The supernatural figures in the lives of the three sisters in this chapter
(Art work for Faroe Island stamp by Anker Eli Petersen)

Emily Fisher has to decide on whether she will become the guardian of the plaza on Sacred Mountain. She also needs to get ready to leave with her sister Elsie and the emotionally shattered Jezebel Johnson. Pity those two responsibilities are in conflict with each other. So the very last thing Emily needs is another conflict in her life. But that and more is what she gets when she has “Trouble with sisters,” in chapter 42 of Prophecies and Penalties.

I went looking for a picture of three sisters, since that’s how many figure directly in this chapter. Dismissed the depictions of gorgons out of hand; Emily may not think much of her looks, but neither she nor her sisters are that ugly. I wanted something traditional, maybe an engraving of the Greek Fates, or a Pre-Raphaelite painting of the daughters of King Lear. And then I ran into the postage stamp that features this depiction of the Norns, the Norse approximate equivalent of the Fates, and I was smitten. You do not want to know how much time I spent thinking about which of the daughters of Gabriel Fisher go with each Norn.