luce as a toddler chasing vera , up the stairs , down the stairs , the worn wide steps beneath her thumping feet , her chest tight from breathless laughter , when the doorbell sounded and a fair , slick-haired boy arrived to pick vera up for a date , and she stopped and straightened her clothes and turned her back , turned away ... . a heartbeat later and luce was a teenager herself , with a mess of curly shoulder-length black hair .