At last—just as the flow of images came close to overwhelming her—the shoal of fish began to thin out, and between the occasional flash of strangeness, the relatively reassuring vision of Diamanda, Joephi and Mespa began to reappear.

Candy was left breathless.

“What…?” she gasped.

“What was all that?” Mespa said.

“Yes.”

It was Diamanda who replied.

“An infinitesimally small piece of a tiny fragment of a virtually invisible fraction of what is here at Odom’s Spire. The past and the present-past and the future-present. They’re all in this place, you see. Every particular of every thing in every moment of forever.”

“And you?”

“The Fantomaya?”

“Yes. What do you do with the images?”

“We study them. We immerse ourselves in them. We protect them.”

“From who?” said Candy.

“From any and all. These are not things a common soul needs to see.”

Candy laughed.

“What’s so funny?” said Joephi.

“Well… aren’t I a common soul?” said Candy.

“Good question” said Diamanda. “The fact is you are many things, my dear. Many, many things. One of them is Candy Quackenbush of the town of Murkitt—”

“You mean Chickentown?”

“Oh. Yes, of course. I mean Chickentown. Back when I was there, it was called after my husband’s grandfather.”

“Wait a moment,” Candy said, a little smile of realization creeping into her face. “I knew I’d heard the name Diamanda before. You’re Diamanda Murkitt. You were married to Henry Murkitt.”

The old woman nodded slowly, staring at Candy with fresh intensity. “I am that woman. Much changed, but in many ways the same.”

“Amazing,” said Candy.

“Is it?” Diamanda said. “I mean, am I? Why?”

“Everything’s coming full circle.”

“Please explain,” said Diamanda.

“Well, my journey began with Henry Murkitt,” Candy said. “You see, I wrote something about him.”

“About Henry?” said Diamanda, speaking her husband’s name with no lack of tenderness. “You wrote about Henry?”

“Just a few pages,” Candy said. “I was in the room where he committed suicide.”.

“Ah,” said Diamanda softly. “So that’s what happened to him.”

Candy nodded. “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you.”

“No, don’t apologize. It’s better I know than not. I knew I’d have to make my peace with the truth sooner or later. I ran out on Henry, you see. He had so few dreams.”

“Yes, I heard,” Candy said. “Not about the dreams, but about you running out on him.”

“He thought I went to Philadelphia, but why would I do a thing like that, when I knew about the Abarat? No… I caught the first ship out of that wretched world…”

“You did the same, yes?” said Joephi.

“Yes. I did the same. I didn’t have a ship to carry me. I came by Sea-Skipper.” Candy smiled at the memory; it seemed so long ago.

“But my, you got here quicker than we expected” said Mespa. “A lot quicker”

“Well sisters,” said Diamanda, unbraiding her hair as she spoke, “it seems we will have to be very careful about laying our plans in future. A new and highly unpredictable element has entered our sphere. And she changes everything. It will be impossible to guess the future with any of the old confidence.” She looked back at Candy. “All we know is that we’ve got our hands full.”

“What’s changed?” said Candy. “Please explain. There’s so much I want to know. I feel as though I belong here for some reason. That this is really my home.”

The three women didn’t make any attempt to dissuade her of this. Apparently they believe I belong here too, Candy thought. The realization made her eyes sting with happy tears. The women’s smiles and silence were confirming something she hadn’t dared to believe until now. She had a reason to be here. Even if nobody yet knew what it was, she still belonged.

“If I really do have some purpose here,” Candy said, “I mean, if I’m more than just some dumb sightseer, then can you help me understand what that purpose is?”

“We’d be happy to,” said Joephi.

“But I’m not sure we understand ourselves,” Mespa went on. The starlight in her eyes trembled. The woman wasn’t afraid, Candy thought; but filled with a curious excitement.

“Something’s going to happen to me, isn’t it?” Candy said.

“My dear, something already has,” Diamanda replied. “You’re not the same girl who threw herself into the Izabella, are you?”

Candy took a moment to think about this. But no more than a moment.

“No. No, I’m not.” Then she said: “I’m somebody else. I just don’t know who that somebody else is yet.”

“Well that’s what journeys are for,” Diamanda Murkitt said. “Remember, I made the same trip myself. Looking for something I didn’t have. And trust me, Candy, wherever you think you’re going, the real destination is… right here.” She tapped her chest, directly above her heart.

“Will I ever go back to the Hereafter?” Candy said.

The three women exchanged anxious looks.

“What’s wrong?” said Candy, reading the discomfort in their eyes. “Do you know something about this?”

“We’ve had glimpses…” Diamanda said, “only glimpses.”

“There isn’t much to tell,” Joephi said.

“But the news is bad?” Candy said.

“Not for you,” Mespa said.

“Then who for?”

Joephi and Mespa both looked at Diamanda, as though seeking some guidance from their elder.

“I’m not going to start making prophecies on the basis of glimpses,” Diamanda said. “But you should know, my dear, that from now on there is jeopardy at every step. For you. For those who travel with you. And even for the places you choose to go. You may bring down cities before you have solved all the mysteries that lie ahead of you.”

“That sure sounds like a prophecy to me,” said Mespa.

“Well, what do you suggest we tell her?” the old lady said, a little irritated.

“We could begin with the stories we’ve been hearing about Finnegan.”

“Who’s Finnegan?” Candy said, thinking halfway through the question that perhaps somebody on this journey had already told her, because the name rang a bell. Or did she maybe know a Finnegan in Chickentown?

“Oh, you’ll like Finnegan,” Diamanda said, with a teasing little smile.

“That she will,” said Mespa.

“Then there’s the Requiax,” said Joephi, moving on before Candy had time to ask about Finnegan.

“Who are the Requiax?” Candy asked, determined to get an answer this time.

There was silence for a moment. Candy looked from face to face. “Please,” she said. “I need some help here.”

Mespa began: “The Requiax are the worst of the worst,” she said.

“They’re the enemies of love,” Diamanda went on. “The enemies of life. Wicked beyond words…”

“And where are they?”

“Right now,” said Joephi, “they’re deep inthe Izabella, and let’s hope they stay there.”

“Doubtful,” Diamanda went on. “We hear all manner of rumors about the Requiax being on the move. And there are those who say that when they surface, it will be the end of the world as we know it.”

“You’re scaring me,” Candy said.

“I forbid you to be scared,” Diamanda replied, gently. “She was never scared, so you shouldn’t be.”

“She?” said Candy. “What do you mean, she?”

Curiously enough, all three women opened their mouths to reply to this, but before any of them could answer, there came the sound of a series of doors closing—maybe ten in all—the smallest of which sounded like the noise of a doll’s house door, the largest a solid oak door, slamming somewhere nearby.