“Why the hell not, Q? The Elsewhere Express breaks every natural law. Why not the laws of death? You got your miracle. Why can’t I have mine?”
Rasmus burst through the door. “Step away from the bed. Now.”
“Can songs fix everything?”
Frequently Asked Questions
The Elsewhere Express
Passenger Handbook
Rasmus
Earlier
Winged songs could only do so much. Cuts and broken bones were easy to mend but a broken man required more than colorful wings and wishes. The four songs that caught the scent of lavender and flew to Rasmus’s aid split the task. Two went in search of the other end of his tether, another fetched the train’s healer, and the fourth stayed behind, offering the tiny comfort of its company while Rasmus was crushed alive.
The songs found Abbie’s broken body meticulously arranged over Rasmus’s desk. They flitted around the metal corpse, taking an inventory of its parts. Eyes. Legs. Body. Heart. Abbie’s murderer had been considerate enough to ensure that the carcass was complete. Fixing Abbie would have been more complicated if they needed to fabricate parts. One of them descended on Abbie, engulfing it in light.
The third song flitted through carved jade trellises, flowers, and vines. It found the train’s healer asleep next to a jade dragon on the Archive’s outermost sphere and hovered by its ear. It whispereda request into feathers of flame. The phoenix stirred and stretched its fiery wings. It flew to the mouth of the jade tunnel and dove in.
Hitching a ride on the phoenix was faster than flying back to the supply closet. The songs huddled behind its neck, shielding themselves from the wind. Abbie, shiny and whole, rode with them. The phoenix flew through the supply closet’s door and spotted Rasmus by a waterfall of lavender flowers. It nudged him with its beak. He didn’t move. It nudged him again. Abbie scuttled over to him and curled over his fading heart. The phoenix embraced Rasmus with its wings, wrapping him and Abbie in healing fire.
Now
“Rasmus!” Q said. “I thought you were dead.”
“I was.” He walked into the hospital room. “Sort of.” He pressed his hand over his chest. Metallic clicks and whirring vibrated inside a mechanical heart that had once been his oldest and dearest friend. He tore his hand away, blinking back tears.
Raya blocked his way to the hospital bed. “Stay away from my brother. Jace isn’t dying tonight.”
“You’re right, Raya. He won’t,” Rasmus said. “Because that isn’t your brother. It’s the first stowaway. Lily and I trapped it here.”
Rasmus
A Memory
The air in the carpeted corridor thickened with the scent of rain and sadness. Rasmus drew a weary breath. He had forgotten what nightmares were like. Mr. Goh’s draft was extremely effective at casting away all his night dreams by the time he woke up. This nightmare, however, was not something any of the pharmacy’s tonics could fix. The Lake was decoupled and countless songs were gone in one dark night that seemed to have no end. Tiny glowing wings carried their last hope down a long corridor to a shiny black door at the end of the hall. The song paused, turned around, and perched on Lily (who was not yet named Lily), looking from her to Rasmus as though asking them if they were sure they wanted to proceed.
“You can leave us now,” Rasmus said, fully aware that he and Lily had already asked far too much of it. It had survived the destruction of the Lake and had been the lone song to return after scouring the train for the stowaway. And now it was leading the way to the monster that had killed all of its kin. “Thank you for everything.”
“Go,” Lily whispered to the song. “Go to the beach. You’ll be safe there.”
The song folded its wings and remained on her shoulder.
“Please,” Lily said. “Just go.”
The song did not move.
“We don’t have time for this,” Rasmus said. “You can’t force the song to do anything it doesn’t want to do.”
“No. All the other songs are dead because I asked them to help us. I’m not going to let this song die too.”
“It will die along with everyone else on this train if we wait any longer.” Rasmus marched ahead.
Lily clutched his arm. “What if you’re wrong? What if the stowaway really is him? I saw his face.”
“You saw what the stowaway wanted you to see. But the dead do not board the Elsewhere Express. It was a trick. If it were real, I would have seen him. But I didn’t.”
