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thundered. “Of course he’ll recover. Don’t be absurd. I’m just trying to decide if we can still set sail for America at the end of the week.”
    I was sure there was more to the conversation, but I was too tired to listen. I felt both clammy and chilled. My throat was on fire, yet I couldn’t manage to swallow much water whenever it was brought to my lips, even though I was parched.
    I must have slipped into the throws of the fever for some time because the next thing I remember I could hear Mother and Grandfather talking as they stood to one side of my bed. I held very still and just listened, keeping my eyes closed. I knew if I gave any indication I was awake, my mother would turn all of her attentions to me and I wanted to hear what they had to say.
    “I don’t understand why you can’t just set sail with Daniel,” my mother was saying. I could tell from the tone of her voice that she was trying to keep her emotions under control. “When Jessie regains his strength, the three of us will join you.”
    “I suppose you intend to keep Emily here with you?” Grandfather snarled.
    “Of course,” Mother said, as if any other option was simply absurd. “She’s still a little girl. She needs to be with her mother. I’m not sending her off with the likes of you and Daniel. Young girls need kindness, not to be toyed with like a cat toys with a mouse.”
    “I would not toy with my grandchild,” Grandfather exclaimed, his voice starting to sound like thunder.
    “I didn’t mean you,” Mother informed him. “Now I love all of my children equally,” she said, “but I think I also understand the nature of each of my children. I’m afraid that Daniel would not be able to resist tormenting a mortal child, even if she is his own sister.”
    This silenced Grandfather for a moment. He knew Mother was right. But he also probably suspected she had ulterior motives. My mother did not want her children to be members of the undead.
    “I don’t see why we don’t just turn him now and save ourselves the trouble,” Grandfather said, his voice conveying that my illness was causing him to feel put upon.
    “No!” Mother said, rather sharply. “He’s only seventeen. He’s too young to be turned.”
    “He’s not that young,” Grandfather insisted. “He’s almost a man.”
    “Being almost a man and being a man are two very different things,” Mother insisted. “You wouldn’t want to leave him stuck on the edge of manhood for eternity.”
    “I suppose not,” Grandfather muttered, pulling on his bottom lip.
    My fever must have started to rise again because after that I didn’t remember much else beyond the doctor’s concerned face hovering over my bed. He looked very grave and I remember thinking that he was about to tell Mother I was going to die. I should have been so lucky.
    Later that night, I remember hearing a noise and opened my eyes to see my grandfather looming over my bed. “What is it, Grandfather?” I asked in a hushed voice, not wanting to make too much noise, my head ached so badly.
    “The doctor has his doubts that you will survive,” Grandfather said, his voice cold and emotionless. “And we’ve already booked our tickets for America.”
    My eyelids felt heavy, but I tried to peer through the dark. Was Grandfather actually angry that my illness was ruining his plans? “I’m sorry,” I said. It didn’t really make sense to me to apologize, but I had no idea what he wanted from me and I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
    “I will not have your weakness prevent this move,” he informed me. “Your mother has offered to stay behind with Emily to nurse you, but we both know that means I would never see any of you again.”
    I said nothing. I was too weak to put up a fight. It was clear that he had made up his mind and nothing I could do would stop him. “So I am to be seventeen forever?”
    Grandfather bent over me, pushing my head to one side. “You’re going to be a