A pair of eyes appears between the fronds of the palm tree.
"Hello? Who's there?" I ask.
"Have you come to help us?" a soft voice asks. A young woman steps out from behind the tree, making us gasp. The right side of her body is horribly burned. Her hand is gone to the bone. She sees the shock on our faces and tries to cover herself with what's left of her shawl. "It was a fire at the factory, miss. Went up like a tinderbox, and we couldn't get out in time," she answers.
"We?" I ask, when I find my voice again.
Behind her in the jungle growth are perhaps a dozen or so young girls, many of them burned, all of them dead.
"Those of us who couldn't get out. Fire got some; some jumped and the fall got 'em," she says, matter-of-factly.
"How long have you been here?" I ask.
"Can't rightly say," she answers."Feels like forever."
"When was the fire?" Pippa asks.
"Third of December 1895, miss. Lot of wind that day, I recall." They've been here about two weeks, less time than Pippa. "I've seen you before, miss," she says, nodding to Pippa. "You and yer gen'leman."
Pippa's mouth hangs open. "I've never seen you in my life. I don't know what you're talking about."
"I am sorry for the offense, miss. I meant no harm, I'm sure." I don't know why Pip's in such a foul temper. She's not helping matters.
The girl tugs at my sleeve, and I have to hold back the scream when I see that hand on me."Is this heaven or hell, miss?"
"It is neither," I say, taking a step back."What is your name?"
"Mae. Mae Sutter."
"Mae," I whisper."Has anyone among you been acting strangely?"
She thinks for a moment. "Bessie Timmons," she says, pointing to another burned girl with a badly broken arm. "But in truth, miss, she's always been a bit strange. She's been talking to somebody off by herself, telling us we need to follow her to a place called the Winterlands, that they can help us there." "Listen closely to me, Mae. You must not go to the Winterlands. Soon everything will be as it should be, and you and your friends will cross over the river to what lies beyond."