toward the subway entrance. “It’s time you had a proper view.”
The stairway, perhaps twenty feet wide, seemed ready to burst from the presence of so many people. Ian had to stoop with Mattie atop him, which caused his back to ache. But he wasn’t about to put her down. “How’s my lookout?” he asked, wondering how far down they would descend.
“It’s a lot better up here.”
“I reckon you’ll be ready to trade places in a tick. Just let me know when.”
“No way, Captain.”
They finally reached the bottom of the stairs, emerging into an underground world. Mattie gasped, having never seen anything like it. She might as well have been Alice falling into the rabbit’s hole, for she found herself in the middle of a subterranean city. Though the ceiling was only about twelve feet high, this city stretched as far as she could see. There were restaurants, banks, shops, movie theaters, and what she thought was a supermarket. And the people—she spied tens of thousands of them: schoolchildren in blue-and-white uniforms, college students wearing fashionable attire, and legions of businesspeople.
“I feel like an ant in an anthill,” Mattie said, as Ian walked steadily.
“You reckon? I don’t think even ants are jammed together like this. See those numbers ahead?”
She looked into the distance and noticed a row of numbers that ran from one to forty. “What are they for?”
“Well, each of those stairways leads to a train platform. And each of those trains is going somewhere different in the city. I want you to pick a number. We’ll get on that train and see where it takes us.”
“Any number? Are you sure?”
“Ever met an Aussie who wasn’t sure about everything?”
Mattie smiled. “Mommy would have liked this.”
“She did like it. She invented the game.”
“Twenty-three. Let’s take number twenty-three.”
“Twenty-three it is,” Ian replied, walking toward the number. He descended a flight of stairs, emerging into another level, this one full of platforms and trains. Platform number twenty-three was crowded with people. “Our train must be almost here.”
“Why?”
“Look at all these blokes. They’re waiting for it, all in their own little worlds.” Ian moved to a large electric sign that displayed a departure schedule. The information was written in both Japanese and English. After glancing at their platform number on the schedule, he found the next departure time and then looked at a digital clock. “I’ll wager you an ice-cream cone to a kiss that our train will be here in about . . . two minutes and five seconds.”
“No way.”
“Yes, way,” Ian replied, moving to the middle of the platform.
Mattie looked into the distant tunnel, unsure what to expect. “Aren’t trains late here? They’re always late at home.”
“If I remember right, which is less likely than catching a two-headed cockatoo, this station serves three or four million people a day. It’s the busiest in the world. And you don’t get three million people somewhere by being late.”
She pointed to a light that appeared in the tunnel. “Is that it?”
“I reckon.”
A blast of warm wind preceded the train, which pulled quietly alongside the platform. Dozens of doors simultaneously opened in front of orderly rows of people.
“You’d best do some hopping here, Roo,” Ian said, setting her on the ground. They followed the people ahead of them and crammed into a gleaming train car. An automated voice came on, making an announcement as the doors closed. The train moved forward, rushing past the platform, darting into a tunnel. “You picked an express train,” Ian said. “A real cheetah. Grab hold of that pole beside you.”
Mattie watched as the train flew past another group of platforms and into a new tunnel. The scenery alternated between tunnels and other underground stations for a few minutes before the train abruptly emerged into the light, rising on top of an elevated rail system. Dozens of skyscrapers passed by the windows as if they were fence posts along a highway, blurring as they came and went. Mattie saw thousands of people walking on pedestrian bridges that seemed to float above the streets. Electronic billboards the size of mansions blinked and changed colors. Another train flew past in the opposite direction, seemingly inches from their windows. Just as Mattie was growing used to the view of the city, the train descended underground, passing a few more stations before finally coming to a smooth stop.
“Should we hop off here and explore?” Ian asked.
“Let’s hop.”
The automated voice announced the station name as the doors all opened. The majority of the passengers got off,