‘I could punch her,’ suggested Dan McReady helpfully.

‘Don’t be so damned stupid,’ said Collis. ‘The whole point of this plan is that she doesn’t get harmed. Not physically, anyway.’

‘We could keep her here until she drops to sleep naturally.’

‘And then what? You can’t take calotypes at night. It’s going to be difficult enough as it is unless the sun comes out.’

‘Maybe we have to let her go,’ said Maria-Mamuska.

‘And maybe we have to tell her what’s going on,’ said another voice, cultured and sharp.

They looked up, in complete shock. Standing in the open doorway in her grey overcoat was Sarah Melford, straight-backed, composed, and not drugged in the slightest. Just behind her, Mr Figgis was trying to communicate with a variety of shrugs and facial contortions that he had tried to stop her, without success.

‘Is this a kidnapping?’ asked Sarah, stepping into the room. ‘Is it serious, or is it a joke? Collis — seeing you here, I must conclude that it’s a joke.’

Collis pressed his fingers against his eyelids as if he could make the whole scene vanish. Then he opened his eyes again, and found it was all still real, and sighed.

‘Well?’ demanded Sarah. ‘Aren’t you going to tell me what’s up? Aren’t you going to tell me who are these peculiar people, and why they’ve brought me here?’

Collis stood up and bowed his head. ‘I’m sorry, Sarah. In the surprise of the moment, I forgot my manners. This is Maria, whose house this is. This is Mr Dan McReady, of the Eagle Saloon. And this is Mr Andrew Jackson Hunt, one of my partners in the Sierra Pacific Railroad. Oh — and the gentleman behind you is Mr Figgis, the calotypist.’

‘I still don’t understand,’ said Sarah. ‘Are you keeping me here for a ransom? Are you going to sell me off to white slavers? And why were you going to take calotypes of me?’

Collis turned to Maria-Mamuska. ‘I believe we could all use a drink,’ he told her. Maria-Mamuska nodded, said, ‘Sure,’ and went to arrange it, dropping a curtsey to Sarah as she passed her by.

‘Andy, Dan,’ said Collis indicating that he would rather be left alone with Sarah. They left, both of them sheepish. Dan peeled off his false moustache as he walked out, grimacing with the pain of it.

‘Perhaps you’d care to sit down,’ Collis told Sarah.

‘Very well,’ Sarah replied, walking across the room and arranging herself on the purple daybed. ‘And perhaps you’d care to explain.’

‘You don’t mind if I smoke?’

‘You look as if you need something to settle your nerves.’

‘Yes,’ said Collis. ‘I believe I do.’

‘This is serious, isn’t it?’ asked Sarah. ‘It’s not just some kind of a practical joke against my father?’

‘Well, it is and it isn’t,’ Collis admitted. ‘It’s a joke in the sense that we never had any intention of harming you. And it’s a joke in the sense that it’s new-fangled, and nobody’s ever tried it before. But, well, it didn’t quite work out the way we planned it.’