“The Elsewhere Express has rules, Mr. Philips. Breaking them has consequences that affect the entire train.”
Q swore. “You’re the conductor. Change the rules.”
“I’m afraid it’s not that simple, Mr. Philips.”
“I think it is,” Q said. “I’ve learned a few tricks from the painting crew.” He pulled a brush and a tube of paint from his pocket. “I know what dark thoughts can do and so believe me when I tell you that unless you allow Raya to stay, I will not think twice about destroying this train.”
Rasmus shoved his large hands into his pockets. “Then be quick. I don’t want anyone to suffer. Go ahead and destroy the train, Mr. Philips. That’s what will happen anyway if I allow Ms. Sia to stay. If I break one rule, the passengers will question all of them. Thoughts destroy thoughts. Doubt will spread. And so will cracks. If Ms. Sia stays, the Elsewhere Express will shatter.”
“It’s okay, Q.” Raya gently touched his arm. “I’ll go.” She gripped her bag. “I’m ready.”
Embroidery Lessons
From the Passenger Records of Hiraya Sia
Raya
The gold thread slipped out from Raya’s flesh and embroidered itself back into an eternal knot on bamboo silk. No one could tell by looking at it that it had just stitched a tale into Raya’s soul. “How many times, Rasmus?” She crumpled the silk in her fist. “How many times have Q and I boarded this train?”
“Too many.” Rasmus stared at the shelf overflowing with embroidered silk sheets. “And each time, it’s ended the same way. Q dies. You live.”
“But Q found the compartment first.” Raya’s voice quivered. “You escorted me from the train. Why did he die?”
“Q gave up the compartment for you.”
“No.” Raya shook her head. “That’s not true. That’s not what I saw.”
“You can’t see what isn’t there. That part of the record has been cut out. The thread couldn’t show you how Q begged me to let him join you at the back door to say goodbye, and how, against my better judgment, I agreed to his request. When I opened the door, he threw himself out of it. There was nothing I could do.”
“I don’t understand.” Tears blurred Raya’s eyes. “Why would Q do that?”
“For the same reason he chooses to save you and this train time and time again. A moth always flies to the light. There hasn’t been a single version of Q that hasn’t been a good person.”
“So why was the train’s record cut? Who cut it?”
“I think you already know the answer to those questions.” The bustle of the room nearly buried Rasmus’s voice.
“The woman in Dev’s photo didn’t borrow her face from anyone, did she?” Raya touched her cheek. “Lily was wearing her own.”
“Lily was new and wasn’t keen on changing her face back then. But I knew that she was going to make a great conductor as soon as she boarded. She was used to carrying heavy loads.”
Water splashed around her foot. Raya had not questioned Rasmus when he told her that Lily’s office was located inside a teapot stored in a seldom-used pantry. The knee-deep flood she waded in, however, made her fear that she had misunderstood him. A slow, steady dripping sound came from the left side of the room. Raya turned in its direction. Water trickled down a shelf, spilling from the spout of a chipped teapot. Raya lifted the teapot’s lid. “Lily? Are you in there? It’s me, Raya.”
“Come in, Ms. Sia.” Bubbles carried Lily’s voice to the surface.
“How do I—”
“Jump in.”
Raya dove into the teapot and landed softly on colorful woven mats strewn over a slatted bamboo floor. Swaths of gauzy fabric took the place of walls and billowed in the breeze. Round capiz shell lamps, carried by pairs of dragonflies, hovered above and around Raya, bathing the villa in their glow. Raya parted a curtain and looked out. A still, borderless lake surrounded her, the bamboo villa’s reflection a ghostly boat floating on a sea of stars.
“Good evening, Ms. Sia.” Lily walked up from behind her.
Raya turned, prepared to see a stranger. She had not seen Lily since breakfast and knew that she would have changed by now into a new face to welcome the evening’s arrival. A face framed by red, unruly waves met her. “Why are you wearing Lily’s face?” Raya said.
“I guessed that since whatever is on your mind couldn’t wait until morning, it was something that really bothered you.” Lily smiled. “I wanted to make you feel as comfortable as possible. You seem to be rather attached to Lily. You haven’t been able to stop calling me by her name.”
“I can call you by your real one, if you’d like.” Raya stared hard at her. “Or would that be too confusing since we share it?”
