The pages had disappeared and shrunk back into fingers, but faint ridges still existed where the bindings had been. Howard was tight-lipped with concentration. “What just happened?” “I think she almost got our souls,” Fern said, still dazed. She opened and closed her hands to make sure they still worked. “Lucess Brine is here! How did you know her initials?” “I was working some things out in my head. That’s all. The letters almost added up.” Fern said, “Her mother is the Blue Queen. She’s awful, Howard. She could take over the Anybodies again. She ruled once for eleven days, and that’s when they thought that she killed Merton Gretel, but he isn’t dead. He’s the fish in the bowl on the nightstand—or, well, almost all of him is the fish in the bowl on the nightstand. A good bit of his soul is gone.” “We’ve got to get out of here,” Howard said, patting the pony. “And you can’t go to that meeting!” There wasn’t time for further discussion. The door banged open, and the room filled with the sound of a badly squeaking wheel, and, above it, a woman speaking.
