Aurelia's hand was squeezed white by the girl who had fallen through time. Julia was at once younger than Aurelia and vastly older, thrown nearly seven decades ahead by some fickle twist in time. The young woman and girl walked together in the early dawn, gravel crunching underfoot as they approached the Sunset Gate in gray mists, the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge looming overhead and humming with traffic even at this hour. Aurelia and Julia stopped at the gate.
    Aurelia looked down at the dark-haired girl. "It's going to be strange. There are a lot of people, most of them don't look like us. But they were hurt by strange things and can't go home either. And somebody in there will be glad to give you a new home. Maybe you'll even think of them as family some day."
    Julia looked at Aurelia. The girl had been having crying fits ever since they had saved her from the silver grendel. Aurelia had discovered that Julia Gallo had disappeared one night in 1952 and had never been found. They were only tenuously related to the Gallos who'd founded the world famous Modesto winery. Once the cell reception had improved on the trip back at any rate. "Did some of them lose their family too?"
    "A lot of them did. They look so different that their families would never believe it was them."
    The girl hugged Aurelia tight, tears welling up again. "I'm going to miss them."
    Aurelia hugged Julia back, tears in her eyes too. "Yeah, I miss mine every day."