The envelope showed up on a Tuesday, sea-blue and soft at the corners. The handwriting belonged to Theo, Mara's best friend from when she was eleven. Twenty years of silence, and now one line inside: "I found the map of Saltreach in my mom's attic. The lighthouse is still unfinished. Want to build it?" Mara sat down hard and read it three more times.

Mara typed a careful reply asking the question that had haunted her for years: why did Theo's family leave Saltreach overnight, without a word, the summer they were eleven? She hit send before she lost her nerve. An hour later three dots appeared. Then: "Come to Saltreach. I'll tell you everything in person. I promise."