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Nick took a moment to look her over, then said, "I think you like it with the McGill You’ve got some kind of power over him, don’t you? I don’t knohat it is, but you do, and you like it"

Allie wanted to just grab hiestion It was preposterous It was true

"I have a scheet us all out of here, if you just wait"

"I’ anymore And anyway, two schemes are better than one"

Allie clenched her fists and growled, sounding et off the ship, who do you think is going to help you?"

"Mary," Nick said

Allie laughed at that, and realized how loud her voice had gotten She looked around to ht her voice down to an intense whisper "She didn’t help us before, and she won’t help us now"

"I can convince her to I know I can"

"You ‘re an idiot!"

"We’ll see who’s the idiot!"

As frustrating as this was, Allie did not want to stand around and argue Every er of being caught

"I can steal a lifeboat," Nick said

"Once they realize it’s gone, it won’t take long to figure out who took it The McGill will punish Lief, and probably me, too"

"We can cut Lief down--all three of us can go!"

Allie thought about it, but shook her head "The McGill thinks I’ hione, he’ll coet Nick off the ship would be to do it secretly, and in such a way that there were no telltale signs that he had gone

"How about this?" Allie said "To party to check one of his Greensoul traps If you can soet aboard that boat when it heads for shore …"

"Okay That ht work"

"I’ll stay on deck, and try to keep anyone there distracted But it’s up to you to find a way to hide on that boat" Allie thought about it "I’ll put some blankets in the boat--ain, and leaned closer to Nick "If you get through to Mary, tell her that iF she wants to face the McGill, then she has to go to Atlantic City There’s a gang there that can help her fight the McGill, if she can convince them to join forces" Allie shut the doors to the cabinet, closing Nick in once more

"Remember-- tomorrow at dawn"

"Hoill I knohen it’s dawn?" said Nick from inside She left Nick to work that one out for himself She climbed up to the quarterdecks, then out into the open air It ilight, and the McGill was at the boatching the sun set over the land He did this each day The McGill was such an odd beast; reveling in his own putrescence, and yet taking joy froer a part of

Nick said they had been there for weeks, and Allie couldn’t deny it For the life of her she had no feel for the tih Nick was right; it was time for action

She quietly went to the McGill’s throne, dipped her hand into the spittoon and pulled out a fortune cookie Gently she found a corner of the paper inside, and carefully pulled it out, crumbled it, and inserted the fake fortune that she had typed Then she dropped the cookie back in the container, where it sat like a little tireedy claw

At dawn the following day, the McGill and a crew of five left the Sulphur Queen on a lifeboat for a brief trip to Rockaway Point Someone had left several blankets in the corner of the boat, and the McGill re they be thrown into the hold with the rest of his belongings There was no need of them here The boat was lowered to the water, the McGill ordered the motor started, and they were off

No one paidrope tied to the lifeboat’s bohich dragged in the water Had they pulled that rope in, they would have found Nick, sub on with the rope wrapped around his arm twice as the boat powered its way to shore

Chapter 23

Outrageous Fortune There was one flaw in Allie’s plan She had no idea when the McGill would get to the particular fortune cookie she had planted She thought she would have to add a few more to the mix to better her odds, but before she could, her whole situation changed

Just before she planned to leave for the treasure hold to write loids broke into her roo

"He wants you on deck," Pinhead said "He wants you on deck now"

This wasn’t unusual The McGill called for people on a whim, as if all the clocks in Everlost were set by his personal schedule This was the first tied in without as

"What does he want?"

"You," was all Pinhead said, and although he had been helpful to her in the past, he offered no hint of an explanation, not a wink, not a grin "You’d better not keep hi"

When Allie came to the throne deck, the McGill sat there, his claws clenched together, the look in his terrible eyes e Afterlight Allie hadn’t seen for a while The one dressed in that ridiculous wrestler’s outfit

"Good evening," the McGill said

"You wanted to see me?" said Allie

"Yes I would like to know steps eight through twelve"

"Finish step seven," Allie said, "and then I’ll let you know step eight" Allie had really coood one for step seven As the McGill was so fond of bullying people around, Allie decided that the seventh step would be a seventy-two-hour vow of silence So far the McGill couldn’t even uess you’ll have to start all over again"