Elatsoe

In the ballroom, people scramble to escape from the emissary’s wrath as the piano crashes to the floor. Trevor’s reanimated body is discovered among the broken pieces of the piano, and the emissary announces that “[Allerton will] wish that [he] had died in [his] Mercedes-Benz” (460). Allerton refuses to confess to his crime, and the emissary becomes enraged and grabs Allerton’s son from out of the crowd. Finally, Allerton confesses that he is a descendent of Nathaniel Grace, a powerful wizard who left behind “his wisdom, his magic, his responsibilities, and his town” (464). He also admits that the citizens of Willowbee are aware of his powers, and they know that if he dies, Willowbee will cease to exist. A fight breaks out between the emissary and the remaining exorcists, and Ellie joins in on the fight by weaponizing Kirby’s howl again.

The emissary declares that Ellie is a traitor, but an exorcist is able to reach him and banish him back to the underworld. With the emissary defeated, Ellie turns her attention to Dr. Allerton. Allerton blames Ellie and her family for stirring up all this trouble: After all, “[he] collected scholarship money for Trevor’s child,” but because of Ellie’s stubbornness, “everything is a mess now” (472). Ellie spits back that Baby Gregory would much rather have his father than a scholarship, and Allerton is offended by the idea that he should have let himself die that night instead of killing Trevor. Allerton reveals that Willowbee is a floating town and that it was “founded in Massachusetts” (473) two centuries ago. They relocate the town any time the secret gets out, and as Allerton and his minions prepare to move the town once again and escape, Ellie “summon[s] the dogs of her ancestors. All of them” (475).

Ellie summons every single dog in her family tree, and her ghost dogs overwhelm Allerton’s exorcists. Ellie drags Allerton to the underworld, and after pausing to play with Kirby, Ellie leaves Allerton to fend for himself as she returns to the world of the living. Allerton begs for mercy as emissaries surround him, offering to “cover [Ellie’s] college tuition” (481), but she announces that this is her “showing mercy to the people who will live now that [Allerton is] gone” (483). As the emissaries attack Allerton, he tries to attack Ellie, but Kirby comes to her defense. Ellie encourages Kirby to follow her back to the world of the living, but as she surfaces and is surrounded by her friends and family, Kirby is nowhere to be found. Although everyone is safe, Ellie wonders if “those vengeful emissaries [would] hurt a dog” (486). She continues to call for him, but Kirby still doesn’t come.

Ellie is devastated by the loss of Kirby, and she wonders if he, too, has been lost forever to the underworld. Ellie and her family spend “all night dealing with the Alberton fiasco fallout” (488), and as they head for Lenore’s house, Ellie’s father drives on the road where Trevor died. They see a coyote woman hitchhiking on the side of the road, so they pull over and give her a ride. The coyote woman says that “something changed last night” (491), and the area feels safer. She asks why Ellie is sad, and Ellie explains that her friend has gone to the underworld. Suddenly, Ellie’s mom says that although she once thought Six-Great’s love of danger was a character flaw, she now realizes that Six-Great wasn’t afraid to take risks. Like Ellie, Six-Great took a risk for love, and it made her very admirable. The coyote woman wants to know what happened last night because “the air felt … taut. Like its threads were ready to unravel” (496). Ellie decides to tell the coyote woman the whole story, starting with Kirby. She hopes that “maybe, someday, he’d follow the words home” (496).

As Ellie packs for her return trip home, Lenore asks to meet her in the park. Lenore has decided to “sell her house in the Rio Grande and move in with her good friends” (498). Lenore brings Ellie a stack of comic books and graphic novels for her trip home, and as they watch a father and his daughter play together at the park, Lenore remarks that “he was a good dad [...] And a good man” (500). 

Weeks later, Ellie and Jay are back home and playing with Ellie’s new dog, Snickers. Although the dog is “no Kirby,” Ellie is fine with this because “she didn’t want a replacement” (501). Still, Ellie can’t stop thinking about Kirby and hoping he is happy and loved. In the weeks following the incident at Willowbee, the story has circulated far and wide. Ellie now gets interview requests and fan mail, and she decides that if she wants to be a paranormal investigator, “[she] need[s] college to prepare for the next Willowbee” (505). Suddenly, Kirby returns and starts playing with the “googly-eyed skull” (506), and Ellie is overjoyed. Snickers and Kirby play together, but suddenly, Jay discovers an unusual toy that Kirby brought with him: “a dirty, torn doll” that is “made of leather” and “rattle[s] when Jay tosse[s] it across the room” (507). Ellie has never seen the toy before, but she suspects that it once belonged to the hounds of Six-Great.