Mia returns to her time and her apartment in Manhattan. The summer is sweltering, and the mass of people unable to afford to escape the city only makes Mia feel more alone. She is sick to her stomach in the mornings and spends her days staring out the window until she can go to bed and dream of Nathaniel. She stops going to work and lets the phone ring. Near the end of August, she finds an apple tree leaf outside of her building; when the phone rings that night, she answers and hears Joel’s voice. She goes back to Concord to see Sarah, who tells her that Joel has been to Sarah’s house. He has been taken to court, and the land left to him has been taken away because he wasn’t able to produce the deed. He told Sarah that Mia stole it, and Mia realizes that the deed is on the back of the painting she took with her when she fled the Community.

Joel knows where Sarah and Mia live. The only place Mia can be safe is back in time—with Nathaniel. She goes directly to the bus station and takes a bus to Salem, barely glancing at the people on the bus.