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back and forth as Valerie cried. Hillary watched as sobs wracked her friend, her body shuddering with such strength her mother’s frame shook as well.
    “I’m sorry . . . I know you tried, honey, I know . . . I’m sorry it has to be this way.”
    Hillary took an unsteady step. The fog might have been gone from her vision, but a touch of it remained inside her head. She could see, tottering closer, it wasn’t Valerie’s crying that shook her mother so, but the sobbing of the woman herself. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she consoled her daughter.
    Hillary couldn’t figure out what was so wrong. The bad man who’d chased them, who had hurt Valerie’s mom, was dead, and that was yucky and awfully scary, but they were safe. The scary thing that had taken Valerie’s place was gone—and they were safe ! She desperately wanted to go home, but Valerie and her mom were still crying so much . . .
    “Valerie,” she said. “You okay?”
    Her friend’s sobbing paused, just for a second, then resumed even harder. Mrs. Redfern spoke without lifting her cheek from her daughter’s hair. “She’s fine, dear.”
    “Why is she crying? Aren’t we safe now? I just . . . I just want to go home.”
    Mrs. Redfern’s back stiffened, but she still spoke in gentle tones, still pressed her face to the side of Valerie’s.
    “She’s crying because she’s sad, Hillary. She’s very, very sad.”
    “Because of him?” Hillary pointed toward the man, though neither of them looked at her.
    “Sort of, yes. This is my fault. Just . . . all my fault. The full moon was almost here. Not quite, but close. I checked, I double-checked, I mean, everything should have been okay. Then they had to come along. There was too much stress, it was all too close, and she couldn’t cope. She tried.”
    She leaned back, a hand stroking Val’s small dark head, smoothing the hair back from her face. Hillary could see Mrs. Redfern in profile, could see her smiling despite her tears. Her voice lowered to a broken whisper.
    “You tried so hard.”
    “But . . .” Hillary was confused. She didn’t know what to say, what to ask.
    “But,” Mrs. Redfern raised her voice, addressing Hillary, though she still stared into her daughter’s face. “She knows how it has to be. She tried, and she did so well, but she knows how things have to be.”
    “Is it the . . . that thing ? Is that why she’s crying?”
    Mrs. Redfern was silent, the only sound in the alley the sobs still coming from Valerie. Quieter now, but still coming.
    “That thing is gone,” Hillary pointed out, starting to cry herself. She was exhausted, frightened, and she just wanted to be home in bed where her own mother would smooth her hair and tell her things would be all right. “And those guys are gone. You said we’d be safe. We’re safe, right? They can’t hurt us any more. Can we go home now?”
    Mrs. Redfern eased her daughter off her lap, sliding her gently to the ground.
    “Yes—that thing —that’s why she’s crying. I was supposed to lead those men away from you two. She tried so hard to stay calm. But she couldn’t.”
    Valerie sat facing away from Hillary, shoulders shaking. Her mother rose smoothly to her feet, standing over the girl on the ground as if talking to her, though her words were still directed at Hillary.
    “She was supposed to keep that thing away, but she didn’t.”
    “But that thing saved us,” Hillary said. “It was all scary and everything, but it saved us! They can’t hurt us any more, right? Why can’t we just go home?”
    “Because that thing needs to stay secret. Needs to stay hidden. No one can know.”
    “But that other guy ran away, and—”
    “He won’t get far. And we’re not worried about him right now.” Mrs. Redfern finally turned to face Hillary, tears streaming unchecked down her face. “I’m so, so sorry, child, but we weren’t trying to keep you safe . . . from them.”
    “But—”