Like that was a given, Lizzie thought. None of them wanted to talk about it, but they’d all been there. They’d all seen the power Del could wield. What were the chances that Jilly was even still alive at this moment? The world she was in had immediately closed behind her so that neither Honey nor Timony could get a reading on how she was doing.

But if Geordie and Honey weren’t going to talk about it—and they were way closer to Jilly than she was—Lizzie certainly had no intention of bringing it up. It didn’t seem right for her to dash their hopes.

“Yeah, we should be fine,” Lizzie said.

“Thanks for everything,” Geordie added. “You totally saved the day.”

I only did what Jilly would have done for any of us.

The trace of a smile touched Geordie’s lips. “She is a going concern, isn’t she? It doesn’t matter what’s going on in her life, she’s always ready to drop everything to lend a helping hand.”

The dog nodded. She thinks the light she carries was a gift from one of the old spirits, but all it does is illuminate the largeness of heart that was already there.

They were using the present tense, Lizzie thought, but the things they were saying still felt like eulogies.

If you should need me, Honey said, you have only to call for me.

She turned and started down the trail.

“Honey!” Lizzie called after her.

The dog turned.

“I was wondering . . . how come you don’t just, you know, teleport to where you’re going?”

Tele . . . oh, I see. I understand how you got that idea, but what we have been doing is walking between worlds. It’s not quite the same thing. There are still distances that must be travelled by foot.

“Bummer. Teleporting would be cool.”

I suppose. Though I like to take the time to feel the dirt under my feet when I travel.

“Time,” Timony said, “runs differently in different parts of the other-world. Some places it passes more quickly—where a day for you would be a year for those you left behind.”

“Like Rip Van Winkle,” Geordie said. “Or True Thomas.”

The doonie nodded. “In others, your year is another’s day. It’s why the otherworld is so dangerous—for anyone unfamiliar with its reaches, but especially for mortals. But it’s even dangerous for fairy and the First People—what you call cousins.”

“Except you know your way around, right?” Lizzie asked.

“Somewhat. But I’m no expert.”

Joe is, Honey said.

She’d been sitting through the conversation, but she stood up on all fours once more.

Until later, she added. And Timony—you might consider fetching your companions some water.

Turning, she padded down the trail and was quickly lost from sight.

“Water would be good,” Lizzie said.