“Pop!” I said, and ran toward him.

He picked me up and spun me and held me close to him, same as he had when I was just a kid, same as he had my whole life. I loved my pop so much in that moment I didn’t hardly have words for it.

“How the heck did you get down here, Buddy?” he said. “I thought you were a goner. I thought when Mr. Hugo blew that skiff up, I’d lost you forever.”

“You kidding? Not me, Pop,” I said. “I found my own boat. I came after you. Me and Tally here.”

He walked over to Tally.

“You help save my boy’s life?” he said.

“Yep,” I said. “She saved my life twice already.”

“Well then, little lady,” said Pop, bowing low to her, “I am forever in your debt.”

“Nah,” said Tally, all awkward-like. “We saved each other.”

“That sounds about like what real friends do,” said Pop. “I should know. I got at least one of them left.” He glanced over at Marina, who glared fierce back at him. “This place is safe. Marina’s got magic guarding it, keeping ill-intentioned folks out, and that magic’s even stronger than the witch’s bond holding her in here. But that being said, I think it’s best if you and me hit the trails, Buddy.”

“Whatcha mean?” I said.

“I don’t know if you noticed,” he said, “but old Bobby Felix is on the move, he is. This whole swamp is his for the taking, and I for one am not going to stand here and be took. The magic will hold, but not for long, and not for the likes of me, being in dutch to Bobby Felix like I am.”

“But that’s why you’re going to make a stand, right?” I said. “You’re going to challenge him to another game of Parsnit, a rematch. I brought your cards and everything.”

“Well, Buddy, not exactly,” said Pop. “There’s some extenuating circumstances that complicate this grand scheme of yours.”

“You ought to tell him,” said Marina. “You ought to tell your own boy the whole story.”

“I know the story,” I said. “Sinclair told me.”

“Y’all met old Sinclair, eh?” said Pop.

“Yeah,” said Tally. “The Creepy. He almost ate us. He almost ripped us to pieces.”

“Well that’s what I’m talking about,” said Pop. “It’s all my fault, you know that? And that’s why we got to get you out of here.”

“No way,” I said. “Boss Authority just got lucky. He beat you once, no big deal. You can beat him this time, I’m sure of it. I mean, what have you been up to the last five years except training, getting every bit as good at Parsnit as a person can be? That’s why you didn’t come back home, right? That’s why Mom had gone and left you, took me with her. She was sick of being second fiddle to a card game. She just must not have understood how important it was to keep fighting for your home, even when bad folks have taken it over. You didn’t give up hope, but she did. That’s why I’ll never forgive her. That’s why . . .”