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"I said I'll leave! I'll leave!"
"Sorry, your answer must be in Russian."
"I don't speak Russian!"
"Five seconds."
"I'll leave-ski Chicago-ski!"
"Time's up." He nodded to Moose and Squirrel. "Goodbye, Pugsy."
"Nooooooo!"
Pugsy was lighter than the other three, so he flew much farther before hitting the lake. He quickly plunged through the living-world water, as thin to him as air, and then passed into the lake bed, toward his place on--or rather in--the mantel. As he sunk deeper and deeper into the earth, he could only hope that when he reached the center, he wouldn't come across anyone he sent there himself.
The following day, all the Afterlights of Chicago were called for a town meeting--the first such meeting since Pugsy announced his partnership with Mary some weeks ago. Now Mary stood on the same balcony, looking out over the crowd. This time, however, Pugsy was absent. Instead she stood with Speedo beside her. Milos was there, too, but he lingered in the background, along with a silently aggravated Jackin' Jill.
"You shouldn't be up here at all," Jill told Milos. "I earned the right to be here, but what have you done?"
"Not much," Milos told her. "Just what was necessary."
She was unimpressed. "Where's Pugsy?" asked Jill, glancing around. "He's never late when he calls a town meeting."
"Pugsy did not call it," Milos said casually.
At the front of the balcony Mary looked down on the crowd. Speedo, having been a finder, was still intimidated by large vapors of Afterlights. Finders were usually hunted down by such mobs, accused of unfair trading. It didn't help that he was eternally in a wet bathing suit, displaying a bare belly in a pasty shade of pale. He could never get used to being Mary's right-hand man--and he suspected she was now grooming Milos for the position. Speedo, who had no desire for power beyond the horsepower of an airship engine, would be more than happy to slip into the background when the time came--and he hoped it came soon.
"Look at all of them," said Mary. "It hardly seems appropriate to call them a 'vapor of Afterlights' anymore."
"More like an entire cloud," suggested Speedo.
"A cumulus!" said Mary, delighted with herself. "A cumulus of Afterlights!"
Their numbers had indeed grown. A census upon Mary's arrival revealed there to be 783 Afterlights in Chicago, including the ones she brought with her. But once word got out that Mary had settled in for an extended stay, stray Afterlights began to wander in to the Columbian Exhibition grounds--more each day. Those, plus the new arrivals waking into Everlost for the first time, brought their numbers close to a thousand now.
Nick had stolen from her more than a thousand souls. Now she had them back, and with Pugsy gone, she didn't have to share them with anyone. This was truly a day for celebration.
"Afterlights of Chicago," she announced to the crowd. "It is with the utmost of mixed feelings that I must announce that Pugsy Capone has chosen to leave us."
The crowd murmured in excitement, mingled with doubt.
"He has decided to travel, and has taken a permanent leave of absence. I'm sure you all join me in wishing him everything he deserves, wherever his journey takes him."
It began as a smattering of applause, that grew into cheers, as the crowd realized exactly what Mary was telling them.
"As Pugsy will not be coming back, I am pleased to accept the position as Governess of Chicago." The cheers reached a fever pitch. "Listen to them, Speedo!" Mary whispered. "Do you see how happy they are to finally be freed!"
"Where did Pugsy go?" Speedo asked her.
"Milos was so kind as to convince him to leave." She turned back to give Milos a much-earned smile. "It's probably best if we don't know the details, don't you agree?"
Mary turned back to the crowd and resumed addressing them. "Since my arrival, there have been many changes here, and there will be many more to come. My goal is to bring your quality of death to the highest possible level. Many of you have found your own "special activity" to make each and every day your personal perfect day. For those of you still searching, my door is always open. I pledge to help you in every way I can."
The crowd seemed a bit less enthusiastic at the prospect of a gloriously repetitive eternity, but that was all right. They would come to see the wisdom of Mary's way. They always did.
Milos was called for an audience with Mary in her Promenade. He assumed it was a private audience. Milos already knew she spoke to no one else as candidly as she spoke to him. He had to believe that it meant something. That he meant something.
He came with a chilled bottle of champagne that he found in Pugsy's wine cellar mixed in with all the bottles of root beer, and two champagne flutes. When he arrived, however, he found the audience was anything but private.
