Frequently Asked Questions
The Elsewhere Express
Passenger Handbook
Q
Paint was like a smile. If brushed on well, it could hide almost anything. Two coats of eggshell white had been enough to completely cover the scorched moths Q had painted on school property, but a hundred layers of paint could not erase the image burned into his eyes. He would see the horror on Raya’s face whether they were open or closed. He bolted upright, cold sweat soaking his shirt.
“Good.” Rasmus stood over him. “You’re awake.”
“What happened?” Q’s eyes flew around him. He was back in Rasmus’s office, sitting up on his cot.
“The cloakroom’s bell rang after you and Raya left. I headed there to warn you and found you on the floor. Raya wasn’t with you. I don’t know where she is.”
“The stowaway took her. We threw it out a back door, but it came back. We need to let Lily know.” Q stood up. “We were supposed to meet her at the boarding car.”
“I know. I heard the announcement over the loudspeaker. She’s setting a trap.”
Q nodded. “I’ll head there now.”
“A trap,” Rasmus said, “for you. She wants to get rid of you, Q.”
“What?”
“She’s convinced that you’re a danger to the train.”
“That’s ridiculous. How do you even know that she wants to throw me off the train?”
Rasmus
Earlier
Rasmus’s footsteps echoed over the silence of the hanging bells as he paced the Archive, waiting for Q and Raya to return from the Missed and Misplaced Department. A second set of footsteps joined his.
“Rasmus.” Lily walked up from behind him.
“Good. You’re here. Did you get my message? We need to talk about the first stowaway.”
“Yes,” Lily said. “We do. I remember everything now.”
“You do? How?”
“I caught a whiff of Manon’s perfume when I gave it to you.”
Rasmus frowned. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I was as confused as you. I wasn’t sure what was happening to me. The memories were all jumbled up and I didn’t know if I could trust them.”
“And now?”
“I do.”
“What do you remember?”
“I remember what we did to the first stowaway and how it got on the train.”
Rasmus lowered his eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry, but we had to—”
