Mary thought about Jill’s incubator, and smiled. “I beg to differ.”

Speedo just threw up his hands. It was no use—true, he was the closest Mary had to a confidant, but his thinking was numbingly limited in scope. She longed for someone she could share her revelations with—someone who could not only understand, but see the same vast horizon that she now saw. The future—her future—in fact the entire future of Everlost was spread out before her like a frontier. It wasn’t merely her hope to subdue it—she had come to realize it was her destiny. Why else would Jill have come to her? Why else would she have such an urge to move beyond the bounds of the known afterworld?

“With Jill’s help, and my guidance, we will save all the children we can, both here and in the west,” Mary told Speedo. “And in so doing we will unite Everlost.”

“There might not even be a ‘west,’” he pointed out.

“Yes, I’ve heard the stories too,” Mary said with a dramatic wave. “A giant cliff that falls off into nowhere. An ocean that pours off the edge of the earth. A wall of fire through which nothing can pass.”

“What if one of those things is true? What if they’re all true?”

“Didn’t you tell me the Hindenburg made regular trips to Roswell, New Mexico, before it came into your possession—doesn’t that prove there is something west of the Mississippi?”

“That’s according to the finder who sold it to me—but finders can’t be trusted—I know because I was one. He would have said anything to unload this thing!”

Mary sighed. “Let’s not put the cart before the horse, shall we? Chicago first, and then we’ll see where providence leads us from there. And of course we must not forget the threat of the Chocolate Ogre.”

“Nick? He’s probably forgotten all about you by now.”

Mary bristled at that. “I’m sure he hasn’t! And I would prefer that you not call him by his living name. He is the Chocolate Ogre now.”

“He was never an ogre, and you know it.”

“After what he did, he deserves to be demonized.”

Speedo backed down, not up for the battle. “Whatever you say.”

Mary studied him closely. “After all this time, are you regretting the choice you made to stay with me?”

“Of course not,” Speedo said. “It’s just that sometimes … sometimes you scare me.”

CHAPTER 19
Eminence Green