Finally Angeline tried, “You know, when the air dock’s finished up at Fort Decatur, things’ll be easier for your notes. First a dock, then some taps. Then you won’t have to rely on people like me, or Captain Cly, or anyone else to send your messages. You could just fire off a telegram and ask if everything arrived all right.”

“I do look forward to that day, Miss Angeline. And I do wish for word from … someone, anyone who was with me on the Dreadnought.”

Angeline’s pocket began to chime. She pulled out a watch and gave it a glare. “That’s my reminder, I need to head out if I want to catch the train to Tacoma.”

“Then you’d best be going.”

The princess winked, then climbed to her feet. “I see how it is.”

Mercy gave her a friendly swat on the leg and said, “You know good and well you’re welcome here, you ol’ madwoman. I swear.”

“I’m just joshing you,” she grinned. She made for the door, then stopped herself. “You know,” she said, “you should keep trying for that Texas Ranger. I bet he’s the one you’re most likely to reach.”

“You think?”

“Sure. He’s not Union. He’s not Confederate. If there’s some awful conspiracy, you don’t think it covers both territories and Texas, too, do you? Texians don’t answer to either one, except when they feel like answering to the South.”

“It’s a good thought, Angeline. Thank you, I’ll try him again—through the rangers office in Austin.”

“Good girl. Don’t you give up on it yet. Too many people know about that train for everybody to vanish at once. You’ll find him,” she vowed, and she tipped her hat before leaving the nurse alone.

When Angeline was gone, Mercy sat back down at her desk.

She picked up a piece of paper and pencil, but her hand hovered over the blank sheet. She changed her mind and put down the pencil, pushing away the paper and worrying about the Texas Ranger who’d been her companion on the westward journey.

Where had he gone? Where had everybody gone?

She murmured, “And if I hadn’t disappeared into Seattle, would I have disappeared anyhow … just like everyone else?”

Tor Books by Cherie Priest

Tor Books by Cherie Priest

THE EDEN MOORE BOOKS

Four and Twenty Blackbirds

Wings to the Kingdom

Not Flesh Nor Feathers

Fathom

Boneshaker

Dreadnought

Ganymede

The Inexplicables

About the Author

About the Author

CHERIE PRIEST is the author of several books, including Boneshaker, the first Clockwork Century book, which won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel and was nominated for the Hugo and Nebula awards. She lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and keeps a popular blog at www.cheriepriest.com.

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