On a train traveling from Boston to New York, Poppet and Widget slip through the quiet cars to Celia Bowen’s compartment. They find Celia surrounded by books and papers, and Poppet nervously admits they have a problem: Bailey, who Poppet believes was meant to join them, did not come.

Poppet insists she knows Bailey was supposed to be there, but also confesses her precognition has become fragmented and unclear since the previous year’s upheaval. Celia pushes Poppet to explain what she has seen, reminding her that foresight cannot stop events, only prepare for them. When Poppet protests that Celia could stop things, Celia warns that even the twins do not understand how much she is holding together behind the scenes.

To force clarity, Celia uses her pocket watch as a focus, urging Poppet to concentrate without relying on the stars. Poppet slips into a stronger vision, sways, and collapses; Widget catches her as Celia steadies them and conjures tea. Once recovered, Poppet describes a bonfire that becomes an uncontrollable blaze consuming the courtyard, a loud noise and intense heat, and Celia present with a tall man in a suit and bowler hat; afterward, Bailey appears, though not during the fire itself.

Celia suspects the bowler-hatted man might be someone she knows is in London, implying the vision’s timing may be uncertain, but Poppet insists it feels immediate. Celia promises practical preparation by making the circus as fireproof as possible, and the twins accept that as a next step.

Before leaving, Widget presses Celia about the “scope” of what is happening and names it as a game, with the circus as the board. Celia does not deny it, and when Widget demands more, Celia allows him to read her fully, revealing what she has kept concealed; Widget leaves shaken and apologetic. After the twins depart, Celia, alone among her books, begins testing strips of her handkerchief in flame until the fabric burns clean and white, continuing her work to protect the circus from fire.