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It was just past eight in the morning the very next day. Elinora, Tillie, Graham, Jamie, and Lina had been waiting their turn in the long line at Waterbridge Station for some time, their eyelids heavy after an early morning carriage ride. It was a busy station, and it served as a hub that connected several lines across the country. Emil had driven them at Abigail’s request shortly after having delivered Anna, Penelope, and Camille to the very same station, allowing enough time to pass so that crossing paths with their mothers at the station would be avoided.
Elinora looked up when she saw that the last remaining person between them and the ticket window had been helped.
“Finally,” Tillie said impatiently when they reached the front of the line.
“You get the tickets,” Elinora whispered sleepily.
She nodded and stepped up to the window, her hands tucked in her trouser pockets. “Excuse me sir,” she said to the ticket salesman, standing on her tiptoes to get a better view.
“Yes...” came the monotone reply from a visibly haggard man sitting behind the counter. His tenor reflected the tell-tale signs of someone worn out by a repetitious job dealing with the impatient public. It took him a moment to bother to look up. When he did, his brows furrowed as he set his eyes upon her.
Tillie wrinkled her nose back at him.
“Yes, how can I help you, child? Are you lost or something?” he asked flatly.
“Lost? Oh! Goodness no, I know exactly where I am.” She looked back and shrugged at the others, who were listening to the exchange.
She tried again. “I was wondering, what train would we need to take to get to the circus training ground of Coddlefin’s Amazing Feats and Extraordinary Traveling Menagerie?”
The man scrutinized her more closely. “Train 273. That’s train two-seven-three, to Brookeamble, with a transfer to train one-zero-zero to Cavenwell,” he recited from memory. He looked past her, his intrusive gaze falling onto the rest of the group. Like Tillie, Elinora and Lina were also wearing trousers, which, while not uncommon in Eldmoor, was something he was used to only seeing on adults. He shook his head absently.
Tillie raised her eyebrows back at him. “Five tickets to Cavenwell then,” she said firmly.
“Where are your parents?” he asked abruptly.
“Excuse me?”
“Do they know where you’re going?” he interrogated. “It’s a very long trip.”
“Why, yes they do,” she fibbed. She gritted her teeth.
“Hmmm. Five tickets you say. I’m not so sure about that. There are no seats left going to Cavenwell today, not for the next several days, even weeks perhaps, if at all.”
“What? Oh please. Are you absolutely sure? We must get there today.”
She sounded so genuinely distraught that she managed to elicit a spark of kindness in him, the first in a very long time. “All right, let me have a look. But don’t get your hopes up,” he said, leaving the window abruptly.
She could see him rummaging around at the back of the ticket booth. He pulled out a register and looked it over then walked back over to her. She watched him expectantly.
“Most folks purchased their tickets to the grounds long ago, and even more couldn’t get their hands on them at all. Everyone wants to go to Coddlefin’s, and today happens to be opening day. Right pain if you ask me, this place has been so busy with his rabid fans. But it just so happens there’s an empty train car in the back that’s available. It’s a storage car, not the most luxurious, but it’ll do—it’s got seats at least. There’s no porter or car attendant, so you’ll be on your own. The tickets to Cavenwell will get you into the training grounds, too—so don’t lose them.”
“Oh, that’s wonderful, thank you so much. It was very kind of you to take the time to find a way for us.” She turned back to the others nodding triumphantly.
“All right, all right. Eight each,” he said, softening slightly.
“Eight? Blimey, are we going to the royal ball or something?”
“Might as well be. And these are half price. But from what I understand there’s quite a show at the other end of the line, and all you can eat is included in the ticket, too. But between you and me, you’re really just paying dearly to be able to say you got the first glimpse of the season ahead of the rest of the crowd. What a racket.”
She reached into her pocket and counted out silver coins. She looked up at the ticketmaster. “I only have five...”
“Whatever, that’ll do, considering your accommodations.” He stamped five tickets and handed them to Tillie. “Don’t forget to transfer trains or you’ll end up on the other side of Eldmoor. Platform three, and you have less than four minutes before it arrives. Now step aside. And...have fun.” He waved her away and pointed them all to the side with his stubby, ink-stained finger.
“Thank you again,” she said to him, grinning. He grunted but she could see he was trying to suppress a smile. She walked back to the others.
Lina was laughing. “Charmer,” she teased.
“Indeed. You handled that rather well,” Graham snickered.
“Honestly, it took all I had not to leap over the counter and find the tickets myself!” She glanced up at the oversized clock. “We’d better hurry. If we miss this train, we won’t have another chance to get there for some time.” She pushed the tickets into Graham’s hand and clutched the little jade-eyed monkey figurine she was wearing around her neck, then dashed off to the platform in a run. Elinora, Lina, Graham, and Jamie followed on her heels.
Once the prior passengers disembarked, they were motioned to come aboard. Graham handed the tickets over to the inspector who madly clicked away with his ticket punch. “One, two, three, four, five!” he counted out loud. “You’ll switch trains about fifty minutes from here at Brookeamble for the One Hundred, northbound to Cavenwell, another hour and a half away. Thank you, enjoy your trip.” He pointed them toward their compartment at the back of the train.
They made their way up the steps and down the narrow corridor to their cabin. Graham slid open the door and held it for the rest of them. The car was sparse yet clean, and the seats, while not luxurious like the recliners in the other cars, were benches upholstered with emerald green cloth, and quite cozy. “This isn’t as bad as he made it out to be,” Tillie remarked.
Jamie stretched out and placed his feet on the edge of the seat across from him, then leaned back. “Not at all, this is splendid.”
The others each took a spot and settled into the seats around him as the train pulled out of the station and made its way down the tracks amongst the wildflowers and rushes that filled the countryside landscape. The sound of the train quickly lulled them all into a moment of quiet. Tillie chose a window seat and pressed her head against the window while she looked out, as if that would somehow make the train go faster.
Two hours and one train later, Graham nudged his brother awake as they neared Cavenwell station.
Jamie stirred. It was warm and even more comfortable in the number One Hundred train and he had fallen asleep soon after they had transferred. He stretched and yawned, trying to regain his bearings, momentarily forgetting where they were. “Are we there yet?” he asked when he remembered.
Graham shook his head.
“Where is everyone?”
“They went searching for sodas. You missed quite a show earlier, but you looked so relaxed I didn’t want to wake you.” He filled him in about the exchange between Tillie and Lina in which they discussed the various scenarios they imagined for rescuing Henry.
Graham of course had felt it was his duty to interject common sense. Elinora, meanwhile, had been horrified by all of their ideas, and although she knew most of what they said was purely for entertainment’s sake, she had swiftly rebuked them. She’d reminded them that they needed to find Henry as quickly as possible and sneak him and his family away without attracting attention. “I even had to make Tillie and Lina promise they wouldn’t set anything on fire as a diversion to get Henry out of there,” he joked.
“Sounds like a normal conversation, then,” Jamie chuckled.
“You missed the best part—Lina and Tillie’s brilliant suggestion involving Coddlefin and some tranquilizer darts.”
“They’d do it in a heartbeat if they had the means,” Jamie chuckled. “Did anyone come up with actual, sensible ideas, then?”
“Nothing beyond ‘let’s see what we find once we’re there,’” Graham replied.
Jamie sniffed a laugh then stretched again, peering out the window at the horizon. The undulating hills he was accustomed to seeing near home were slowly beginning to give way to flat grasslands densely dotted with sheep the further north they traveled. He looked up at the sky. “Is he still following?”
Graham got up and moved to the seat across from him to look out. “I would count on it. Look, there he is,” he said pointing in the air to the elegant wings soaring overhead.
“He’s got to be exhausted. How long has he been flying, then?”
“It was an hour from Waterbridge to Brookeamble, and almost another hour has gone by since. Don’t worry though, I think he’s mostly been riding on the top of the train, but now and again I’ve seen him stretch his wings like that. It’s incredible.”
The cabin door opened. “Who’s incredible, me?” Tillie asked upon entering. Lina and Elinora followed her.
“Him, silly,” Jamie replied, pointing out the window. “The Messenger.”
“Oh, let me have a look,” Elinora said, nudging Jamie over so she could see. Just the sight of him made her feel more at ease, like they weren’t quite so alone with him watching over.
Twenty minutes later the whistle blew, and the train pulled into the station just ahead of schedule. They gathered their belongings and climbed out of the car, one step closer to Henry.