WELL, THERE ISN’T MUCH more to the story. Leila returned home and discovered that Nadia was still often annoying, and that, in spite of her epiphany in Pakistan, the whole world had not turned magical overnight. Ta’Mara had a new boyfriend, and she talked about him all of the time. Aimee was obsessed with her new part in the fall ballet, so she didn’t hang out with Nadia as much as Leila had feared she would. And Nadia was still . . . Nadia. She had decided to start a nonprofit—something about helping baby ducks—and was busily assembling a robot in her spare time.
Leila never started a blog, but she did keep in touch with Samir, who sent emails with photos of Wali, and Rabeea’s art, and even Mamoo and the goat, which had grown quite fat in Mamoo’s care.
Babar Taya had said that Leila could take The Exquisite Corpse with her to America, and she had, but nothing new appeared. Over time, the words began to fade; a week before school was to begin in the fall, it was completely blank except for the first page. It was just as she had found it. “Nice try,” she told the book when she discovered the change. “But I know you’re still magic.”
Kai’s copy of the book also faded, but she also stubbornly clung to the belief that the book was magic. “I have a witness,” she informed the book. “Doodle knows all about you, wise guy.”
When Professor Hill sent the lab results and the copy of Mamoo’s email detailing his concerns about Scarlet Catsbane to the local paper, the small-town press had a field day with the fact that Pettyfer Jonas Sr., knew that the shellac used at American Casket could cause problems for asthmatics, and did nothing. He was quickly ousted as president, and Doodle’s father was chosen to take his place. When Scarlet Catsbane was replaced with a harmless compound, his lungs recovered quickly and he found he was rarely ever sick. In addition, the new shellac actually cost less and lasted longer. Unharvested, the field of Scarlet Catsbane grew and bloomed behind the factory, and Doodle spotted three Celestial Moths there one evening, a fact that she dutifully reported to the Lepidoptery Society at their monthly meeting.
Once the judge reviewed the proof of Edwina’s life and checked it against the will her parents had made, Kai became the official heir to the American Casket fortune. The money was held in trust for her, but once she turned twenty-one, the money would be hers.
Kai and her mother moved to Houston. They often went to visit Lavinia and Doodle on weekends, and Kai would play her violin in the evenings. They found a sweet little one-story house in a lovely, safe neighborhood with a community pool and a skate park nearby. They were right next door to a woman who had planted her whole yard with cornflowers. School was set to start in a week, and Kai had the strangest feeling that she would make friends there. Maybe even a Best Friend. Doodle had shown her how.
Kai knew now that every story—even her own—held its own magic, and all she had to do was keep turning the pages until the eventual very real, very happy ending.