“Which Raya boarded the crystal train?” Q said as the train car’s doors slid open. “The one who wants to go home or the one who wants to stay?”
“What kinds of remedies does the train’s pharmacy offer?”
Frequently Asked Questions
The Elsewhere Express
Passenger Handbook
Lily
Abandoned teacups perched on almost every surface of the Archive’s office, waiting for Rasmus to notice them. He did not. He lay on the cot by a bookcase, staring up at a jade ceiling with unblinking eyes. Lily dabbed a wet towel over Rasmus’s forehead, not because it helped, but because doing nothing would hollow her out too. Neither the train’s oldest healer, the phoenix that lived on the Archive’s outermost sphere, nor Mr. Goh could mend a mind that had been eaten alive.
“What’s rarer than a banana?”
Frequently Asked Questions
The Elsewhere Express
Passenger Handbook
Raya
The flat-bottomed boat floated down a languid river bordered by a curious mix of mismatched Haussmann architecture, Spanish villas draped in curtains of red bougainvillea, and terraced wooden homes half hidden by cascading tropical gardens. A row of cast-iron streetlamps illuminated the eclectic buildings and set the river on fire. Sampans bobbed over the shimmering reflections while waiting for passengers at wooden docks. A version of the Arc de Triomphe, carved from red jade, stood at the end of the river, presiding over a roundabout of twelve waterways radiating from the monument like the rays of the sun. There was no sign of rot or rain. Raya looked out from the sampan’s bow, her heartbeat undulating as the river did. “Where are we?”
“My boat,” a voice, as calm as the river, said. Its owner, the sampan’s bald pilot, waved from the end of the boat. A low, curved thatched roof covering the rivercraft’s midsection stood between them. “Welcome aboard.” He smiled, steering with a single sculling oar attached to the stern. “My name’s Alain.”
Raya managed an awkward wave. “I’m Raya.”
“Q. We apologize for…um…dropping in on your boat like this,” Q said.
A grin crinkled Alain’s leathery cheeks. “No need to apologize. I had thought the Elsewhere Express had run out of ways to surprise me. I had no idea that there was a doorway on my boat. It must have just recently hopped aboard.”
Raya scoured the sampan’s floor for the crystal train. It glinted behind the heel of her right boot. She scooped it up, her hair falling over her face. Somewhere between the MMD and this river, she had lost her hair tie.
Alain craned his neck over the boat’s roof. “Is that one of those trains that travel on the Archive’s maps?”
“It is.” Raya slipped the miniature train into her bag.
“I’ve never seen one in person.” He smiled. “Two surprises in one evening. What a treat.”
“You didn’t happen to notice anything else unusual tonight, did you?” Raya searched the sky for storm clouds.
“Everything on the Elsewhere Express is unusual. Can you be more specific?”
“Has it rained recently?” Q said.
“Rained?” Alain laughed. “That’s not unusual. That’s impossible. It never rains on the Elsewhere Express.”
“How about rot?” Raya said. “Or moths?”
Alain chuckled. “Sorry. It’s just been another typical day on the river. Nothing as exciting as rot or moths, I’m afraid. Oh, wait. I did see a bee, or rather a hatpin shaped like one. Does that count?”
Raya exhaled, the tension in her neck and shoulders exiting with her breath. “Bees are great.”
Q grinned. “They’re absolutely wonderful.”
“Well, if you like hatpins and sparkly things, maybe I can interest you in a trade for that little train of yours?” He gestured to the baskets arranged beneath the boat’s roof. Each was large enough to fit a small child and overflowing with everything from jewelry to colorful scarves. The largest of the baskets contained uncut rubies, some the size of a baby’s fist. “Take your pick. Except for the bananas. Those are rare.”
