Cradling the gift from his aunt, Adam went down the stairs to street level. October was telling a firefighter that the smoke “was just some faulty wiring, possibly caused by ghosts.” The firefighter, having clearly heard this kind of talk from her before, was trying to excuse herself.

Gladys, having also made it down before Adam, was talking to an older man in a security uniform. “I hope I didn’t cause any trouble,” he said. “Thought there was a fire, so I had to call.” Gladys assured the man that they were thankful he was looking out for their safety.