Marcus opened the box. Inside was a child’s drawing: a stick-figure boy holding hands with a stick-figure old man, both standing on a wavy blue line. Beneath it, in crayon: MY DAD AND THE CASSIE.

“I don’t remember,” Marcus whispered. “But I want to.”

Harlan nodded, throat tight.

The skull’s eye sockets filled with a soft, pearly light. The water warmed by a single degree. Then the light faded, and the Cassie was still again.