Kit couldn’t help a little smile. “Well, people who plan ahead bring books or work or perhaps some sewing project. Mothers with their children, of course, don’t have to worry about entertaining themselves. Every once in a while, especially if you’re back in tourist, you find some lonely soul who just wants to talk all night and all day. That’s one of the reasons I try to find an empty car and pile up my seat with my luggage. I don’t want to be stuck talking to a stranger for two days.”

“I’ll try not to annoy you with too much conversation,” he said stiffly.

Kit felt a small shock of surprise run through her. For an instant, she had forgotten he too was a stranger, and a hostile one at that. How could she possibly have slipped into such an error? Perhaps because, aside from hers, his was the only blue face she had seen on the train.

Uncannily, he seemed to catch her thought. “I haven’t seen any other indigo,” he said. “Do they never go into Geldricht?”

“Sometimes. Not often,” she said. “There are a few entrepreneurs who have business with the gulden, but they’re more likely to want their partners to come into the city. If there are any on board, they’re probably all in private rooms.”

He nodded and looked out the window. They were still in the station, and there was little to see except a few passengers making the last-minute run for the train. But maybe this was an unfamiliar sight to him and therefore interesting. He was silent long enough that Kit finally asked a question.

“Why didn’t you ask for a private room? Didn’t the clerk tell you they were available?”

He nodded, still gazing out the window. “I thought you might be afraid,” he said, “cooped up for two days in a small room with a crazy man.”

Which astonished her so much that she couldn’t think of another thing to say.

A few minutes later, the train lurched into motion. Kit, who sat with her back to the wall, facing all the other riders, saw every head bob in unison, side to side and front to back. Some of the riders, as if stubbornly awaiting this signal, leaned their heads against the chair backs and drifted to sleep. Others appeared oblivious to their surroundings and kept their attention on their books and papers.

“How long are we underground?” Nolan asked.

“Not long. But it will be dark soon. You won’t be able to see much.”

“What’s the countryside like, then?”