But the more she tried to rationalize—there was nothing I could have done—the guiltier she felt. It was that guilt that sat with her now in the firelight, that jammed its limbs into her ribs like her baby would do in a matter of weeks. Her anger was guilt in a Halloween mask. It made her feel in control.

But she wasn’t in control. Her premonitions made sure to remind her of that.

Then, as if taunting her: The sky is full of birds. The phrase lunged at Zadie. Instinctively, she put up a wall, but the premonition beat itself against it like a bird flying into a window.

The sky is full of birds. She held her breath, trying to starve it of oxygen, then looked up at the stars and started counting: One, two, three—

The sky is full of birds.

Four, five, six …

As she counted to seven, the stars didn’t look like stars anymore. They were a flock of birds flitting through space on wings made of luminescent dust, a murmuration of starlight.

“It’s taking a long time, don’t you think?”

Finn.

Zadie blinked the rest of the starbirds from her eyes. “What’s taking a long time?” she said, disoriented. Her sister often did this. Start a conversation that had already begun in her head. Or perhaps she had been speaking this whole time and Zadie had been too preoccupied to notice.

“Our rocks. You don’t think it would take Estrella that long to paint.”

Zadie had forgotten about the rocks. She rubbed her brow. The premonition may have subsided, but a headache had taken its place. “She probably forgot. I wouldn’t get hung up over it. It’s just a rock.”

“No, it’s not.” It was as if a switch inside Finn had just been flipped. “It could be a clue,” she said and jumped to her feet.

Zadie followed her. Someone would have to apologize for the elder harassment that was about to take place. “Whoa, slow down. What clue?”

“If the paintings are supposed to show our futures, maybe they can tell us where to go next.”

“So, you want to see our futures so you can see into Mom’s past?”

“Exactly.”

Zadie’s brain hurt. This was why she didn’t watch time travel movies.

As they approached the front door of Estrella’s trailer, they saw a sign hanging from the knocker that read:

PALM READINGS: MONDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS

TAROT: TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS

PAINTINGS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Zadie rolled her eyes. There was nothing that got under her skin more than phony prognostication. “If you want your palm read, I can write bullshit on it with a Sharpie.”

Finn glared at her sister and hissed, “Sssh! She’ll hear you.” Then, deadpan, “Good one.”

“Thank you.”

Finn knocked on the door. She could hear someone shuffling around inside. “Someone’s home,” she whispered.