“We’re going under the river, coming up on the other side. And then we’re heading west to find Allie.” Mikey forced his feet and his hands to grow into long, jagged claws, just perfect for moving through the earth. He had once clawed his way back from the center of the earth, he had to believe he could do this!

The wind still blew strong and relentless, but it did not penetrate the earth. Soon they had sunk to their chests.

“I’m scared,” said the golem.

“So am I, Nick.” But then Mikey thought about Allie, and came to understand that there was another feeling in him far more powerful than fear. A feeling that made his afterglow turn lavender. He held on to that feeling as he sank to his shoulders, and kept on going. Then, in spite of everything, he began to smile. So much of his existence in Everlost had been full of despair. Despair, and a fear of losing what he had. But Allie was not lost, she was just there across the river, waiting for him to find her. Nick was not lost either—not entirely.

It was then that Mikey McGill realized something. It must have been his sister who first called this place Everlost, because by naming it so, it stripped away all hope except for a faith in her, and the “safety” she could provide. Well, Mary was wrong on all counts, because nothing in Everlost was lost forever, if one had the courage to search for it.

Mikey held tightly on to this shining truth as he and the golem sunk into the earth. Then with all the force of his heart, his mind, and his soul, Mikey McGill began to dig.

EPILOGUE
Requiem for the Living

On a bench in a train station in the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, sat a girl who made the ticket agent nervous.

She had arrived early in the morning, presumably to wait for someone to arrive on the train, but few passenger trains came through Little Rock’s Union Station—in fact it was more of an office building now than anything else. The ticket agent called security, and the two security guards on duty eyed her from a distance.

“A nut job,” concluded the older man, but the younger guard was not so jaded. He had just turned twenty, and was new to the job. He still saw the best in people. “Maybe she’s just waiting for the Texas Eagle.”

“That train’s not due for hours,” said the older guard. “I’m tellin’ ya—she’s a wacko. Sooner or later there’ll be a ‘tell’ that gives it away—you watch!”