Darkest Before the Dawn CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS, OCTOBER 31, 1902

Poppet and Widget stand by the circus gates, just out of the way of the ticket booth, though the line for tickets has waned in the late hour. The star-filled tunnel has already been removed, replaced by a single striped curtain. The Wunschtraum clock strikes three times behind them. Widget munches on a bag of chocolate-covered popcorn.

“Wufju fay foo im?” he asks, with his mouth mostly full.

“I tried to explain as much as I could,” Poppet says. “I think I made an analogy about cake.”

“Well, that must have worked,” Widget says. “Who doesn’t like a good cake analogy?”

“I’m not sure I made any sense. I think he was most upset that I asked him not to come tonight if he wasn’t going to leave with us. I didn’t know what else to say, I just tried to make sure he understood it was important.” Poppet sighs, leaning against the iron fence. “And I kissed him,” she adds.

“I know,” Widget says.

Poppet glares at him, her face blushing almost as red as her hair.

“I didn’t mean to,” Widget says with a shrug. “You’re not hiding it well at all. You should practice more if you don’t want me to see things. Didn’t Celia teach you how to do that?”

“Why is your sight getting better and mine’s getting worse?” Poppet asks.

“Luck?”

Poppet rolls her eyes.

“Did you talk to Celia?” she asks.

“I did. I told her you said Bailey was supposed to come with us. All she said was that she wouldn’t do anything to prevent it.”

“Well, that’s something.”

“She’s distracted,” Widget says, shaking his bag of popcorn. “She won’t tell me anything, and she barely listened to me when I tried to explain what we were asking. I could have told her we wanted to bring a flying hippopotamus along to keep as a pet and she would have said that was fine. But Bailey’s not coming just for fun, is he?”

“I don’t know,” Poppet says.

“What do you know?”

Poppet looks up at the night sky. Dark clouds cover most of the stars but pockets of them slide into view, twinkling softly.

“Remember when we were on the Stargazer and I saw something bright but I couldn’t tell what it was?”

Widget nods.

“It was the courtyard. The entire courtyard, not just the bonfire. Bright and burning and hot. Then  …  I don’t know what happened but Bailey was there. That much I’m sure of.”

“And this is going to happen soon?” Widget asks.

“Very soon, I think.”

“Should we kidnap him?”

“Really, Widge.”

“No, really. We could do it. We can sneak into his house and hit him with something heavy and drag him back here as inconspicuously as possible. We can prop him up and people will think he’s a town drunk. He’ll be on the train before he’s conscious, and then he really won’t have a choice. Quick and painless. Well, painless for us. Save for the heavy lifting, that is.”

“I don’t think that’s really the best idea, Widge,” Poppet says.

“Oh, c’mon, it’ll be fun,” Widget says.

“I don’t think so. I think we already did whatever it was we were supposed to do, and now we have to wait.”

“Are you sure about that?” Widget asks.

“No,” Poppet says quietly.

After a while Widget goes off in search of something else to eat and Poppet waits by the gates alone, occasionally glancing over her shoulder to check the time on the clock behind her.