On the largest island of Inner Inner Darkipelago, a group of people found themselves living in close proximity and sharing things and sometimes arguing with one another. At first they didn’t have a name for this sort of arrangement, but then they understood that they must be living in a small city. No one in Darkipelago had ever lived in a city, and once they figured out what was happening – that they were, in fact, living in a city – a man named Brian unilaterally declared himself the mayor. He picked up a broom and said, “Whoever holds this broom is the mayor.”

The night bus stood at the end of the street, as unassuming as an alley cat and just as scruffy. It wasn’t as sleek as the other buses waiting at the curb, but that suited Eglantine just fine.