"He said he's been here for years," John points out as he pulls the new shirt over his head. "He should know something by now." He feels a little bad even as he says it, because Mr. Keane has been kind to them. But he doesn't think he's all wrong, either. If Mr. Keane is telling the truth about Darrow — that it just pulls people in, and that no one knows why, and that it's been happening for years and years — then John and Martin probably aren't the first children it's happened to. And the people who live here have probably come up with some way to deal with the people who just show up. Or maybe everyone who lives here got pulled in from somewhere else, but that just means they'd be extra prepared to deal with new arrivals, wouldn't they?

"Feels like there's something he's not telling us," John says after a moment. "Like he's worried it'll scare us even more, or something." Like they're not scared enough already. Just talking to Martin makes him feel a bit better, though. At least he knows Martin is coming from the same place he is.