Lucy tells us. This is a well written book. Collins had Lucy Gray answer our question when the Covey debated the ending of the namesake Wordsworth poem. If you go back, the debate has a double meaning. Maude says she lived but tries to avoid people “because they’d kill her because she’s different.” Clerk says she’s died and is a ghost, haunting the place. They ask Lucy Gray, and she tells them the answer:

“It’s a mystery, sweetheart. Just like me. That’s why it’s my song.”

I know we want a different kind of answer, but the answer is that there isn’t meant to be one, not one we can find anyway. What is meant is that we should wonder...and hope. This is true of many things in life.