A few seconds later, the door opened, but it wasn’t Estrella who answered. It was the young woman Finn had noticed her talking to the previous day. A long black braid was draped over her right shoulder like a stole. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, is Estrella here?”

“I’m sorry. She’s not seeing any visitors today.” Her tone was brusque.

“I was told that Estrella might be painting rocks for us. I was just, um, checking in to see if she had finished.”

The woman turned to look behind her, then continued quietly. “Sorry. My grandmother said she couldn’t paint yours.”

Finn glanced over the woman’s shoulder. Estrella was sitting in an armchair, watching TV. She seemed unaware of their presence. “Why?”

“It just happens sometimes.” She sounded irritated. “I’m sorry. Have a good night.” The woman moved to close the door.

“Wait! Could I come in and speak to her? Just for a minute?”

“Finn, we should go.” Zadie tried to pull her sister away from the door, but Finn held firm.

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.” Then from behind her, a voice called, “Mija, do we have visitors?”

“Yes, Abuela. But they’re just leaving.”

“Let them in! I want to say hello.”

The granddaughter reluctantly stepped aside to let Finn and Zadie pass. Estrella was a petite woman with a round face and salt-and-pepper hair. She had a smattering of sunspots on the apples of her cheeks and eyes whose corners were folded into joyful little fans. The lobes of her ears were stretched out from both age and the heavy silver earrings that dangled from them. She waved the girls over. “Come here. What are your names?”

“I’m Finn, and this is my sister, Zadie,” Finn answered. “Sorry to bother you—”

“You’re not bothering me!” The woman laughed. “Luna, maybe.”

Her granddaughter Luna smiled hollowly.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your company this evening?”

Finn sat across from Estrella on a claw-foot ottoman upholstered in raspberry velvet. “Tonya mentioned you might be painting rocks for us.”

“Ah, yes…” she said, trailing off.

“I know you weren’t able to paint them, but I hoped I could maybe talk to you instead.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Well, it’s a long story, but our mom went missing five years ago. We’re trying to find her, but we’re kind of stuck. I thought maybe you would know where we should look next.” Estrella’s eyes darted from Finn to Luna, a peculiar expression on her face that Finn couldn’t read. Luna quickly turned away and began straightening a pile of magazines. Estrella shook her head and sighed. “I’m sorry, girls. I can only paint if a vision is delivered to me. I’m just a conduit.”

“So you saw nothing for us?”

“I did not.”

“Okay. Thanks anyway,” Finn said, deflated, and stood to leave.