“You mean reborn, of course,” said Suri. “No. We don’t think so. We’re not sure exactly where she is, though. All this is most unusual. This world normally runs very smoothly.”

“I’m sorry,” said Effie. “I really didn’t know what to do.”

“Don’t worry, child.” Suri stood up to leave. She was wearing layers and layers of colorful material draped over her in ways that looked both beautiful and comfortable. She took Cosmo’s hand in hers and pressed it gently. “I’ll slip out the back way,” she said. And then she was gone. It was as if she had simply melted into the air.

“You need to return to the island,” said Cosmo to Effie kindly. “When you come back we can talk more about what happened today. But please try to learn all you can about the mainland. I fear I haven’t been much of a guide, and my books are not the sort a young girl needs growing up in our world. There is so much you still don’t know. Just be open to new things.”

Moonface, Cosmo’s black cat, walked into the room at this point and looked at Effie as if to say, I know the secret, why don’t you?

“Cosmo,” said Effie, “why does everyone hate the island so much?”

“People are afraid of what they don’t know,” he said. “But also, people hear that your world runs on selfishness and greed, and that it is a very frightening place where the people exploit the poor, and the weak, and all the animals. Individualism often makes people forget others. It’s mainly because you have money in your world, of course. And some other fundamental reasons as well.”

“Why is there no money here?” asked Effie.

“Aha. That’s a good question, and one you need to keep thinking about,” said Cosmo. “But now you must return. I think Pelham will go with you. Let’s go find them.”

When Cosmo opened the door there was no sign of Clothilde, Pelham or Rollo.

“They must be in the conservatory,” he said.

And so they were. Perhaps because Suri hadn’t left in the normal way via the front part of the house, they had not been alerted to the fact that she had gone. So they had no idea that the meeting was over, and that Effie could now hear them.

“And what if she really is a galloglass?” Rollo was saying when Effie and Cosmo entered the room. “What will we do then? We can’t have a galloglass in our midst. We can’t have a galloglass with access to the Great Library. Bringing the book back was bad enough, however right it supposedly was. Who knows what would—”

“Hello, Rollo,” said Cosmo. “Speculating again?”