The carriage picked up speed. Sara’s stomach twisted, each bump causing her to wince. A rectangular slot in the wall separated the driver’s seat and the inside of the carriage. Sara shuffled over and asked through it, “You’re from the real world, then? As in, Earth?”

“America.” Jack’s voice was so thin Sara had to strain to hear. “1978.”

“No way," she said. "You’ve been here all this time?” They rode over a ditch and her head hit the roof.

“It is not easy to leave,” said Jack. “Many have died as they tried.”

Sapphire was looking out the windows, oblivious to the conversation or just didn’t care to join in. As the scenery passed by, oaks changed into sparse spruce, dotting the land like wayward thoughts. They left the rain behind but the cold stayed.

Sara cleared her throat. “I guess it’s goodbye in a bit,” she said to Sapphire. The girl snapped from the window.

“What?”

“Well… I just thought we were going to go our different ways after this,” Sara said.

Sapphire frowned. “You’re not coming to the city with me?”

“Why would I?”

“To inform the King his enemies have broken across the river?”

Sara reached over to the rucksack and started digging through it. “Call me pessimistic, but it seems unlikely that when you’re relaying that information, the topic of the King’s dead son wouldn’t come up.” She took out two of the smallest packs and set them aside, then tied up the rucksack and tossed it over to Sapphire’s side. “The murderer probably shouldn’t stick around when it does.” She handled the packets for a good while before finally settling on the one place she could still hold anything - Inside the waistband of her underwear. It was grossly uncomfortable but she didn’t have a choice. She had no shoes and her nightgown was little more than a bikini now.

At least she still had the rags from the house. She wore the biggest one like a cloak.

Sapphire reached across and took Sara’s hands. “You are a victim too," she said. "And how could I possibly leave someone who saved my life?”

Sara could easily pull herself free, but seeing those fingers wrapped so fiercely around her own, she felt bound.

The carriage jumped. Sara took this chance to let go. Outside the curtained window, green plains rolled like waves on the ocean. Tiny windmills scattered along the horizon, the land around them painted gold by ripe fields of wheat.

Jack cracked a whip. They picked up speed. Sara placed a pillow on the top of her head. She was so focused on staying in her seat she didn’t hear Sapphire speak.

“What was that?” she asked.

“I said it’s the honorable thing to do,” Sapphire said.

Sara leaned forward, but before she could tell Sapphire exactly what she thought about honor, a knock sounded against the side of the carriage, followed by Jack calling from the driver’s seat, “Esteemed patrons, we are stopping for a brief hour of rest before we continue south. If you wish not to go deeper into blue territory, now is the time to say so.”

Sara looked pointedly at Sapphire, who said nothing.

The town they stopped at was small, but compared to the abandoned mining village they spent the previous night, it was bustling with activity. People filled the narrow streets. Livestock and vendors rolled through the square, passing Jack and his carriage close enough Sara couldn’t hide from their earthy scents.

Jack dismounted, opened the door and told the girls he would be back by the hour, and they were welcomed to join him again then. Sara paid the darkly dressed driver with the two packets of jerky, then got off the carriage herself.

“I do wish you would join us later,” said Jack.

Sara gave him a look. “I swear if I hear the word honor come from your lips...”

Jack chuckled. “It’s only because I expect there will be no customers here.” He tipped his hat and slunk away into the crowd.

Sara watched him go, then realized she hadn’t asked him more about him being another traveler. She was too distracted by Sapphire.

Speaking of…

She felt a hand tug at her arm.

Sighing, Sara turned. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

“You cannot abandon an entire realm,” the girl insisted. “I cannot convince the Mad King without you.”

Sara rolled her eyes. “Give me one good reason why I should help the man whose son tried to kill me.” She held up a finger. “Other than honor.”

She watched as Sapphire struggled. It was cruel but not unfair. The only thing Sara wanted to do since coming to this fantasy world was to leave it. And now that she was free from the crazy prince, she could finally work on that plan.

Sara started walking. Sapphire held on, her feet skidding along the ground as Sara pulled her further and further from the carriage.

“It will make me happy to have you by my side,” she said finally.

“I doubt that,” said Sara. “We’re strangers who belong in different worlds, Sapphire, and yours is there.” She turned and pointed to the carriage, where Jack was standing next to a lumbering ghoul.

He waved, smiling.

“What the hell is that?” Sara asked.

“I think it’s a man,” said Sapphire.

“Men don’t have gray skin,” Sara pointed out.

“Another passenger shall join us to the city,” Jack explained to the girls as they returned.

Sara eyed the massive creature, imagining him squeezing into the same space as Sapphire, and shuddered. “I think we’ll take another cab,” she said.

“There’s no time,” said Sapphire. She was already getting onto the carriage. “We need to get to Cold Castle right away.”

Jack’s smile didn’t waver. He turned to Sara, moving in a way that reminded her of those mechanical carnival clowns whose mouths you threw plastic balls into. “Care to join us?” he asked.

Sara chewed her lip. Sensing her stares, the chunky ghoul-man gave a grunt that seemed to hint at laughter, before ducking his head and squeezing into the carriage without the use of his hands. He kept them in his pockets, which made the whole ordeal seem awkward. After a great deal of shuffling around, he managed finally to sit.

Sara couldn’t even see where Sapphire was. She told Jack, “You know, this kind of practice is frowned upon. You should only pick up another customer when your existing ticket is finished.”

“Perhaps in the real world it is,” said Jack, swinging into the driver’s seat. “But we’re not, kid.”

Sara’s stomach twisted itself into a pretzel. She studied the ghoulish man, trying to decide where on the scale of shadiness he should be placed, but his eyes were closed and his chin was tucked inside the collar of his oversized coat. It was obvious he was pretending to sleep, which was a red flag if Sara ever saw one.

Jack’s hand appeared above the door, swinging it closed.

“Wait.” Sara reached out to stop it. “I’m getting on.”

"Very well." Jack dipped his hat low but he was high up, so Sara could still see his smile. It was full-lipped and smooth as a criminal.

It wasn’t until much later, when the sun was beginning to dip below the hills, that Sara finally worked out what it was about the other passenger that made her so uncomfortable.

The man wasn’t just bulgy to the point of grotesqueness, he was also completely bald, missing even his eyelashes. He looked like a mannequin with skin that aged. And then there were his hands. Throughout the entire afternoon, Sara had not seen the man take them out. Twice she caught him fumbling at something inside his coat, but nothing ever came out of those dark pockets.

She tried her best to ignore the unpleasant being, instead turning to watch Sapphire, who had fallen asleep against the window.

The sky outside was orange, stretching to purple across the cloudy horizon.

The man’s growl shattered the calming image. “Smells clean.”

“What?” Sara frowned at him. "Did you fart?"

“Gas," the man said. "Smells." Without warning, the man’s hands slipped out into the open, revealing two metallic canisters clutched in his fleshy mitts.

Sara eyes widened. She opened her mouth to scream but the explosion threw her back against the bench. The last thing that crossed her mind before darkness took hold was, This is my fault. If I lose Sapphire here, it will be on me.