Siobhan would know. Siobhan’s head was filled with musical trivia that had no real use except for making introductions to songs when they were on stage, or at a moment like this, when you just needed to know some bit of arcane detail that your own poor brain couldn’t call up. But she wasn’t about to wake her cousin up to ask.

She sat there for a few moments longer, then slipped out of bed and stood at the window. There was a glow on the ridges of the hills across the river, pink and pale orange.

She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen the dawn—certainly not waking up to see it. Whenever she did, she was usually bumping into it on the way to bed after a long night of music.

It would be nice to be down by the river to watch the sun come up, she decided.

She tugged on a pair of black jeans, pulled a T-shirt over her head, and found her shoes. One was by the door, the other under the window beside her fiddle case. She sat on the chair and laced them up, one after the other, first the right, then the left, the way she always did. Standing up, she put on her jacket. She hesitated for a moment, then took a towel from the bathroom and slipped out the door, walking quietly downstairs to the lobby.

When she stepped out the front door, the air outside felt fresh and new—like it had in the otherworld, except the only enchantment here was the simple, ordinary magic of the sun bringing light to the darkness at the end of the night. It was magic that only happened once a day, but it happened every day.

A steadily growing chorus of birdsong followed her as she crossed the road and went down the steps to the pier. Its planks were damp from the dew, so she folded up the towel and used it to sit on as she watched the sun coming up. After awhile she lifted her hand to her mouth and traced the contours of her lips. She worked her jaw, opening and closing her mouth.

Such a simple thing . . . until you couldn’t do it.

She let her hand fall to her lap.

She remembered Geordie telling them last night, before he went up to his room with Jilly, how they might forget all of what had happened to them. How it could seem like a dream that would slowly fade away as the days went by.

She didn’t know how that could be possible.