As one, all the companions gasped and looked in astonishment at Jack. “You’re a portrait?” Rose said breathlessly. “That means you’re . . .”
“Dead,” Jack said matter-of-factly as he stepped to her and kissed her on the forehead. “I waited for you to return for the rest of my life, and then some. And it was worth the wait—because at long last, you have come back, dear, dear Rose.”
♦ ♦ ♦
As Barrie went to alert the other Caretakers, Jack and the companions settled in around the table in the dining hall so that he could begin to tell them about what had happened in the years since they’d left.
“I married, and adopted a son,” Jack told them, “as unlikely as either seemed to be in the years when you knew me. I lost her soon after, but it was still a thrilling, heartbreaking, wonderful part of my life.”
“That reminds me,” he added, turning to Charles. “I’ve also had to continue taking care of the Magwich plant, which has progressed in size from shrub to tree. Karmically speaking,” he continued, “you now owe me several lifetimes’ worth of favors.”
“I thought Warnie was helping take care of him, at the Kilns?”
“He did, for a time,” said Jack. “The problem was that Magwich would never shut up, and he was starting to attract attention, so we had to relocate him here.”
“Here?” Charles said, unable to keep himself from cringing. “You brought that Maggot to Tamerlane House?”
“Not Tamerlane specifically,” said John. “We planted him on one of the outer islands, where Jason’s sons go to play their war games. He gets to talk to someone, and they completely ignore him. It’s an entirely amicable arrangement.”
“What happened here?” Charles asked as the other Caretakers began to arrive. “The house looks as if it went through some major renovations that were either poorly planned or badly executed.”
“There was a battle,” Dickens explained as he took a seat next to Charles, “between the Caretakers and Dee and his minions, and Tamerlane House paid the greatest price, I’m afraid.”
“Several of the towers and minarets had been toppled, and almost the whole of the north wing was destroyed,” said Hawthorne.
“We did add to our collective real estate, however,” Twain said as he entered the room and kissed Rose on the top of her head. “The House on the Borderlands is now our neighbor.”
“What?” Charles and Fred exclaimed at once.
“Yes,” Bert said as he joined them at the table, eyes filled with tears. “The Cabal, or most of them, anyway, have established a truce with the Caretakers.”
“Where’s John?” Rose asked. “Is he . . . ?”
“Oh, he’s still among the living,” said Jack, “and still the Prime Caretaker. He just has a great deal of business to tend to at Oxford these days. We’ve sent for him, and he should be here at any—”
“Where are they?” John exclaimed as he burst through the door. “Are they really . . . ?”
“Hello, Uncle John,” Rose said, jumping to her feet. “You’ve gotten older!”
“I have,” he said, hugging her closely, “while you have stayed exactly the same, just as I’d hoped.”
Part Six
Beyond the Wall
. . . the island where the last inn stood . . .
Chapter TWENTY-ONE
Tabula Rasa Geographica
The great bridge of bone reached across almost the entire width of the ocean, but stopped just short of the Lonely Isle.
Poets and painters had dreamed about the island, which stood at the farthest reaches of existence, and which was the last haven for travelers before they reached the shores of eternity. And in truth, dreaming was the simplest way to reach it, and the only way most ever would.
For the great Dragon Samaranth, it meant using the last relic of the life he had lived before this one, when he was a Maker in a wondrous green city at the edge of an ocean far, far away.
It was a chest made of amethyst, and it was meant to contain worlds. Slowly, carefully, he placed all the lands of the Archipelago of Dreams into it, and then released the great beasts to return to the deserts and mountains where he had gathered them.
To his smallest, last friend, he offered a choice, and was not surprised by the badger’s answer, but was surprised by his own gratitude at receiving it.
Together, they made their way through the storm-tossed sea to the island where the last inn stood, where they would be greeted by the last of the angels from the City of Jade, and where they would wait, for as long as they were able.