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At first she had beenover breakfast with dark circles under her eyes Yet over the next few rated There was no other word for it Her tes that didn’tnicely or brushing her hair, and when she came to pick him up from school, he was asha now She was his ht

Before long, Mom didn’t remember to pick him up from school in the first place Dad would try to talk to her, tell her to get help, but she’d sob brokenly, telling him there was no help for her and they both knew it They’d known it from the start

She’d taken a rowboat out on the ocean There was no telling for sure whether it was an accident; Mateo thought she’d planned it that way, so maybe he wouldn’t knohat she’d really done He kneay

Elizabeth turned toward him, more intent now than she had been before "Focus It’s iirl--what did you see? Have you seen anyone else you know? Have you seen o" It had been a weird one, soh a haunted house; he wasn’t even sure that was one of the visions, since it could have been only a regular dreaainst the tree Weak sunlight filtered through the els I don’t understand Rainstor on for weeks Hospital roo to have a serious conversation with ht? Because that would never happen That girl with the gray hair, what’s her na? That one was probably just a weird dream like any other weird dream But Nadia--I’ve definitely seen her, andatfire In another, I see her being sucked down into--mud, maybe quicksand, I don’t even knohat it is, but it has her I see her fighting so not huer Elizabeth--so And when she dies, I’ht Elizabeth’s blue eyes "What if I’ to die?"

She shook her head sadly, and he leaned his head on her shoulder Neither of them said anytoward hi Elizabeth or anyone else could do would stop it

But ht have a chance to save her

A large crow landed on the grass near the its head It fleay in another instant, so Mateo couldn’t be sure, but for a h there were milky cobhere its eyes should have been

Crazy, he told hiun

3

"SO, LET’S SEE--NADIA CALDANI" THE GUIDANCE counselor shuffled through the file quickly "Transfer froo For your senior year only?"

"Unless I flunk"

The counselor--whose desk nalance that clearly ht now "I meant, it’s unusual for students to move to a new school and new state for their senior year Work thing for your parents?"

"My dad wanted to quit working for a big law firm Sick of the crazy hours, the corporate crap, all of that" Was she going to get lectured for using the word crap? Apparently not Ms Walsh remained unruffled She was unexpectedly chic for a school counselor, or really for anyone Nadia had yet seen in Captive’s Sound: close-cropped hair, big silver jewelry, and a white sheath dress that set off her dark skin This was soh; Nadia could respect that "He took a job here in Captive’s Sound--public-interest law Representing lower-income workers who have disputes with their es like that" Dad always claiooder at heart, but Nadia had been kind of surprised when he stopped talking and did so about it "And they’ll let him work from home sometimes, so he can be around for me and my brother"

"That’s a definite plus," Ms Walsh said She ran one perfectly e of the papers spread out on her desk "Your dad’s the one who signed all the forreat--this was one of those counselors who expected to actually counsel you instead of just handing you college brochures Nadia decided the quickest way out was to explain it all and o Didn’t ask for custody or ali So she’s out of the picture"

"How often do you see her?"

"Never," Nadia said "I see her never She doesn’t want visitation She doesn’t pick up the phone e call, and I don’t think she so much as listens to our voice mails I used to email her some; I think one Past tense So Dad’s the one handling all the college stuff" Hopefully that would be enough to shut Ms Walsh up

Usually it wasn’t, though Other people who had heard this story, like her foro, would pile on the questions: Really? Never? That’s so awful That’s so weird Did she have a nervous breakdown? Did your father hit her when he got mad? Was there, you know, somebody else? These questions always made Nadia want to scream She had no answers, none, and Nadia didn’t see why she was responsible for explaining why her mother was such a loser