Heard you almost got killed.

Yeah

Glad u didn't.

Thanks

What r u gonna do now?

I have to find someone

w?

Can't tell u yet

oboy
Alex, please, let ur friends help
Stop trying to do shit by urself without talking to anyone first

I am gonna need help from my friends. And what ru doing by urself in Detroit?

Not getting myself stabbed

Ouch

Alexandra returned to Larkin Mills for the Escalade, and to see Brian for the first time since that night on Murdoch Road.

She wasn't prepared for the toll it had taken on him. He looked haunted as he told her about watching as she and Hela were taken away.

"I thought you were both dead," he said in a hushed voice. "And only Anna and Livia talked to us—the other wizards acted like we were the ones who didn't belong there."

Alexandra held his hand, feeling completely inadequate to the task of comforting him. Her own scars were still fresh.

"How's Billy?" This was not a question she had ever imagined asking.

Brian shook his head. "Back to being a dick. Pretending like this didn't mess him up."

Alexandra felt guilt and resentment twisting together in her stomach. She didn't want to feel sorry for Billy Boggleston, let alone responsible. It pained her to see Brian so messed up—but she was messed up too. She was the one who'd been stabbed!

"My dad's moving to Chicago," Brian said. "I think I'm gonna go stay with him, even though it means transferring after the semester's already started."

Alexandra thought about how much Brian had been through. He was still going to high school. Like she should be. She hoped he could return to having a normal life, something she was pretty sure was no longer in her future, if it ever had been.

"I feel like I'm abandoning Larkin Mills," Brian said. "I'm worried about my grandparents, and my friends. Even that asshole Billy." He looked at Alexandra. "Is MACUSA really going to protect the town?"

"As much as they can," Alexandra said. "There are a lot of towns. And Chicago isn't exactly safe either."

"Yeah. They're saying on wizardworld that the fire was caused by Majes."

"Majes?"

"Well, if we're No-Majes, then that would make you—"

"That's a really stupid term."

"Is it true? Did wizards set Chicago on fire then flood downtown?"

Alexandra sighed. "Yes. It's true."

Brian shook his head. "So, are you staying in Larkin Mills?"

She hesitated. "Actually, I have something I need to do."

"In the wizarding world."

"Yeah."

Brian avoided looking at her. His eyes were fixed on her wrist, where Nigel's head emerged from the coils tattooed around and around her forearm. Alexandra put her other hand on Brian's knee and leaned forward, letting her shirt fall off one shoulder, revealing the black raven feathers inked there. She didn't release Charlie, but waited until Brian's gaze had shifted from her arm and her shoulder to her face.

He didn't move, so she pressed her lips to his, and was relieved when he didn't pull away.

"I was going to leave after talking to you, actually," she said. "But I could wait until the morning."

Brian was afraid to touch her at first. She let him see the pink healing scar under her ribs, and his fingers traced some of the other scars she'd acquired—the place on her belly where the Nemesis Spirit had stabbed her with its beak, the scar on her neck, and the mark on her wrist where she'd been impaled the previous summer.

Neither of them spoke much more about the war or what had happened. Eventually they fell asleep together curled up beneath a heavy blanket, while snow fell outside.

The next morning, Alexandra stood in the doorway watching him drive away. She wondered if she'd see him again. It wasn't the first time Brian leaving had felt like a book closing, but this parting felt more final. She couldn't even say what she felt. A sense of loss, a sense of ending, a sense that perhaps their story had been over long before now.

She was wearing shorts and a t-shirt despite the cold. She wasn't worried about gawkers on Sweetmaple Avenue anymore. She didn't know if the charms she and Hela had never finished casting around the town were having an effect, but no reporters or tourists had come by recently.

Across the street, Mrs. Wilborough stood watching from her front door with her arms folded. Alexandra folded her arms back. Mrs. Wilborough shook her head and closed her door.

It took Alexandra all day to drive north. It was hard spending hours in an automobile again, especially knowing she could be at Charmbridge in minutes using her Seven-League Boots. But she couldn't carry Sonja with them.

Jingwei had brought Anna a reply from Sonja that said only, "I'll be ready." Nothing about places to rendezvous or auspicious times.

Alexandra didn't attempt to use the Automagicka, but stuck to Muggle highways. It was a grueling drive. Snow slowed her down before she passed through Chicago, and the roads turned icier as she continued north. Every time she saw a police car she worried she'd be pulled over.

Sometimes, if she didn't look to the right, she could imagine Hela was in the passenger's seat, sitting in grim, silent judgment of her driving.

Despite a number of near misses, and some skidding on the winding road up the mountain, Alexandra didn't get into any accidents or traffic stops, and arrived at the cliffside turnoff in front of the Invisible Bridge just before sunset.

This was where the Charmbridge bus had once deposited her and a gaggle of new students for their first look at the valley between the Muggle world and Charmbridge Academy. She got out of the Escalade and released Charlie, who cawed in recognition.

"Fly, fly," Charlie said. Across the valley, the woods that concealed Charmbridge were blanketed with snow.

Normally, it took only a minute to walk across the Invisible Bridge. But now it was tangled with charms at every step, and Alexandra had to pass through all of them without triggering them and alerting the school. The sun was down by the time she set foot on the other side, not entirely sure that she hadn't missed an alarm.

She hoped to avoid entering school grounds, or a confrontation with the teachers. If the Confederation hadn't taken over the school, they still had informants, like Adela Iturbide. Dean Grimm would resist intrusions into her school, but she had been forced to bend to the will of the Governor and the Governor-General before.

Alexandra hoped the collapse of Central Territory's government meant they were too busy to worry about Charmbridge right now. But she was tense as she walked away from the bridge, alert for any signs of a waiting ambush. In the woods, she cast her Patronus Charm, and sent it winging towards the academy with a message for Sonja.

What if she's not really a Seer? How many of Sonja's dramatic "prophecies" had actually panned out? Alexandra was taking the saying her father had told her literally, and hoping Sonja could somehow help her find a secretive old woman—and a Granny!—in the Ozarks. As she stood there beneath icicles in the trees, she began questioning herself.

"Hello!" called Charlie from a tree branch overhead.

A solitary figure was walking through the snow, wearing a heavy wool cloak with a hood. A bag was slung over her shoulder. Only when she drew closer did she look up and push her hood back, revealing bright red hair and freckles that were visible even in the evening twilight.

Sonja Rackham came to a halt a few feet from Alexandra, and smiled.

"Tell me the prophecies you sent to me before I went to New Amsterdam," Alexandra said.

Sonja's smile faltered. "What?"

"You wrote down a bunch of prophecies and sent them to me. Most of them didn't make any sense."

Sonja pouted. "Then why do you want to hear them again?"

"Humor me." Alexandra held up her wand, without quite pointing it at her.

Sonja's expression became a little distant. "I told you to beware of alligators, and there were rats in New Amsterdam, and avoid humble pie because it might be poisoned. And I said it wasn't him—"

"Yeah, what exactly did that mean?" Alexandra asked.

"Alexandra, if I could just write the future down for you, I would. That's not how the Inner Eye works. It's nice to see you too, by the way. Why yes, I'd be delighted to run away from school and probably get expelled. You're welcome."

Alexandra lowered her wand. "It is nice to see you, Sonja. And thank you for coming." Hesitantly, she put her other arm around the girl for a hug. Sonja hugged her back with more enthusiasm.

"I'm sorry I'm so paranoid," Alexandra said. "I really don't think Dean Grimm will expel you, though. You can blame it on me. She'll probably believe you if you say I Imperiused you."

"Don't be ridiculous, Alexandra."

"Ridiculous!" said Charlie from overhead.

Sonja looked up. "Hello Charlie."

"Pretty bird," Charlie said.

"We should get going," Alexandra said. "How'd you get past the hall monitors and the alarms? You didn't tell Carol anything, did you?"

"Do you really think you're the only one who ever snuck out of school?" Sonja asked. "I left Carol a note."

Alexandra nodded. "And… you really think you can find Granny Grimm?"

"Goodness Alexandra, I don't know. It's not like I've ever gone looking for another Seer before. You're the one who said I could. You really didn't explain very much in that letter."

Alexandra stared at Sonja in dismay. "But—you agreed to come!"

Sonja smiled. "You asked for my help. You said you needed my Inner Eye."

Alexandra suddenly felt very foolish. Was she dragging Sonja out of school, and away from safety, for nothing?

"Oh, don't look so upset," Sonja said. "I told you you were going to take me with you to the Ozarks, didn't I? I'm sure there's a reason for it, and it will all work out."

"Right," Alexandra said. "Okay then." She looked around one more time. Still no one else had appeared. "Let's go."

After they crossed the Invisible Bridge, Sonja clapped her hands in delight when she saw the Escalade. "Oh my gosh! Are we going to ride in a Muggle vehicle? It's so cute! Like a miniature version of the Charmbridge bus. I learned about these in my Muggle Studies class. Are they really powered by burning dinosaurs? I remember our sixth grade field trip to Chicago—there were so many of them!"

Alexandra called Charlie back to her, and Sonja watched wide-eyed as the raven became a tattoo on her shoulder once more. "That's very clever," she said.

"I actually learned it from Angelique," Alexandra said.

The two of them got in the SUV. Sonja tossed her bag in the back, remarking that she didn't think it would be so small inside. She looked around at all the Muggle accessories, and turned knobs and poked at buttons until Alexandra told her to stop.

Sonja was much less excited by the drive down the winding mountain road. Alexandra was driving slowly and carefully—she was! But the big SUV still skidded a lot on the icy roads. Sonja quickly figured out how to put on the seat belt.

When they reached the bottom and the road flattened out, Alexandra said, "You can take your hands away from your eyes."

Sonja dropped her hands and looked at the stretch of highway illuminated by the headlights disappearing into the snow ahead. Another car came whooshing past from the opposite direction, and Sonja let out a little shriek.

"Will there be many Muggles driving on the same road as us?" she asked.

"What does your Inner Eye say?" Alexandra asked.

Sonja frowned at her. "You know, ever since I started seeing things, you've made fun of me. It's not very nice for you to ask for my help but still treat my Inner Eye like a joke."

Alexandra was silent for a few miles. More cars passed by them, and Sonja gradually stopped tensing quite so much, but Alexandra noticed a tear running down her cheek.

"You're right, Sonja," Alexandra said. "You've been nothing but helpful, and I really had no business asking you to do this. I'm sorry. I've been through… a lot."

Sonja sniffed and wiped the tear away. "I know you didn't really believe I'm a Seer, until you needed me. But that's okay. I knew you were coming."

It was a very long drive to the Ozarks. Alexandra parked for the night outside of Chicago, and she and Sonja slept in the back of the Escalade, after Alexandra cast Muggle-Repelling Charms and alarm spells. They had breakfast at a diner, and then continued south. Alexandra had planned to make the Ozarks in a day, but the weather was hazardous enough that she realized they'd have to stop for a second night.

As she drove, she told Sonja about everything that had happened since the Junior Wizarding Decathlon; the wizard war, her deal with Brigitte Jumeau, her escape from the Castle, and her adventures in California. Sonja put her hands over her mouth in horror at Lucilla's fate, and actually cried over Dylan's death. She'd heard rumors, but she hadn't known the details.

Alexandra left out most of her time spent with her father and the Thorn Circle, but eventually she came to the night in Larkin Mills when Harriet Isingrim came for her.

Sonja listened quietly until Alexandra was finished. Alexandra hadn't meant to tell her so much, but Sonja turned out to be a good listener.

"How are you going to fight underwater panthers and remove them from the Great Lakes?" Sonja asked.

"I don't know," Alexandra said. "Any suggestions from your Inner Eye?"

"It doesn't work like that, Alexandra."

"Yeah, I figured."

They sat in silence for a while, as they approached Arkansas, and Alexandra finally spoke again. "So, I have a question. I swear to God, I won't be angry or upset at you if this has all been, I don't know, something for attention, or just what you really wanted to believe. And I hope you won't be angry at me for asking. But I need to know, seriously. Are you a Seer, Sonja? Does your Inner Eye really see the future? Were all those prophecies for real?"

Sonja regarded her with wide, bright eyes. Normally her expression was open and ingenuous, but now her face was blank.

Finally she said, in a small voice, "I might have… dramatized things a bit."

Alexandra felt her heart sink, but she nodded.

Then Sonja spoke in a firmer voice. "Seers aren't all alike. At least from what I've read. Some have dreams. Some go into trances. Some use arithmancy and astrology, or tea leaves or salt or entrails—eww—or coins or cards. Supposedly you can learn to use your gift, if you have it, but Charmbridge doesn't really teach those things. If you're a Seer you're kind of supposed to figure it out yourself."

Alexandra glanced at Sonja. "Are you saying—?"

"Sometimes I write things down," Sonja said. "And they come true. And I don't know where whatever I wrote came from. But it comes true. I've tried to ask questions or concentrate on certain things, but my Inner Eye decides what it will see. Most of the time it's silly phrases that don't make much sense, like what I sent you." She bit her lip and looked out the window. "Sometimes I write more. And I don't know where it came from. But it always comes true."

"Always?"

"Well, I mean, it's about the future. So some of it hasn't come true yet."

"How do you know everything you write down will come true? I haven't encountered any poisoned humble pie yet. And some of what you sent me really didn't make much sense."

"Maybe you heeded my warning and avoided humble pie. Maybe it came true in a way you didn't notice. Maybe humble pie was a metaphor. Maybe my Inner Eye isn't omniscient and I only write what it can see. Or maybe it hasn't happened yet. I don't know, Alexandra!"

Sonja's distress, more than anything else, convinced Alexandra.

She took a breath. "You wrote, all of my sisters will be together only once."

"Oh yes, I remember that," Sonja said faintly.

"Hela's dead. So that means either she wasn't my sister, or…."

"Or you will all be together only in death? You'll be together in spirit? I don't know, Alexandra. I really don't."

Alexandra sighed. "You really wrote down that I was going to return to the Ozarks and take you with me?"

"Yes." Sonja nodded.

"Okay," Alexandra said. "I believe you."

"I never tried to trick anyone," Sonja said. "I just… I wanted it to seem more dramatic."

"It's okay. If you're really a Seer, you're really a Seer. But… how are you going to help me find Granny Grimm? Have you written anything about her?"

Sonja shook her head. "I don't think so. Of course sometimes I write so many things, and then spend an awful lot of time trying to figure out what it means. I will try to help you, Alexandra, but I don't know how to write what I want about what I want to write about. I really don't. Maybe Granny Grimm will be able to help me."

"Maybe," Alexandra said. Her experience with Grannies and with Grimms did not fill her with optimism.

There was less snow in the Ozarks, just a dusting on the ground and some flakes in the air, when they arrived in the parking lot of an old A&W. It was the only place Alexandra knew how to get to along Muggle roads that was close to the Ozarkers' Hollers, the place where she and Julia had arrived by Portkey two summers ago.

She parked the Escalade behind the A&W, by the edge of the woods, as out of sight as possible.

After two nights in a row sleeping in the back of the SUV, she and Sonja were both feeling less than fully rested. Cleaning Charms could make up for the lack of showers, but it didn't feel the same, and while Alexandra was used to camping and even harsher conditions, Sonja was not.

In the hours they'd spent on the road, Alexandra had learned more about Sonja and her family than in the past six years that she'd known her. Sonja's Pureblood family was among the Elect, she had two sisters and two brothers, and even though she was the only one who got into Charmbridge, she was a forgotten middle child whose siblings had scoffed at and dismissed her prophecies, and whose parents had told her to stop talking nonsense about being a Seer.

Alexandra began to understand why Sonja had craved the attention she got at school.

And yet, despite being pampered her entire life, perhaps as much as Julia, Sonja's complaints had been few. She remained intensely curious about Muggle things, and when she sensed Alexandra was willing to talk, asked her about growing up among Muggles. Somehow this had led to sharing things with Sonja she hadn't even talked about with Anna or Julia. Sonja was a natural listener, and seemed incapable of being judgmental, unlike Anna and Julia.

Now, with her red hair catching flakes of snow, she watched as Alexandra cast Muggle-Repelling Charms on the SUV, freed Charlie from her shoulder, and took her broom out of her magic backpack.

"Where are we going to start?" Sonja asked.

"Well, I guess I was hoping you'd have another prophecy or something," Alexandra said, but when Sonja shook her head, she went on. "Since you don't, I guess the best person to ask about a Granny is the Grannies."

"Okay," Sonja said. "Are they really as scary as Constance and Forbearance and Burton say? They didn't seem very scary when you Apparated into the Jubilee and told them all off."

"Scary," said Charlie, who had perched at the end of Alexandra's broom.

Alexandra frowned slightly at the mention of Burton. "They can be, but not in a dangerous way. I mean, they might put a curse on you if you're rude or vexing, but I don't think they'll hurt you."

"Troublesome vexes," Charlie said.

Sonja giggled. Alexandra rolled her eyes and got onto the broom.

Sonja climbed on behind her and put her arms around Alexandra's waist. "At least I know your flying is better than your driving."

"Excuse me?" Alexandra took off much faster than she normally would, so steeply that if not for the broom's charms, Charlie and Sonja would both have been hurled off.

"Real funny, jerk!" Charlie said, as Sonja gulped and clung to Alexandra. They soared out over the woods and into Furthest Holler, where the Pritchards lived.

Alexandra had spent weeks the previous winter flying around the Hollers on errands for the Grannies. She knew her way around now. She didn't fly to the Pritchards' residence, but to a creek not far from their home. When she and Sonja landed, she put her broom back into her backpack.

"Fly ahead, Charlie," she said. "Tell Granny Pritchard we're coming."

As the raven took off, Sonja said, "That's Constance and Forbearance and Innocence's grandmother?"

"Great-grandmother, actually." Alexandra began clearing a path through dense brambles and thorn bushes using Cutting and Shriveling charms. Even without foliage, the dead brown branches would easily keep Muggles and most other creatures from passing this way.

Sonja stayed close behind her. "Does she live in the middle of a briar patch?"

"No, she's got a little cottage in the woods, but it's not easy to get to without magic. She has anti-Apparition charms, and just dropping in by broom would be rude. It's an Ozarker thing. If you don't approach their home properly they get fussed about it, and since Granny Pritchard is easy to fuss, I'd like to do this right."

"Fussed," Sonja repeated with amusement.

Eventually they were past the barrier of vegetation and as they walked through the trees, their feet crunching over brown fall leaves that were still poking through the thin layer of snow, they heard a commotion ahead. It was a cacophony of cawing and braying.

"Charlie!" Alexandra exclaimed, and broke into a run. In her Seven-League Boots she zipped through the trees, leaving Sonja behind in an instant, but that was as long as it took her to reach Granny Pritchard's cottage.

Charlie was perched on the railing of Granny Pritchard's porch, wings spread to appear larger and more intimidating, cawing defiantly at a large mule standing in the snowy yard. The mule's lips were peeled back, its ears flat against its head, and it was braying back at Charlie loudly enough to be heard across the Holler.

"Charlie!" Alexandra said. "Stop it!"

"Stupid!" said Charlie.

The mule's contemptuous braying in response was long and loud.

By the time Alexandra reached the porch, Granny Pritchard had emerged. She looked down at Charlie, and then at Alexandra.

"Oughter've known," she said. "Hain't the world in a heap o' confusion 'n calamity enough, and here is Miss Quick raisin' a ruction right on my very own front porch. What trouble've you brought to us, Missy?"

So much for doing this right, Alexandra thought. Charlie flew to her outstretched arm.

She opened her mouth to speak, and stopped when another person exited the front door and stood behind Granny Pritchard.

"You shush your brayin' you ornery girl!"

Burton Pritchard held his hat in his hand, and grinned at Alexandra. His beard was a little thicker than the last time she'd seen him, and his hair a little longer.

"I was talkin' to Juniper, not you, Miss Quick," he said.

"Hello, Burton," Alexandra said, trying not to clench her teeth.

"Well, 'splain yoreself, Missy!" said Granny Pritchard. "What 'n tarnation are you doin' here?"

"I didn't mean to raise a ruction, Granny Pritchard," Alexandra said. "I came to ask you about—" she glanced at Burton and back at the old woman. "—Granny matters."

"Granny matters? You came allus way in the middle of a wizard war to ask me 'bout 'Granny matters'? An' not to tell me somethin' has befallen my great-granddaughters?"

Burton's grin faded at this, and his expression turned serious.

Alexandra shook her head. "Your great-granddaughters are fine. The war hasn't touched Charmbridge." Yet.

"I'm pleased to hear it," said Burton. "Ma an' Pa been contemplatin' fetchin' them three back home afore we'uns cain't no more."

Alexandra couldn't say anything to that. She wasn't even certain that was the wrong decision, though she suspected Constance and Forbearance and Innocence wouldn't like it.

"Granny Pritchard," she started again, and then Granny Pritchard's eyebrows went up and Burton's eyes widened.

"An' just how many o' yore friends did you tow 'long to discuss 'Granny matters'?" Granny Pritchard demanded.

Alexandra turned around. Sonja, a little breathless, had finally reached the edge of the clearing. She walked through the snow, looking at the mule and Alexandra and Charlie and the two people on the porch. She was panting when she finally reached Alexandra's side.

"Well, tickle my chin, if it hain't Miss Quick's purty li'l friend," said Burton. "However did she contrive to drag you 'long, Miss Sonja?"

"Hello, Burton." Sonja smiled at Burton, and then made a small curtsy to Granny Pritchard. "You must be Granny Pritchard. My name is Sonja Rackham. I'm friends with Alexandra. And Constance, Forbearance, and Innocence. I was here last summer for the Jubilee."

"I 'member you," Granny Pritchard said. "The boys was quite taken with yore flamin' hair an' koosy dancin'." She folded her arms. "Hain't you'uns s'pposed to still be at school with my great-granddaughters?"

"Yes ma'am," Sonja said. "But this was more important. You see—"

"You see, we really need to talk to you in private," Alexandra said.

Burton adopted a hangdog expression. "You'uns don't trust me?"

"Don't be an oaf, boy," Granny Pritchard said. "Be off, now. This Granny business o' theirs or whatever it may be hain't for yore ears, and the Stars Above know nothin' but trouble'll come o' you hangin' 'bout with these gals."

"Granny Pritchard, you wound me, you surely do." Burton stepped off the porch. "Guess I'll be headin' home, then. But Alex—I can call you Alex, cain't I?"

Alexandra maintained an impassive expression without answering. Her indiscretion with Burton, that night of the Jubilee, was not a secret to Granny Pritchard, or Burton's sisters, or even to Sonja, after their drive here, but she couldn't trust herself to say anything.

"Alex," he went on, "I do hope you will visit our home a'fore you leave. Would be dreadful rude for you not to." He turned to Sonja. "An' bring Miss Sonja with you."

Sonja smiled at him, and Charlie fluttered nervously on Alexandra's shoulder, feeling her ire.

"Git goin', boy," Granny Pritchard said, and this time her voice was flat and her words came from between her teeth, and Burton's smile slipped.

He put his hat on and said, "Yes'm," before swinging himself onto the mule's back. He tipped his hat one more time to all three of them, but while there was still a twinkle in his eyes, he was too cowed by Granny Pritchard to smile.

The mule floated off the ground. Burton flew away on its back, in the direction of his family's home.

Granny Pritchard turned back to the two girls, and eyed Charlie. "Are you quite done raisin' a ruckus?"

"Yes'm," said Charlie.

She snorted. Then she pushed the door of her cottage open. "You gals come inside, then. Not you, bird. You just perch yoreself and sit a spell."

"Yes'm," said Charlie, a bit deflated.

Alexandra and Sonja entered Granny Pritchard's cottage, and found a fire blazing in the hearth and a kettle floating a foot above the fire. Small candles around the room provided light, and a broom was moving around the cottage by itself, sweeping in corners and under furniture.

Alexandra watched the broom, which had obviously been charmed after the great Unworking of the year before. "You and Granny Mahnkey made me do chores without magic."

"What of it? When we'uns don't have foreign gals about for cleanin' and fetchin' we'uns use magic like any other witches. Would you'uns like some tea?"

"Yes, please," Sonja said.

Alexandra shrugged, then said, "Yes, ma'am. Thank you."

Granny Pritchard gestured with her wand, and floated teacups through the air to be filled with tea from the floating kettle. "It practically stings yore tongue to be so mannerly, don't it, Miss Quick? I can feel yore impatience. Still allus in a hurry, can't wait to get about yore business, nevermind anyone else's."

Alexandra sighed, as she sat on a small embroidered sofa next to Sonja, and accepted the teacup with both hands. "Right. I'm selfish, high-headed, and vain. Would you like to call me a slut, too?"

Sonja sputtered as she sipped her tea. Granny Pritchard's face wrinkled up in disapproval. "I see yore disposition has not changed for the better."

Alexandra took a long sip of her tea, then fixed Granny Pritchard with her most intense stare. "The wizard war is threatening everyone I care about, Granny Pritchard. Everyone. I've already lost friends. And a sister."

The old woman opened her mouth, but for the first time Alexandra could recall, she was speechless. Then she said, "I am truly sorry, child. Surely… surely not Miss Julia?"

"No," Alexandra said. "Julia is fine. At the moment. I think." She clenched the teacup in her hands, so tightly Sonja looked down at her hands and lightly touched them. Alexandra relaxed slightly. "A sister I didn't know about before. Maybe my sister. I don't even know for sure. Another secret my father kept from me."

Granny Prichard settled back in her rocking chair and regarded Alexandra with an expression just a smidge less hardened than her usual one. "I see. Well, I am sorry, child, really an' truly. But how is this Granny business?"

Alexandra hadn't taken her eyes off Granny Pritchard. "What can you tell me about Granny Grimm?"

Color drained from Granny Pritchard's face and her mouth flattened to a frown.

"We'uns do not speak o' her," she said.

"Why not?" Alexandra asked. "Didn't you think it was relevant, when I was here last winter, running around doing your bidding and trying to figure out just what it meant to be Troublesome, that my great-grandmother is one of you?"

"She hain't one of us!" Granny Pritchard said, and took a deep breath. Alexandra had rarely seen the old woman lose her composure like this. "That one went bad."

Alexandra and Sonja exchanged looks.

"What does that mean, she went bad?" Alexandra asked.

"She walked away," Granny Pritchard said. "She turned her back on her folk and took all her Granny lore with her, an' now she lives apart from everyone but the Dark creatures she conspires with. She has cast curses an' blights on them who had the misfortune to seek her out, and she is no longer a part of our Great Work, of which she stole a considerable portion." She sounded accusatory, as if Alexandra were somehow responsible for her great-grandmother's misdeeds. "A selfish, high-headed woman who thought herself above her duties an' expectations and no longer beholden to her own kith an' kin."

"Yup, sounds like my great-grandmother," Alexandra said. "So where can I find her?"

"You hain't hearin' me, girl. You do not want to find her."

"Yes, I do. Because whatever else she is, she's also a Seer, and she's the one who made a prophecy when I was born. The prophecy that spells out my fate, and the prophecy…" Alexandra paused. "The prophecy a girl who I think was my sister died for, and almost killed me over."

Granny Pritchard's face scrunched up. "An' you feature knowin' this prophecy will help you somehow?"

"It might. It might not. But either way, I'd really like to know why so many people want me dead. So you can help me or not, Granny Pritchard, but you know I'm going to go looking regardless. I'll be out of your hair sooner, the sooner I find my great-grandmother."

"Don't you try'n grease my tin, Missy. I hain't gonna set you 'pon a ruinous course on account o' you representin' you'll be 'outer my hair.'"

"No, you'll only set me on a ruinous course if you think it helps Ozarkers."

Alexandra knew she'd let her temper get the better of her again. Granny Pritchard looked as if she were about to throw them out.

Sonja said, "You need to be ready by June."

Alexandra turned to her in confusion, and Granny Pritchard looked at Sonja as if trying to remember why she was here. "Beg pardon?"

"You're preparing," Sonja said. "But the rest of the Ozarkers aren't listening to you. I'm sorry, I don't know exactly what Grannies do. But you've been preparing for a very long time, but you can't really make them listen to you, can you? Is it that they think you're only good for advice when you tell them what they think they want to hear? I know how that is." She glanced at Alexandra.

Granny Pritchard tilted her head. "Miss Rackham…"

Sonja's eyes widened. "Is it because Granny Grimm was the only Seer among you?" She clapped her hands, as if she'd just solved a puzzle. "That makes sense! So without her the rest of your people think you Grannies are just…"

"Meddlesome old women," Granny Pritchard said. "It weren't just because Vainglory was a Seer. She was… well, she was a lot of things." She looked at Alexandra again. "She coulda been the best of us, but she came to be the worst." Then she turned back to Sonja and said sharply, "Where'd all that intuitin' come from, Missy?"

"Sonja is a Seer," Alexandra said. "I don't know what it is you're getting ready for, but apparently you need to be ready by June."

Granny Pritchard sucked in a breath. "Hain't near 'nough time."

"I'm sorry," Sonja said. "I only know what my Inner Eye sees, I can't change it."

"Inner eye?" Granny Pritchard's face wrinkled again.

"Don't ask," Alexandra said. "But she's the real thing, Granny Pritchard. That's why I brought her, because I heard—"

"A Seer to find a Seer?" Granny Pritchard nodded glumly. "If you are a genuine Seer, then we'uns have an awful hard row an' not near 'nough hoes."

"I'm sorry," Sonja said again. "I want to help you more than you know. But Alexandra is the one who really needs help right now."

Granny Pritchard sighed. "The most any of us know 'bout Granny Grimm is she was last seen in Hunnert Boggarts Holler, and that was near 'bout the time you was born. No one can even say for certain she's still alive, though there's tales, an' I feature there'd be signs if'n she passed."

Alexandra nodded. "I guess we'll have to start there, then."

"I recommend you don't," Granny Pritchard said. "But it don't take a Seer to know what you'll do once you fix yore mind to it."