Halting

 Colin straightened up from his crouched position. In the four years he's jumped trains, he was able to detect when something was wrong on the train. For instance today, the train was going too fast to be going through the tunnel. Way too fast. He climbed from his safe spot between the cars and clung to the coal box and made a treacherous journey to the front of the train. Although he may be kicked off the train, he needed to speak with the driver. Branches snagged his clothing and long unwashed hair, but he still moved on, holding on for dear life. Finally he reached the safe platform and was able to walk straight into the un-roofed room where the driver was sitting in his folding chair.
Colin tapped him on the shoulder and received no response. Again he tapped him, and still the conductor did not move. Puzzled he moved in front of the conductor and realized what had happened. The driver was not simply resting, he had unfortunately sat too close to the fire and inhaled too much of the toxic fumes that the coal produced. In addition the poor driver was well beyond his years to be a driver and had succumbed to death. Young drivers often could stand the soot and toxic fumes, but as it was he was too far gone. To avoid any unneeded deaths and a fatal accident that could result in his own, Colin pulled the emergency break and let the train, with its immense strength to stop itself.

The sudden stopping of the train threw Jordan off of her feet and caused a very long mascara line to be drawn across her face, beginning in her right eye and ending on her lower chin. She cursed the driver, and quickly drew out her Make-Up-B-Gone hidden in her bag. One odd stopping in the middle of nowhere would not mess up her afternoon. The train would probably start up again soon, it was probably only just a herd of cattle moving across the tracks, it happened all the time. Now where was the heels she needed for the shoot?

In her room Jackie lost out on the action, when the train stopped she was forced to be in the tunnel. It was too dark to keep her interest, and all her food was gone too. So much for a short trip. A naturally curious girl, the notion crept into her mind to hunt down the cause of the halting of the train, and stood up to take a look around. She could see the front of the train, barely, if she stuck her head out far enough, but the caboose was still far away, and around the corner, twinkling in the sunlight. Suddenly a large shadow moved over the twinkling train and was gone again. Jackie pulled in her head and rubbed her eyes, perhaps she just wasn't used to traveling.

A hidden passenger was puzzled by the sudden stopping of the train. She had enough water to hold her from the town she had just left until she reached Cape Gulf, and that was not counting emergencies. In her bones, though, she knew it was more than just a normal routine stop. She could feel the wrongness in the air, and the long shadow that passed by her window did not make matters better. As if a bolt of lightning had struck her, she remembered what that certain scent in the air was, and it was not pretty.
It was dragon, but how could she protect herself from a dragon while being safely locked in the water tank? If someone was able to take her out of the confinement she could be of use. But if the train was stopped, that would mean that the driver was in trouble, the only man who knew that she was back here. Frustrated she pounded against the glass, the brass lock banging against the case.

Next Time: Inner Strengh