and a scream. We exchanged a look that meant something like Now what?
Liam sprinted toward the sound, awkward in his unlaced boots. I followed a beat behind. The sound had come from the end of a spit of rock, and as we drew closer a light stuttered near the water, accompanied by a string of frantic cursing.
A small motorboat had slammed up against an outcropping of sharp black rocks about ten feet out from where we stood. Razor-sharp barnacles studded the slick rocks. The boat was taking on water rapidly, sinking, and a girl who looked about my age had flung herself up on the rock, scrambling for purchase, a heavy bag slung over her shoulder. Her foot slipped, and she plunged up to her waist in the water with a yelp.
“Hang on,” Liam called to her.
“What d’you think I’m trying to do?” she hollered back. Her voice sounded familiar. She braced and hauled herself upward again, but she was still submerged to her knees, and her hands were bloodied.
Lily and Kenny came racing into view. “What’s going on?” Lily asked, and then she saw the girl. “Oh, shit.”
The boat listed and slipped out of sight beneath the water. Beyond the girl, the water was deep, but between her and us I could see the shapes of rocks maybe a foot or two below the surface. Slippery, but better than plunging into ice-cold water. Hopefully.
Automatically, I started to push aside my fear, but then I remembered how it had rushed back into me immediately, worse than before, how it had left me frozen. So I let it stay.
“Liam, grab my hand,” I said, voice shaking but determined. I didn’t wait for anyone to object. I stepped out into the water. Liam lunged to grab me, getting his hand around my wrist to steady me as I balanced, my bare feet going instantly numb. I met the girl’s eyes. “You’re going to have to get closer,” I said.
She began to inch around the rock. I stepped out as far as I could, Liam leaning to support me while Kenny grabbed his elbow to steady him. The girl reached toward me. Our hands met, her frigid, wet fingers closing over mine. “Got it?” I asked, teeth chattering.
“I’m good,” she said tightly, hiking her bag up higher, and levered herself carefully off her perch, stepping onto one of the submerged rocks. She wobbled. I wobbled. But Liam steadied me, and none of us fell. We picked our way carefully to dry land. Liam let go of my hand as soon as we were safe, but I kept my grip on the girl until she straightened up, pale and shivering.
“Thanks,” she said, giving me an odd look. I knew where I’d heard that voice before. Abigail Ryder. The girl who’d told me about my mother. I stared at her. And she—winked.
“Who the hell are you?” Lily demanded. “What are you doing out here?”
I didn’t want her answering that question. Or giving me away. “Maybe we can hold off on interrogating her until she’s inside and not hypothermic,” I suggested, putting the kind of steel behind the words that tended to make people hop into action without questioning. Kenny gave a little jerk and nodded, but Lily’s look was skeptical. Abby shivered theatrically.
“G-good idea.” She might have been playing it up, but her lips were turning blue.
Of the four of us, only Kenny had managed to grab a coat on his way out the door, and he hung it around Abby’s shoulders as we helped her toward the house. Mrs. Popova stood on the back porch, holding her rifle loosely.
“She crashed on the rocks,” Kenny said. “We’ve gotta get her warmed up.”
Mrs. Popova’s lips thinned. She looked out past us—at what, I couldn’t imagine.
“S-sorry to impose,” Abby said, teeth chattering.
For a wild moment, I thought Mrs. Popova was going to refuse. But then she stood aside. We trooped in and Kenny settled Abby on the couch before going to get the fire started. Mrs. Popova looked outside one last time, then closed the door and threw the deadbolt.
I stood a few feet away from Abby as she stripped down to her underwear, the guys turning tactfully away, and wrapped herself in a heavy quilt. What was she doing here? No, that was the wrong question—I knew what she was doing here. She was chasing the same answers I was. But I didn’t know why, and that worried me.
“Liam,” Mrs. Popova said, her voice clipped, “call