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Gripping on to the wheel Allie pulled to the right Now she could not see where the McGill’s ship was, but she rean a turn that took it off its well-run course

All at once it occurred to Allie, I aain! I am flesh, blood and bone

Is that what the kid had ain? She knew she had discovered soht now

She held the new course for a full minute By the ti with the force of theto reclaim himself, and finally she let him, because she had done what she had set out to do

The moment she stepped out of his body, the ained control of hi forehead, and rather than letting the shock of what had happened fill him, he instead turned his attention to the wheel, quickly pulling it back on course toward Staten Island She did, however, hear hi a series of Hail Marys She wanted to tell him that it was okay-- that this was a one-shot deal that would never happen to hiain, but with the McGill’s ship so close, she didn’t have tiht into the path of the oncoe vessel raht into the ferry’s starboard side, but rather than slicing it in half, it sih, as if the ferry wasn’t there Around her the details of the ferry seehost ship cancelled it out, plowing forward -- and Allie remembered what Mary had said about how hard it was to see two things occupying the same space

The bow of the McGill’s ship hit her, catching her solidly, and she realized she could not pass through this steel! If she didn’t find so to hold on to, the McGill’s ship would push her out of the ferry, and right into the sea She reached for anything that she could grab on to and finally the anchor hanging frorabbed it, held on to it, and was lifted out of the ferry’s airspace In asteadily toward Staten Island, and Allie was clinging for all she orth to an anchor suspended above the churning water of New York bay Silently thanking her parents for forcing her to stay in gymnastics for four years, she climbed the anchor chain, and deftly flipped onto the deck of the ghost ship

She surprised a tearabbed her the second she was on board They were even more unpleasantly distorted than the Altar Boys They practically carried her to the highest deck, where so on the throne was far fro to look, yet harder to look away It had sharp, three-fingered talons for hands, and skin as red as a lobster and pocked like the moon Its mismatched eyes wandered of their own accord, and its nasty tuft of spidery hair looked like itwas beyond grotesque --so far beyond that Allie found her fear balanced by fascination How could so so horrible exist?

"What are you?" she said She thought she said it to herself but realized she had spoken aloud

"I am the McGill," it said "Hear hed She didn’t oofy, she couldn’t help herself

The McGill frowned, or at least she thought it frowned It waved a dirty claw, and all the assembled "pirates" scra beside her

"I will ine," the McGill said, and although Allie believed it, she wasn’t going to let this beast see her fear the way she had let the Haunter see it If there was one thing she had learned, it was that ave them But she also knew that monsters didn’t deal ith blatant disrespect She had already disrespected the McGill once; she would probably not get aith it again

"I’ve heard that you are the greatest creature in all of Everlost" She nodded respectfully "Now I see that it’s true"

The McGill sling eye toward the misproportioned boy beside it "What do you think, Pinhead, should I throw her overboard, or so worse?"

"Worse," answered Pinhead Somehow Allie knew he’d say that

The McGill shifted in its throne, trying to htly body more comfortable, which seemed an impossibility "But first I want to kno you snuck on board rinned "No one’s ever done that before, have they?"

"Actually, no," said Pinhead, and the McGill threw hi back to Allie

"How did you do it?" demanded the McGill

"I’ll tell you, but only if-- "

The McGill didn’t let her finish It waved a clawed hand "‘Only if’ nothing, I don’t make deals Throw her overboard, I’ve lost interest in her"

Pinhead rasp

"No," said Allie "Wait--I’ll tell you how I got on your ship"

Pinhead hesitated She thought she ht, but realized that she could not play at all The McGill did not play games, and truly intended to toss her over The best she could do was to stall with hopes of finding so they hadn’t already been hurled overboard themselves

"I took the Staten Island Ferry," she said quickly, "and I slipped on board as it passed through your ship"

Suddenly both of the McGill’s wandering eyes zeroed in on her It gripped the edge of the throne with its claws and pushed itself up

"That ferry changed course," the McGill said, "almost as if it was intentional

Did you do that?"

Allie wondered which response would keep her fro thrown overboard, yes or no In the end she realized her ansas really the best of both worlds "Yes and no," she said