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Lief sently "It would have been a fun forever" Then he looked at the kids all around him "But that’s okay I don’t mind I’m ready"

"Ready for what?" Allie asked

Lief found himself perplexed by the question "I don’t know," he said

"Just…ready"

That’s when the drone of the Sulphur Queen’s engines died A fewforward, then back as the ship ran aground

"We’ve stopped," said the high-chimed Boy Scout

"We always stop," said another

"No, this is different"

"Quiet," shouted Allie "Listen!"

There carew louder It wasn’t just one person descending into the bowels of the ship, but dozens

Allie was the last Allie was the first, just as the fortune had said: She was the last to be chimed, and the first cut down

The McGill burst into the chi chamber with the full coht to Allie

Allie found the McGill evenat him upside down She could see into his massive misshapen nostrils full of metaphysical nastiness

Fortunately she didn’t have to look for long, because with a single slash of his razor-sharp claws, he cut Allies rope, and she fell headfirst to the sulphur-dusted floor She got up quickly, determined to stand eye to eye with the beast

"Where are we?" she asked "Why did we stop?"

The McGill never took his eyes off her, but he didn’t answer her either Instead he spoke to his crew "Cut them all down," he said, "and use the ropes to tie their hands behind their backs"

"You’re setting us free?" asked the high-strung Boy Scout, to which the McGill answered, "I’ you to your reward"

"Yay!" cried Lief

"It’s not that kind of reward," Allie told hi "Yay, anyway"

The McGill grabbed Allie’s arht "You will coht her up on deck

Allie had lived in South Jersey before her fateful car crash --Cape May to be exact, the state’s southernh it was only an hour from Atlantic City, Allie had never been Her parents despised the crowds and general vulgarity, and so they avoided Atlantic City as if they werea political statement

Still, Allie knehere she was the moment she came onto the deck of the Sulphur Queen She had to hide her exciteht be suspicious Her plan had worked! Or at least it had worked so far There was a long way to go -- a dozen things that could go wrong--but there was one thing she knew she could count on: the McGill’s arrogance, and his blind faith in her false fortune

Perhaps that would give the Twin Pier Marauders the edge they needed to defeat hiht Allie No ht down the McGill, they would be good friends to have

The McGill led her to the gangway The ramp sloped down sharply from the Sulphur Queen’s deck to the boardwalk surface of the Steel Pier "You first," he said, and prodded her along So she was the bait "Go!" he deway and onto the vast boardwalk of the pier

"Keep walking," the McGill said He waited with his crew just off the gangway--perhaps ready to make a quick escape if the situation called for it

Allie strode forward, past shops and signs: Schmidt’s Beer, Planter’s Peanuts, Saltwater Taffy, Chicken in a Basket They were all empty If any food had crossed over when the pier had burned down, that food was long gone

At first the only sounds were seagulls and eerie calliopefrom the Steeplechase Pier The utter soullessness of the place reot when she had walked the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria hotel Then she spun at the sudden clatter of hoofbeats on wood, and saw the strangest thing Toward the end of the pier, a horse leapt froh, into a tank of water with a great splash Then the horse climbed a ramp out of the tank and wended its way up the ra horse was part of the pier’s memory, and was the only animal Allie had seen that had crossed into Everlost She felt an intense pity for the creature and its peculiar eternity