“Mom?” Zadie wasn’t sure if she’d heard her sister correctly. “It was Mom’s memory?”

“Yes.”

She’d had a knot in her stomach ever since she’d walked into Finn’s party that afternoon. Now it cinched so tight she felt breathless. “How … Are you sure it was her?”

Finn nodded. “Positive. She was singing the song.”

“The song?”

“The one she used to sing to us when we were kids. The one about the bird.”

Zadie remembered. She had loved that song. Now she turned off the radio any time it came on.

Finn started talking so fast her words tumbled over each other. “It was incredible! It was like I was in her body. But I didn’t just see what she was seeing, I felt everything she was feeling. I could hear her thoughts. That’s the first time that’s ever happened.” Finn paused, taking in her sister’s expression. “You don’t look excited.”

“It’s just … a lot.”

“I know. It is for me, too. To be honest, lately I’ve been feeling like I was forgetting her, you know? It was so long ago, and I was only a kid. But now I feel like we’ve been given a second chance.”

“A second chance at what?”

Finn shifted in her seat. There was more she wasn’t telling her. Zadie could feel it.

“I think we should go looking for her.”

Zadie didn’t answer at first. Maybe she could pretend that she hadn’t heard her sister. After all, the karaoke machine was loud and the poorly executed vocal runs of the two middle-aged women onstage were even louder. If she didn’t answer, maybe Finn would drop the subject and they could go back to talking about things that didn’t make her want to scream: funny dog videos, maybe, or people who weren’t their mother.

“Zadie? Did you hear me?”

“Hmm?”

“I think we should go find Mom.” It was clear by Finn’s determined expression that she wasn’t going to let this go.

“But we don’t know where she is.” Or if she’s even alive. “If the police couldn’t find her, what makes you think we can?”

“Because we have something the police don’t.” Finn leaned over the table, nearly setting her elbow down in Zadie’s yogurt. “I’ve never had an echo of Mom. Not before she disappeared, not after. Until today.”

“So?”

“So that’s got to be significant. Don’t you think?”

Unable to give Finn the response she was fishing for, Zadie didn’t answer.

“It’s fine if you don’t. That’s not what matters here. What matters is that we now know I can pick up on Mom’s memories. I just have to do it again. Maybe then we can figure out where she went.”