“Just stay together,” Lily said. “If you get lost, I’ll come and find you. I promise.”
“You’re not coming with us?” Raya frowned.
Lightning pierced a cloud, casting shadows over Lily’s face. “No.”
“Why not?” Q’s expression turned as dark as Lily’s.
“Because it’s my job to keep this train safe. Yours is to find your place in it.”
“I think I’ll take my chances here.” Raya folded her arms. “I’m not going through that doorway again.”
“We don’t have time to argue about this, Ms. Sia.” Lily eyed Raya’s hand. “Look at your ticket.”
Raya glanced at her palm. The edges of the knot frayed as it twisted, sending gold flakes swirling over her skin.
“Your knot is unraveling fast,” Lily said. “Your baggage is too heavy. You can either take Mr. Goh’s serum right now or get off this deck and find your compartment before it’s too late.”
The emergency doorway inside the clay pot was awash with a bright white light that made Raya miss the dark. Fear was worse when you could see exactly what was going to happen next. A current of white paint swept her closer to the waterfall at the river’s end. Q fell over the frothing edge, followed by the upcycled bag containing all Raya had left of her brother.
“Q!” Raya swallowed paint. She sputtered and tilted her face up, trying to keep her head above the irony raging around her. As desperately as she needed to find a way off the train, she had to bind herself to it. She could not keep Jace’s dream alive if the weight of his memory dragged her into the sea.
“What type of weather should I pack for?”
Frequently Asked Questions
The Elsewhere Express
Passenger Handbook
Lily
The handbook clearly stated that using a door as an emergency exit was left to a passenger’s personal judgment. The footnote that train tickets included a complimentary funeral service and a wide selection of urns was mentioned in finer print.
Lily dragged the scorched sail to a corner of the ship. Though the sail was drenched and burnt black, Lily was confident that the maintenance crew would have it looking as good as new.
Maintenance could fix everything on the Elsewhere Express with one exception: Nothing could be done about Train Rot. This unstoppable black, putrid, creeping rot was not the common sort that soured milk or made garbage reek. Train Rot took root and spread, corrupting and consuming every thought the train was built from.
But this was not a concern that Lily spent any time thinking about. As her predecessor had pointed out, you needed to worry about rot only when it rained, and it never rained on the Elsewhere Express.
A torrent poured over the deck, plastering Lily’s hair over her freckles. She might have sought shelter if she weren’t fully convinced that this was a mistake. Whatever was streaming into hereyes and down her cheeks was not rain. It couldn’t be. It didn’t rain on the Elsewhere Express.
Because if it did rain, it could mean only two things: There was a danger on board the train that needed to be washed off. And that she had failed at her job miserably.
The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts, therefore, guard accordingly.
—Marcus Aurelius
“What are the passenger activities on board the train?”
Frequently Asked Questions
The Elsewhere Express
Passenger Handbook
Q
Gasping for air, Q climbed out of a can of white paint sitting on a worktable. He stood up and tore off his life jacket. He held out his hands, fully expecting them to be coated in a shade of white darker than rice but lighter than alabaster. His arms were dry and paint-free. And so was the rest of him. He exhaled through a smile, glancing around the large room. “Raya?”
