Worlds to play, cards to import

Western Survey Company's salaried chief surveyor at Survey Camp; seeks a viable rail route and is tempted to treat displaced livelihoods as a report-writing inconvenience.

Bell Orchard's trail boss and working stock-association member; reads cattle beautifully, sells his own legend too loudly, and wants a share in a herd.

Cook and paid exhibition boxer at the Drovers' Rest; equally proud of her bread and footwork, impatient with pity about her scarred left eyebrow.

Elected sheriff based at the County Rooms; practical county law enforcement, no power to award disputed land, and a pride that makes public embarrassment costly.

Scout and riding instructor based at Mercer Horse Yard; a Rusk Riders member, patient with frightened mounts and cutting with boastful clients, planning her own guiding season.

Rusk Ferry's ferryman and wet-plate photographer; a charming arranger of pictures whose best compositions sometimes masquerade as unposed evidence.

Rusk Ford seamstress and dance organiser near the Drovers' Rest; wants a shop of her own and can keep a fitting discreet more reliably than a delicious rumour.

Bell Orchard's ranch operator and Saltgrass Stock Association chair; a generous employer whose pride can make a grazing negotiation personal.

Rusk Ferry's equal co-owner and former cavalry scout; works the landing with his younger sister Tess while trying to joke past the cost of his wartime absence.

Rusk Ferry's mechanic and equal co-owner with her older brother Silas; wants her work credited in both the ledger and the way customers address her.

Resident pianist and card dealer at the Drovers' Rest; an exceptional musical ear, an ugly streak when he loses, and ambitions for an honest touring act.

County clerk at the County Rooms, preserving rival wartime records for civil hearings; meticulous with everyone else's dates and hiding a backdated receipt for Ruth Bell.

Returned dead pastry cook, adult age at death 24; a bright, exacting presence at the Boiler Court workroom who wants her recipes credited, not reverently mourned.

Returned dead architectural draughtsman, adult age at death 29; draws in the Upper Rooms and makes public usefulness personal, especially when a plan needs revising.

Living porter at Hotel Reception, 25; handsome, sociable and discreet, with ambitions he disguises as another useful favour.

Returned dead stage actress, adult age at death 25; a glamorous presence in the Winter Ballroom who wants audiences to judge the performance rather than the obituary.

Insurance investigator based around Lowbridge Shops, seeking a credible settlement and too ready to mistake tact for concealment.

Pretty Lowbridge bookseller with wicked comic timing, ambitions for a lending room and a weakness for knowing one thing more than her customer.

Living proprietor at Hotel Reception, 26; polished hospitality and costly overpromising, determined to earn a reputation of her own.

Living independent debt valuer at Hotel Reception, 29; a charming analyst who praises bold decisions most readily when someone else bears the risk.

Returned dead mountain guide, adult age at death 28; broad-shouldered charm around the Winter Ballroom, seeking useful days without treating a good smile as an apology.

Handsome ordinary coach driver at the Coach House, dreaming of his own route and disguising concern as teasing; never the dusk coach's driver.

Living pianist and aspiring composer in the Winter Ballroom, 27; beautiful, precise and dry, sheltering professional and personal fears behind impeccable taste.

Living laundry engineer at the Boiler Court, 26; compact, handsome and inventive, wanting to be valued for more than never letting anybody down.