Christina tucked the golden magic lamp into the satchel she usually took to school, locked the door with Dorothy, and went out onto the street. Soon, they boarded a passing public carriage whose final stop was in Tingen City's North Borough.
The morning rush was already over, and there were few passengers aboard. The two girls settled into a corner by the window and soon grew drowsy in the swaying carriage.
The North Borough was not particularly far from the West Borough, but the carriage had to serve various stops along a roundabout route, making the trip about half an hour long. To relieve the boredom, Christina kept one hand over the magic lamp in her satchel and poked her sister, who was pretending to sleep with her eyes closed, with the other. Once Dorothy looked at her, she asked:
"Why did you come with me? I thought you'd stay home and tell Mom and Dad on me tonight."
Dorothy glanced at her and answered irritably:
"I was worried you'd get yourself lost and couldn't find your way home, or forget to bring money and couldn't buy a carriage ticket."
At that, Tina looked away in embarrassment. She really had been ready to sneak out with the Genie without thinking much of anything through. Even the tickets just now had been bought by her sister.
Her gaze swept over the handful of passengers, and she asked, seemingly changing the subject:
"There are so few passengers on weekends. Why do they still run on their usual schedule?"
For as long as she could remember, public carriage fares in Tingen City had been one penny per kilometer, capped at four pence. They never seemed to change, even though training and maintaining horses was hardly cheap.
"Because it's part of the public services.