We were standing in Brent’s room. His was masculine, no flowers or vases on any of the surfaces, but one thing caught my attention. He, too, had a fireplace in his room, and above the mantle hung an identical print to the one in my room: the same white mare set on rolling hills. It felt like it was significant, but this wasn’t what he’d brought me in to see. A large tapestry hung on the wall with a family tree embroidered on it. The trunk of the tree showed two names, Rupert and Genève, with hundreds of branches. I noticed one near the top left bore William and Gretchen Strayer’s names and each of their sons branched out from them.

“That could just be a coincidence.”

“Oh yeah? Mom hides it every time we have guests at the house. It’s like she doesn’t want anyone to see it or something. Here look at this.” Brent rolled the tapestry up. When it was rolled to the top, little ties hung down to secure it in place. It looked like an enormous scroll, and a print of a dog asleep hung on the wall underneath the tapestry.

“That doesn’t prove anything.”

“The Lost Herd didn’t become human the way all the other Centaurs did.”

“Are you nuts?”

“What’s so nuts about it? It explains a lot.”

“Gretchen told me Centaurs were never really part horse. They were just super fast, so people drew our ancestors as part horse.”

“You believed her?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“I already told you.”

“Because I was born? Did it ever occur to you that maybe most Centaur men don’t have affairs? The ones that do are probably smart enough to wear condoms.”

We both heard footsteps outside his door and froze. It didn’t seem like we were doing anything covert, but Brent got nervous and motioned for us to stay silent. We heard the footsteps walking further down the hall, and Brent pointed to the door, covertly trying to sneak out of his own room. He, more so than any other person I’d ever met, needed to find a girl – he was a borderline freak.

Monday night was a night with the whole family, even Bruce and Hannah. I was surprised to see Brent pull out board games, and everyone decided on Cranium. I’d never played, but it was fun, and we played three rounds before I started to see yawns around the table.

I’d left my phone out in Brent’s car and went out to retrieve it. As I locked the door to the car, Hannah surprised me by clearing her throat; she’d been just a few feet away. “Oh, geeze, I didn’t realize you were right there. How’s married life treating you?”

“Good so far, two days down, another fifty or so years to go.” When she smiled she had this way about her, like she carried a few rays of sunshine with her just in case she needed them.

“So where are you and Bruce living?”

“A house just a few miles down the road. You should stop by and visit tomorrow.”

“Uh, okay. Sounds good.”

“Camille, it’s none of my business, but – I...you know... never mind.”

“Is everything okay?”

“I’m not sure. I keep getting strange visions about you. Be careful, okay?”

“Strange visions, like what?”

“They’re different every time I try to see your future.”

“Ha, that’s the same thing Gretchen told me. I’ve always been a free spirit. Gretchen says it’s like the heavens forgot to write my destiny.”

Hannah gave me a nervous smile, “Yeah, I can’t describe it. Maybe it’s because this life is so new to you or something. I woke up this morning and had a vision of you in a garden crying. I’d never seen the garden before. It looked a little like the one at Middleton Plantation, but it wasn’t one I’d ever been to before.”

“Why was I crying?”

She chewed her lower lip as if deciding whether she could tell me. “I’m not sure. It seemed like someone important had died or something. Like I said, it was just a quick flash. Once I see a vision, I can usually recall it and try to make it more vivid, but...when I did that with this one, it changed. I can’t describe it, but I feel like something bad might happen to you. Just be careful, okay?”

“Thanks, Hannah. Do you know who died?”

“That’s the thing, I don’t know. There was this big guy standing there watching you. It was just weird.”

Goosebumps formed on my arm. I felt tingles all over and wanted to press her for more information. Some of the Centaur nonsense seemed like a bunch of old traditions just for the sake of having traditions, but Hannah’s warning gave me pause. I wondered who it could have been who died. If it had been someone in my family, she’d be warning them, not me, right?

As I reached for the front door, my phone rang. It was Daniel. Hannah waved and went back to the house without me as I answered the phone, “Hi, Daniel.”

“Hey, Hot Lips. You didn’t call me for a ride from the airport. Everything must have turned out okay.”

Brent stepped out on the porch where I was talking to Daniel. “I didn’t talk to her today.”

“Uh huh. Bad news doesn’t get better with age. Stop avoiding her.”

“I’m not avoiding her.” Brent gave me a strange look. I wished there was an international hand signal for GO BACK INTO THE HOUSE!

“Lying to both of us isn’t the best choice either.”

“I’m not lying to her. I haven’t talked to her!”

“Did you try calling her?”

“I haven’t had a minute to myself all day. I will.”

“Call her now, Cami.”

“This isn’t something I can say over the phone.”

“Why not? You told me over the phone.”

I lowered my voice, “It wasn’t your fiancé.” I saw Brent listening to my half of the conversation. It wouldn’t take long for him to piece it together. “Look, I gotta go. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

“Don’t chicken out, Cami.” I hung up before he could get anything else out. Great, if Brent puts this together, I’ll never hear the end of it. I put my head down and walked straight through the door, up the stairs, and to my room, so I could avoid Brent. As I lay there looking at the ceiling, I thought about what Hannah had said. The more I thought about it, the less plausible it became. I didn’t know anyone with a big garden. Even if I did, the only person I ever thought I couldn’t live without was already dead. Maybe that was it. Maybe it would be like Brent told me and someone would send my mother’s spirit away. Losing her for good after I was so close to having her again would destroy me.

My phone rang again. I looked at the screen and saw it was Bianca calling. I took a deep breath, ready to answer, but chickened out at the last second. I pushed ignore, then plugged it in to the charger and turned the ringer off.

“Mom, if you can hear me, I need to know what I’m doing wrong. Gretchen said you were right there the whole time today. Why can’t I see you? Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me for finding Will? I need to know if this Centaur stuff is for real.” I didn’t move. I tried using all my senses just like Gretchen told me to, but nothing. “I need some answers. My whole life I never asked you for anything. I’m asking you for this now.” My voice broke; I could barely hear my own words when I whispered, “Please just let me see you.” I looked in every corner of the room and saw nothing. “Dammit, Mom. Hannah said I’m going to lose someone,” I felt tears threatening to erupt. I choked them back, “If it’s you, before I find you...then...it’s game over. I can’t lose you twice. Help me.”

Absolute silence was all I heard. The scent of the fresh flowers from the dresser was all I could smell. I saw nothing. I cried myself to sleep as my mind replayed Hannah’s warning. Somehow, someway, I would find a way – no matter how long it took.

I woke up Tuesday morning to sunshine peeking through my window. I took a deep breath and smelled warm cinnamon rolls: they coaxed me out of bed and to another full day of wasted trying. I may not have been able to communicate with my mom, but I found that I totally liked Gretchen. She had the patience of a saint, and every time she’d see me start to get frustrated, she’d find a way to lighten the mood.

When my brothers arrived home Tuesday night, I steered clear of Brent. I just didn’t want a repeat of last night. Beau offered to take me for a walk. We were outside and several hundred feet away from the house before he said anything.

“So, I get the feeling you aren’t very happy here.”

“I’m fine.”

“You know, I’d believe you if you had any acting ability at all. Didn’t you grow up in California? Don’t they teach acting classes there in school?”

I couldn’t help but smile at his attempt at humor. “I’m just frustrated with myself.”

“Anything I can do?”

“Yeah, tell me what I’m doing wrong. Gretchen’s tried everything under the sun, and I still can’t talk to my mom’s spirit.”

“Maybe you’re trying too hard.”

“Maybe I’m not really a Centauride.”

Beau looked me straight in the eye. “Camille, it takes some time. You can’t snap your fingers and expect twenty-two years of repressing your gifts to suddenly disappear. They won’t materialize out of thin air.”

“That’s the thing, Beau. I don’t know that I ever repressed anything. I’ve never had any special powers. I wouldn’t care that I didn’t have them if every woman around me couldn’t easily do the one thing I can’t.”

“Awww, that’s not true. There’s lots of Centauride things you can’t do.” Beau mock punched me in the shoulder, “Even if you stay broken forever, we’ll always claim you.”

“If you’re trying to cheer me up, newsflash: You suck at it!”

“I’m not used to these little sister pep talks. Maybe I need more practice, too.” Beau took me in a tight bear hug and whispered, “Things’ll work out for ya’. Hang in there. It’s only been a couple days.”

My left eye leaked at his encouraging words. I wiped it away hard. “Yeah, you’re right. I think I’m going to turn in early, see if maybe I have better luck tomorrow.”

Beau nodded, “If you ever need someone to vent to, I’m always here for you, Cami.” It struck me tenderly; Beau was the first person in my family to call me “Cami.” Camille always felt so formal. I’d used it more and more as I’d gotten older, but still preferred “Cami.”

I found myself staring at my ceiling for the third night in a row. Both Daniel and Bianca had called today, but I didn’t call either of them back. I couldn’t call Bianca because I still didn’t have a clue about how to tell her or even if I should tell her about what happened on the boat. I couldn’t call Daniel because he would be furious with me for not calling Bianca. Tomorrow would be better. It had to be.