One night, they snuck into the backyard garden of a wealthy French banker whose palm Kate had read earlier that day, and made love on Kate’s purple blanket while the banker and his wife entertained friends inside the house. Afterward, they smoked cigarettes and looked up at the moon, as round and bright as a crystal ball in the dark night sky, breathing in the heady fragrance of evening primrose and listening to the sweet, melodic jazz floating down from the dinner party.

“If this were a movie, the credits would be rolling right now,” Lydia said, resting her head against Kate’s shoulder. Kate could almost see the words scrolling above their heads, the music swelling in its grand finale as the banker showed his guests to the door.

“Turn right here, Nana,” London says, and Kate realizes they have arrived in Duluth, Thunder Bay’s American twin tucked into the westernmost crook of Lake Superior, smaller and yet somehow seeming more like a big city.

When they check in at the Radisson, the teenaged male desk clerk eyes London with a look that Kate remembers, a look that fills her with a sort of quiet sadness for the past. Then they head up to their room with suitcases that London has produced from the trunk of the car. Kate doesn’t remember packing one, but when she opens it up, there it all is: her toothbrush, her nightgown, even her bathing suit. “I guess I knew we would be staying somewhere with a pool.”

London twists nervously at a piece of her hair. “Nana, this was just your stuff from the hospital,” she says. “They had to change you out of the bathing suit.”

“Oh,” Kate says, for once so entirely confused that she’s unable to hide it. “Well, then.”

But London doesn’t seem to notice. She stands awkwardly by the door for a few minutes, tracing her finger along the edge of the closet. Kate worries she’s about to ask something about this mysterious hospital visit. “Would it be okay if I go and walk around a little?” London asks instead, shoving her hands into her pockets.

“Yes, of course,” Kate says, because what else is she going to say? She is beginning to realize how little agency she has in this entire adventure, and she wonders if the Kate of a few hours ago knew that this was going to happen when she agreed to it.