The amount of zeros made Kate a little dizzy.

“That amount again when you get my mother out,” Charlotte said. “Plus expenses, of course.”

Kate put the check down on the table between them and pushed it across to Charlotte. She didn’t bother asking if Charlotte had that much money. She said as gently as she knew how, “This is a waste of your money and my time.”

“She didn’t do it,” Charlotte said, pushing the check back.

“Even if she didn’t,” Kate said, “even if someone else did it, and even if he or she were alive for me to find, it would be a miracle if I picked up a trail this old and this cold.” She pushed the check back at Charlotte.

“She didn’t do it,” Charlotte said, shoving the check back so hard that it slid across the table into Kate’s lap.

Johnny slammed out of his bedroom and rummaged in the kitchen cupboards for food. Fortunately, Top Ramen kept well. He started a pot of water boiling and got down the sesame oil, which also held up under benign neglect.

He was fourteen, and in spite of an avowed determination to quit school as soon as he was legally old enough to do so, Kate was equally determined that he was going to at least get a GED and learn some kind of trade before he embraced Park rathood permanently. Besides, he was showing signs of serious interest in wildlife biology, serving what amounted to an apprenticeship in the middle of one of the most prolific wildlife areas in the world, with expert supervision from people like Park ranger Dan O’Brien, geologist Millicent Nebeker McClanahan, and self-taught naturalist Ruthe Bauman. Kate nourished the faint hope that Johnny might change his mind about college. And college cost money.

She looked at the obstinate lines of Charlotte ’s expression and reflected that she found herself doing a lot of things she never used to do before she became a mom.