“You stop them from reaching the light!” Mary said, with a gasp. “You know when and where the accidents will happen—then you wait for them to cross, and you stand in their way!” She looked at the kids on the floor, now caught in an invisible cocoon of transition. “These children weren’t coming to Everlost—you guided them here!”

She only had to look at Jackin’ Jill to know it was true.

Now things truly began to heave and buckle within Mary’s soul—a shifting of purpose and design that went down to the core of her being. Finally Mary said:

“What a wonderful thing you’ve done here!”

Jill, who never seemed fazed by anything, was startled by that.

“Wonderful?” said Jill. “I wouldn’t call it wonderful, but it does make me very useful to Pugsy.”

As Mary looked over at the sleeping Interlights, waiting to be born into eternity, she realized that this was only a beginning, and what seemed so overwhelming just a few moments ago, now seemed like a tiny drop in a giant bucket.

“But don’t you see,” said Mary. “It is wonderful.” Mary spread her arms out wide, and spun in a slow circle, feeling as if she was at the center of a gloriously expanding universe. “Look at all these children, Jill! You’ve saved them all!”

Everything changed for Mary after discovering Jackin’ Jill’s mysterious ability to keep children from the light. In the right hands, it was a power that was more awe-inspiring than any in Everlost. Mary could not help but feel that it was some kind of divine will that had brought this power to her. Now she saw everything as if refracted through the multifaceted blue topaz in the center of Jill’s amulet. The future was sparkling and bright, and as her dreams sailed higher and higher, her sights became more firmly fixed on the western horizon.

She shared all this with Speedo, but he seemed more likely to shove his head in the earth rather than see Mary’s big picture.

“If Chicago’s not enough for you, we could go south to New Orleans, or north to Canada,” Speedo said, pacing the Starboard Promenade. As the ship was moored and grounded—at least temporarily, Speedo had little to occupy his time beyond worrying. “We could even go back to New York.”

“You’re missing the point!” Mary said, with the most patient exasperation she could muster. “We must challenge the unknown, and the west is Everlost’s greatest mystery.”

“This isn’t like you,” Speedo whined. “Stability— routine— that’s the Mary Hightower I know.”

“I will find a peaceful routine for every child in my care,” she assured him, “but to build a better Everlost, I must be willing to sacrifice my own routine for the sake of others.”

“Build a better Everlost? Everlost is already here—you can’t build what’s already here.”