airship is populated by other children unconnected to the club; Martha, the cleaning lady; Mr Hoffman, a strict teacher; a mysterious man named Gregory who passes storybooks to Jennifer; and strange animal-headed child-like monsters called "imps" wander the halls of the airship, attacking and ambushing Jennifer as she moves around. Jennifer continuously finds herself in conflict with the Aristocrats as she attempts to fulfill their gift demands. At the first meeting, Amanda is forced to push a stick with a rat tied on the end into Jennifer's face, although the rat does not attack her. Jennifer later finds a tied-up and suspended golden retriever in a storage room, and rescues and adopts it. The dog, Brown, assists her in finding gifts. After Jennifer is able to find a gift before Amanda, Jennifer is "promoted" to Amanda's position and is forced to push the rat on a stick - which has since died and become infested with maggots - into Amanda's face. This causes Amanda to become hatefully obsessed with Jennifer at being promoted over her. Jennifer also meets a sickly girl called Wendy who is looked after by the Aristocrats in the Sickbay and does not participate in their game, and learns that she has been telling them stories about a mysterious monstrous man called "Stray Dog", who devours children. The higher-ranking Aristocrats start to issue requests which put Jennifer into positions where she can be blamed for stealing or destroying things belonging to the other members. She is framed for killing a bird belonging to Eleanor, beheading a fish Mr. Hoffman kept in his office; and finds signs that Mr. Hoffman may have been abusing Diana. The Aristocrats continue to torment and humiliate the other children on board the airship by sealing Jennifer in an "onion bag" in which insects and other unpleasant substances are dropped by the other members; and locking her in a room in which another girl, Clara, has been turned into a "mermaid" by having her legs tied together and is repeatedly winched up to the ceiling and then dropped at speed, causing her to vomit on and thrash at Jennifer. After apparently living for several months on the airship, Jennifer appears on the ground again in a rose garden near the orphanage. She approaches a nearby house owned by "Gregory M. Wilson" and goes inside, where she discovers him contemplating suicide, and finds his