“Shut up, Vari!” It was the first time Allie had heard Mary yell at him. It was the first time she heard her yell at anyone. Now she turned her anger toward Allie. “You deliberately went against my wishes, and my warnings!”

Allie was not about to deny it. “I know. I’m sorry, and you can punish me any way you like, but right now we have to rescue Lief and Nick.”

“Your actions put them in harm’s way.”

“Yes,” admitted Allie. “Yes, they did. I was wrong, but right now—”

Then Mary turned to all those gathered. “Let this be a lesson to everyone that nothing good can ever come from leaving this place.”

Now Allie was getting frustrated. “Yes, fine. I am the poster child for bad choices. Now can we just get on with what has to be done!”

Mary looked at her with the same sadness her eyes held when she looked out from her high window. A single tear came, and she wiped it away.

“There is nothing to be done.”

Allie heard what Mary said, but was convinced she hadn’t heard her right.

“What?”

“Nick and Lief are lost,” Mary said. “You’ve lost them.” And Mary turned to walk away.

Allie shook her head, and felt like lunging at Mary just as she had lunged at the Haunter, but she held herself back. “No! No—you can’t just leave them.”

Then Mary turned on her with a powerful vengeance. “Don’t you think I want to save them? Do you think I want Nick spending an eternity imprisoned by that evil spirit?”

“Then do something about it.”

“That would risk every child here, and I won’t put them in danger. I protect them! I don’t send them out to fight a war! The Haunter leaves us alone. We leave him alone. That’s the way it is with all the monsters. Even the McGill.” Again, nervous whispers at the mention of the McGill.

“The world out there is not a kind one, if you haven’t figured that out,” Mary said. “Sometimes we sink, and never come back. Sometimes we are captured and are never seen again. Losing Nick and Lief is tragic, and I will not make it more tragic by sending other defenseless children for the Haunter to enslave.”

As breathless as someone who did not breathe could be, Allie said, “You’re a monster. You’re no better than the Haunter! You’re telling me that you’re going to do NOTHING? That Nick and Lief are ‘acceptable losses.’”

“No loss is acceptable,” Mary said. “But sometimes we have to accept it anyway.” I won’t!

“If I can accept it, then so can you,” she said. “If you want to stay here with us, you’ll learn to live with it.”

And all at once Allie knew what was going on here.

Mary was getting rid of her. She was hurling Allie out of the fold, but doing it in such a way that she could remain blameless. If Allie wanted to stay, then she had to accept the loss of her friends, and not even try to rescue Nick and Lief. Allie would never stay under those conditions, and Mary knew it. Maybe that’s why Mary became calm, and in control again.