There wasn't much she could do about it now, but had she gone the other way, perhaps things would have turned out differently. Gale, named for an Alice Cooper song, and none too proud of it, was an only child. She lived with her father in New Orleans where they had recently moved to start fresh. That's what her pop called it, starting fresh. Her father was what they called a tinker. That's what they called it in the books Gale loved so much. Really he was just a struggler. When Gale's mum left he kind of fell apart. He was doing his best but was not at all cut out for single fatherhood. He was now working by day at a used and rare books shop. By night he worked as a street performer. Gale was his assistant and their show was a cross between old school illusion and modern foolery. That was all well and good, but right now Gale had to figure out how she had gotten turned around. She had only lived in New Orleans a short while but already she had her bullies from which she must steer clear. It was while avoiding the scuggz that she turned a corner down a side street and happened upon the strangest hole in the air. That was the only way she could describe it. The air in front of the brick wall in the alley had a wavery look to that seemed to throb and pulse. She ventured toward it, cautious but intrigued.