- The story of how David escaped from Blest Island with the help of Erik and his family is his daughter, Merle's, favorite.
- Of course, David and his wife never tell the girl exactly what happened to Erik in the end—it's too much of a downer—but Merle never forgets about Erik and his bravery.
- When Merle is seventy, she dies. Her father lives to be one hundred and one years old, though, fit and healthy right up until the morning he shuffles off this mortal coil. It's like someone gave him the "elixir of life" once…
- The morning that David dies, he reads in the paper about an unusual Viking tomb being discovered on a small island. Something about the story seems familiar to David. Could this be the same island?
- Why yes, David, it could be.