother. The similarity was striking enough that it was a few moments before Zadie could find her voice again. “Something was wrong, wasn’t it?”

Finn gave no indication of having heard her, but the eyes glinted in confirmation. Zadie hazarded another step in her direction.

“You needed help. I wanted you to talk to me, but you wouldn’t. I think you were trying not to scare us. You were trying to protect us from something you couldn’t explain.” Zadie realized she was crying. Finn’s eyes were wet, too, but whether it was from tears or rain, she couldn’t tell.

A few more steps. She was within arm’s reach now.

“I let you down,” Zadie said, her voice cracking. “I’m so sorry.”

Something in Finn’s face changed then. Nora’s light made its way from just her eyes to her brow and lips. She was now looking at Zadie the way their mother would when she thought her daughters weren’t looking. It was a look that said: You don’t know how wonderful you are, but I do.

Zadie had missed that look. It took everything she had in that moment to not start sobbing. She took a moment to compose herself, then continued, “But now I need you to help me. I need Finn back so I can get her to safety. Can you do that for me?”

Finn’s gaze drifted down to Zadie’s outstretched hand as rainwater pooled in her palm. Then, as if in slow motion, Finn extended hers, too. Zadie threaded her fingers through hers and guided her sister—her mom—gently away from the waterfall’s edge.