Aching pain was running through Twilight's body, her sharp groans indicators of the strain and sensations hitting her muscles and joints. She felt cold and stiff, the air around her causing her to involuntarily shiver. Moving her limbs seemed to bring about even more pain, which she found out when she tried to move her arms and legs. Arms and legs? she thought. Well at least I know what I am. And I know that what I am now is what I wanted to be.
Despite the stabs of pain, she knew she had to get up, to get a look at her surroundings. She could already tell just from the noise that she had not landed at the base of the statue in front of Canterlot High. The noises reaching her ears sounded more like those coming from the Everfree Forest. Moving her arms up she pushed on the stones, stones? Her confusion and panic were beginning to rise when she did not feel any pavement. She pushed up and pulled her legs up, groaning all the way, until she was propped up on her knees. Taking a moment to catch her breath, she opened her squinted eyes slowly, only for them to suddenly snap open when she took in the image before her.
Before her was not the expected stone walls and door to Canterlot High she had only a few months ago visited, much less any of the new friends she had made, including her former enemy Sunset Shimmer. Rather, she was greeted with a truly breathtaking scene, though Twilight figured that given a different situation, the scene would've stolen her breath for different reasons.
With and black birch trees stretched on beyond her line of sight, towering above her with bright orange, red and yellow leaves dancing above her head. Lush green grass was poking out beneath the already fallen piles of leaves, indicating that wherever she was was now in the midst of autumn. The sky above her was sparsely dotted with puffy white clouds, leaving room mostly for the bright blue color illuminated by the glowing yellow sun. She could hear the mixed symphony of the calm breeze making its way through the trees, joined by the chorus of birds and other wildlife echoing throughout the land. Off to her right she could see the tops of what appeared to be mountains, though the grand peaks were unfamiliar to her, and they were certainly not the Canterlot range.
Looking behind her, she had her first clue as to where she had come from. A short rocky hill rose up behind her, and leading back to it were two lines of small rails, upon which a rusty mine cart sat empty. The tracks led to the hills into a pitch black mineshaft, which Twilight could not see more than five inches into. Thinking back to her experience in the portal, Twilight remembered almost flying down what had appeared to her to be a dark cave before she came to a hard stop at the end.
Twilight groaned to herself, thinking back to the reason she now found herself here. After returning through the portal, having befriended Sunset Shimmer and retrieving her crown, Twilight had poured many hours, even days, into researching the mirror and the concept of alternate worlds in general. The idea of mirror dimensions existing beyond her own had fascinated her and her thirst for the potential knowledge that could be gained from exploring these worlds fueled her resolve to seek out these possible worlds. She had taken the time to compile the necessary material and other research that she believed would be enough to convince her mentor, Princess Celestia, to give her permission to proceed with her proposed project. She knew that Celestia was apprehensive about the mirror, remembering what had happened with Sunset Shimmer. However, Twilight seemed to be more levelheaded about the subject and had also done way more research on the mirror than Sunset had. Therefore, Celestia had given her star pupil permission to go ahead with her project.
From that point on, it had taken a lot of magical tinkering with the mirror until Twilight was able to program it to open up at her own command, and to also randomize wherever the mirror lead to. After six months of preparation, Twilight was ready to commence her expedition into the unknown. Once again, her friends had wanted to join her, but she had convinced them all to stay behind. She was going into possibly dangerous worlds by her own choice, and she did not wish to put anypony else in harms way. Therefore, with tearful goodbyes, she had stepped into the portal for worlds unknown. She remembered vaguely Rainbow Dash shouting something just before she became lost in the swirling vortex, which she hadn't quite been able to make out. It had kind of sounded like...
"Spike!"
Twilight suddenly forgot the pain she was in when she came to the sudden realization that Spike had once again followed her through the portal. She remembered briefly seeing him in the cave she had flown through after stepping through the mirror, his voice briefly piercing the cacophony of sound pounding her ears. Her heart just then leaped into her throat though, for when she looked around again, she saw that Spike was nowhere to be found around her. Her levels of panic skyrocketed.
"Spike!!!" Her shouts echoed through the woods as she scrambled to her feet. Her breathing pace increased rapidly when her shouts were only answered with silence.
"SPIKE!!!" She almost screamed.
"Ahh."
Twilight snapped her head towards the tiny groan coming from the trees, immediately running towards them at nearly a sprint. Upon reaching the trees, she both calmed down and began to panic again when she saw what she found. At her feet laying on his back, was the body of a small boy, his pale skin covered in red scrapes and dirt, and his dark brown hair scruffy like it had been through a whirlwind. The boy's clothes consisted of a little brown vest with dark brown buttons, worn over a dirty yellow shirt, a pair of dark chocolate brown corduroy pants adorned his legs. His feet were covered by obviously old brown leather shoes with frayed laces, indicating a lot of wear and tear. Twilight paused in shock for only a brief moment before she leaned down and grabbed the boys shoulders, shaking him slightly.
"Spike?" She said.
The boys eyes slowly opened, first looking off to the sky before turning towards Twilight. The young green eyes initially spoke volumes of fear, before slowly fading into a gleam of recognition.
"T-Twilight?" He stammered.
Twilight sighed in relief and smiled gratefully, thanking Celestia that her beloved assistant was still with her.
"Are you ok Spike?" She asked.
Spike sat up on the ground with a grunt. "Yeah I'm ok. But what about you?" He pointed. "You look different from last time." He then took notice of his arm and hand in place of his remembered paws. "W-Why am I different this time?!"
Twilight for the first time took note of her own appearance. Like Spike, her skin appeared to be pale, though slightly more tinged, and if her hands were any indicator, she too was covered in scrapes. The clothing she wore was nothing like what she had worn at Canterlot High. She could tell she was wearing multiply layers, her outer dress she could see was a dusty light blue dress that buttoned up the her neck in front of her chest. Her feat were adorned with dark black boots with laces leading up to the top, covering what appeared to be stockings covering up to her knees almost. Before she could continue to investigate, she took notice again of Spike's panicked state, sensing that at this moment, he came first. She quickly reached forward and brought the stammering dragon turned boy to her chest in a reassuring hug, bringing an abrupt stop to the child's rantings.
"Shh. Shh. It's okay Spike." She said softly. "We'll figure this out. We'll figure it out together ok?"
Spike looked up at Twilight with tear filled eyes. "I-I'm sorry I followed you again without permission Twilight." He said.
Twilight looked down at her assistant and smiled. "Spike. All I care about right now is that you're ok. And right now we need to start looking for help. I don't think it would be safe to stay out here at night."
Spike looked around and was inclined to agree. "So...which way do you want to go?"
Twilight stood up and helped Spike to his feet. Looking around, judging in her mind which direction was the best, she decided that this was one of the few times that she would just go with her gut.
"Let's head this way." She pointed. "Just stay close to me ok? I don't want to lose you."
Spike nodded as he followed Twilight as they headed off into the birch forest, hoping that they somehow came out on the other side.
Twilight was once again beginning to worry, though she kept it controlled for Spike's sake. They had been walking through the woods and over boulders for the past 40 minutes, during which the pain they had initially forgotten was beginning to return. It had gotten so bad for Spike that Twilight was now carrying the young boy in her arms, pressing through the pain for him. It almost seemed that there would be no end to the woods. Twilight looked up into the sky as if asking whatever Gods in this world to give her something to go on.
"Twilight." Spike croaked. "Whats that over there?" He pointed shakily.
Twilight looked to where Spike was pointing and her eyes widened. Though the trees, she could see what appeared to be a stretch of track, thinking back to the railroad that ran through Ponyville. Filled with renewed adrenaline, Twilight quickened her pace and made her way towards the tracks. Upon reaching them, she saw that to her left the tracks curved and disappeared through the trees and did the same to her right. On the other side of the tracks was a rushing river which flowed off to her right. Stepping over the tracks, Twilight went up to a nearby tree and lowered Spike down against it.
"I'm going to get you some water ok?" She said. Spike nodded slowly and Twilight made her way to the river, ripping off a small portion of the hem of her dress to soak up some water in. She had just reached the water when the sharp shrill sound of...
A whistle!
Twilight looked to her left and her heart leapt when she saw a moving column of white smoke making its way towards them from behind the trees lining the river bank. The smoke was accompanied by the distinct and familiar chugging noise of a steam engine slowly getting louder and louder. Twilight quickly forgot what she was doing and ran back up to the tracks, looking down in the direction of the approaching train.
"Twilight?" Spike looked up. "What are you doing? Whats going on?"
"Theres a train coming Spike." Twilight quickly said, before waving her hands as the engine finally came into view slowly from around the bend.
"Hey! Stop! Please help! Please help! Stop! Stop!"
Twilight shouted at the top of her lungs as she waved her hands frantically as the train slowly approached. The engine larger than the colorful friendship express that ran through Ponyville. A large large cowcatcher adorned the front, which was painted black, the boiler a slate grey, and the tender was also black, though the colors were slightly faded from the ash and soot coating the engine. A large smokestack poured smoke into the sky, sitting behind a large headlight. The two large pistons on each side of the engine hissed steam as they pumped the drive rods of the 4 drive wheels. The cab was a dark maroon red, and on the front of the boiler was a maroon circular plate with the gold number 214. And lastly on the tender were the words in faded gold Denver and Rio Grande.
Twilight continued to shout as the train approached closer and closer. Suddenly, the engine's whistle blew long and loud as the sound of screeching breaks pierced the air. At that moment, the rush ended and Twilight collapsed hard down onto the track, hearing faintly over the screeching brakes and piercing whistle Spike shouting her name.
Henry Calloway rubbed his hands by the stove as he watched the Animas River roll by through the window of his caboose. He could hear through the slightly open window the steady chuffing of the engine up front. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his silver pocket watch to check the time. 2:45. Right on time, he thought with a smile. Putting the watch back into his coat pocket, he looked over to brakeman Charles Fuser sitting on the opposite end of the caboose, sipping a hot cup of coffee that had been brewing on the stove, the steam rising up around and through the face and dark mustache of the 45 year old brakeman. Henry chuckled to himself before looking back out the window to watch the flow of the river.
Henry Calloway had made this trip before. For almost three years out of six working for the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, he had made the trip from Durango Colorado to the mining town of Silverton, as the conductor of one of the few passenger services that the railroad provided up into the Rocky Mountains. The train was simple, both in name and in purpose. Called the Silverton, the train carried supplies, mail and passengers bound for the rugged town tucked away in the mountains. These goods were carried behind the engine in three red brown D&RGW boxcars, a forest green United States Post Office mail car, and a forest green coach behind that. At the end trailed the red caboose, where Henry and the brakeman frequently stayed during the 3 and a half hour trip up into the mountains.
The 27 year old conductor absolutely loved this route. He had been told when the railroad was first conceived it had been seen as a madman's folly. No one believed that they could build a railroad through those mountains, much less make it work. And yet here they were proving them wrong. Henry never got tired of the sights of the forests and mountains that the railroad snaked its way through all the way up to Silverton. With the rapid changes sweeping the United States, the railroad and the mountains were the closest that Henry got to experiencing the West as his father had described it. His father had been a railwayman for the Union Pacific before moving his family to Alamosa Colorado, where Henry had first become enraptured with the D&RGW. Now here he was 12 years later a conductor for the same railroad and working one of the most rugged parts of the line.
He was just about to once again look at his pocket watch, when the whistle suddenly began to blow loud and long. Standing up alongside Fuser, the two men were nearly knocked off their feet when the engineer applied the brakes, causing all the cars to bash into each other. For a few moments the train screeched as it rapidly decreased in speed. At last, the train lurched to a spot, shaking the cars once again and again nearly knocking the conductor and the brakeman off of their feet. Before Henry could get a word out, Fuser made his way to the back of the caboose to set the rear brakes on the train. Henry sighed before straightening his cap, grabbing his coat and made his way out of the caboose and beside the train. He walked rapidly along the train, placating passengers leaning out of the windows asking why they had stopped along the way. At last he reached the hissing engine and walked up to the entrance to the cab.
"What the hell is going on Mickey?!" He shouted up to the engineer. "Why have we stopped?"
The dirty bearded face of engineer Mickey Rourke appeared in the entrance to the cab, pausing to wipe his face with his rag before answering.
"There is someone on the track Henry." He said quickly. "Looked like they fainted."
"Mickey!"
Both Henry and Mickey looked up the track where the shout had come from. Not waiting for Mickey to climb down from the footplate, Henry made his way up to the front of the locomotive, where he found fireman Daniel Buck standing over what appeared to be a woman crumpled upon the tracks.
"Holy-" Henry rushed over to the body of the woman and with Daniel's help, lifted her up to see if she was still alive. When they did, Henry brushed away the woman's dark brown hair and saw that her soft face was covered in scrapes. Despite this shock, causing Henry to wonder what had befallen the poor woman, he was relieved to here a faint breathing when he put his ear near her mouth.
"She's alive!" He shouted.
"Hey! Over here!"
Henry and Daniel looked over to see Mickey walking towards them with a little boy cradled in his arms. The boy, like the woman, was dirty and covered in injuries. Henry was having a hard time trying to come up with any sort of scenario where this woman and he guessed her son would be out here in the woods.
"What do you want us to do Henry?" Daniel asked.
Henry paused briefly. "Alright. Daniel, help me get them back to the caboose. We'll take them into Silverton to see a doctor. I'll see to them. Mickey, get the engine ready to go again."
"Yes sir." Mickey replied, handing off the boy to Daniel before heading back into the cab of the engine. Henry picked up the woman and began making his way back to the caboose. As he passed the coaches, the passengers looked out with concern as they saw the woman and child in the arms of the train crew.
Stepping up onto the caboose and opening the door, Henry made his way over to the bunks at the end of compartment and lay down the woman in the first one on the left. Just them, Fuser walked in from the back, nearly stumbling at the sight of the woman and boy.
"Henry. What the hell is going on?"
"We're taking them in to Silverton." Henry replied while laying the woman down. "They were passed out by the tracks. They need a doctor. Get the breaks off. We're about to get going again."
"Ok. Whatever you say Henry." Fuser nodded before heading out again to release the breaks.
Looking back down at the woman on the bunk, Henry stared for a few moments. He couldn't deny that the woman was pretty, which again brought up the question as to what she and the boy were out here, but first he needed to get them to a doctor. Once he heard the sound of the breaks being released on the caboose, he stepped out with his lantern on the left side of the train, waving it for the engineer. The whistle returned his wave, and with a jolt, the Silverton rolled on up the line, now with two extra passengers.
Author's Note
Hey guys! I'm back! This is a new story I had in my head after being inspired by another story I read on this site. I will be working on my other stories too don't worry. Just wanted to get this up. Hope you all enjoy! Constructive criticism is appreciated!
Twilight knew she wasn't on the ground anymore. Not unless a rolling earthquake was occurring to shake the ground beneath her, but earthquakes were never so quiet. Also the shaking was more like a gentle swaying, much like a mother rocking her child to sleep. She drowsily opened her eyes, finding herself staring out what looked to be a window. Outside the window she could see the tops of trees moving quickly past, indicating that wherever she was now was moving. She looked to her left and saw an iron stove sitting on the floor across from her, the warmth from the fire inside soothing her. She slowly sat up, the aches still present in her limbs, as she began to form an idea of where she was now.
It was a train car of kind, though it wasn't a passenger coach. It certainly wasn't as colorful as the interiors of the Friendship Express that ran to Canterlot. The walls and roof were dark brown wood which would've suited Applejack just fine but would've made Rarity cringe at it's "blandness." Looking out the opposite side window, Twilight could see what she assumed was the river that she had seen earlier before the train had appeared, now rolling past as the train rumbled steadily along. At last she looked to the other end of the car where she saw two figures sitting and chatting with each other quietly, one dressed in a dark suit and cap sitting on a simple wooden chair and the other, who was much smaller than the first, on a cot similar to the one Twilight was resting on.
"Spike!" Twilight exclaimed.
The young boy looked away from the dark suited man and looked her way, a smile forming on his face as he realized that his caretaker was in fact alright. With a returned shout of "Twilight!", Spike leapt off of the cot and raced over to Twilight, who sat up to catch him in a tight hug, with not future plans of letting go entering their minds.
"Oh Twilight." Spike nearly cried. "I was so worried when you fainted. Don't do that to me again."
Twilight chuckled slightly. "Don't worry Spike. I don't plan on doing that again."
For a few moments they stayed silent, holding each other close, until the thuds of footsteps approached them, causing Twilight to look up remembering that they were in fact not alone in the train car. Standing just about two feet from the two, the dark suited man shifted on his feet while holing his hat in his hands, fiddling with the brim. Now that he was closer, Twilight was able to further take in his features. The man was average height, probably slightly taller than she was. Like her's and Spike's, his skin was pale, with hints of sun all about where is was exposed, especially his face. His hair was short and dark black, parted in the middle, clipped at the neck and slightly oiled, though not too much. His face was round and clean, his eyes a bright blue like the sky and his lips were curled into a nervous, yet calming smile. His clothes consisted of a white collared shirt, which had a dark blue cravat wrapped neatly around the neck. Over the shirt was a black vest, with 5 brass buttons down the front, one of which had a silver chain connected to it, the chain running into the left pocket. Over the vest was a dark black suit coat, with four brass buttons, though only the top one was connected, leaving the coat hanging open. The man's trousers were also a dark black and finely pressed, running down until they ended with a pair of nicely polished black boots covering the man's feet. The cap the man held in his hands, which bore the letters D&RGW, Twilight recognized as being very similar to the caps worn by the conductors on the Canterlot Railway, leading her to believe that the man standing before her now was the conductor of the train they were on. Her thoughts were interrupted by the man nervously clearing his throat.
"It's good to see that you're..uh..alright Miss." His voice was nervous, yet somewhat calming. Twilight almost would've chuckled at his nervousness had she not thought the timing inappropriate. "You gave is quite a scare back there. What were you and your boy doing out there on the tracks? In fact what were you doing out there in the woods to begin with?"
Twilight hesitated before answering. She was now certain that wherever she and Spike had ended up was not Canterlot High, who knew of Equestria and Equestrian magic. She had remembered how awkward it had initially been to tell her new friends there about her origins and her magical abilities. She was lucky in that they had believed her pretty quickly. Right now however she was faced with a completely new world and a total stranger and just wasn't quite ready to divulge the fact that she was a magical alicorn princess just yet.
"Um...I," she paused, looking down at Spike. "I don't know. I don't remember. Spike?" She looked to her young assistant, with a question that gave him the answer through her face.
Spike shook his head. "No." He looked up at the conductor. "I don't remember either."
The conductor sighed and scratched his head. "Well ma'am. Can you all remember where you are from?"
Twilight again shook her head, Spike doing the same. "Not from around here though."
Again the conductor sighed. "Well...uh, don't you all worry none. We'll get this all sorted out soon enough. Right now we need to get you and your son to the doctor in Silverton to make sure you all aren't seriously hurt or nothing."
Twilight almost corrected the man when he called Spike her son. But she stopped herself, thinking that that was probably the best story to go with for the meantime. Also having Spike called her son didn't really bother her as much as she thought it would.
"Thank you." She smiled.
"Your very welcome ma'am." The conductor smiled, walking back to the other end of the car and grabbing the wooden chair he was sitting on earlier, bringing up to the side of the bed and taking a seat in it.
"We couldn't just leave you all laying out there on the tracks. Not with fall coming to a close and winter rolling in." His eyes widened as if he had just realized something. "Oh! Where are my manners? My name is Henry. Henry Calloway. And may I..uh..ask you your name ma'am?"
Twilight hesitated but decided to at least give him part of her name. "Twilight."
Henry looked puzzled by the name. It certainly was one of the strangest names he had ever heard, though it certainly was a pretty name. "Alright." he said, looking to Spike. "And your name was 'Spike', right?"
Spike nodded in reply.
"No last names?" Henry asked further.
Both Twilight and Spike shook their heads, collectively choosing not to use the name "Sparkle."
"Oh ok then." Henry nodded. "Well, we'll be in Silverton in about a half an hour. When we get there we'll get you two to the doctor to get you both looked over. You ok with that?"
Twilight and Spike both nodded. "Thank you." Twilight smiled.
"Not a problem at all ma'am." Henry smiled placing his cap back on his head. "If you all have any questions, feel free to ask."
"Actually if you wouldn't mind." Twilight spoke up. "You keep saying 'Silverton'. Where is this 'Silverton'?"
"Silverton Colorado ma'am." Henry replied. He paused when the look of confusion stayed upon the young woman's face. "The state of Colorado? Of the United States of America?"
None of those names were recognizable to Twilight, increasing her fear. She had expected to land somewhere new and uncharted yes, but not as violently or as disorienting. That was why she had prepared for this....
Twilight froze. She had prepared, with journals, map paper and a magical communicator that was connected back with Princess Celestia in Equestria. And they had been nowhere near her when she had woken up. Her breathing increased as near full blown panic began to set in. How would she be able to figure out where she was? Where the portal was? How would she be able to communicate with Princess Celestia.
Her breathing caught in her throat when a pair of large hands grabbed her shoulders gently. Looking up, she saw Henry's face just about a foot away, a look of genuine concern expressed upon it.
"Hey now Miss. It'll be ok. We'll get this all sorted out. Just relax ok?" He said quietly.
Looking into his eyes, Twilight felt a sense of calm and reassurance that what he said was true. It would be ok. Applejack had helped her learn to read ponies and other creatures from the presence they gave and right now, even though they had just met, Twilight felt somewhat safe with the young conductor. Twilight smiled. Though she certainly had a lot to fix and figure out, at least for the moment she knew that she and Spike were safe at the very least.
"Thank you." she said. This gained a smile from Henry, who patted her shoulder before standing back up.
"Alright then." He said. "I've got to go and check on the rest of the train. I'll be back soon. If not I will see you in Silverton."
Silverton Depot
Station Master George Granger paced the platform in front of the yellow wooden depot that served as the station for the small mining community that was Silverton Colorado. As he reached the end of the platform, he pulled his watch out once again, seeing that it was still 3:45, only ten seconds later. Shaking his head in frustration, he shoved the watch back into his pocket, stroked his grey beard, turned once again on his heels and made his way to the other platform. He normally wasn't this apprehensive about an arriving train, but a message he had received about 30 minutes ago had made this instance much more urgent.
Granger had been sitting in his office going over the next week's schedule of trains, waiting patiently for the daily train from Durango to arrive. It was no different than any other day for him and was looking forward to having dinner at the end of the day with Henry Calloway the conductor. Then all of a sudden, Tommy Dawson, the station telegraph operator, had burst into his office waving a yellow piece of paper in his hand. Taking the paper from Dawson, Granger understood why the young operator had been so frantic in delivering it. The message was from the Silverton stopping at the Needleton water tower, letting the station know that they might be slightly behind schedule. Granger's eyes had widened at the reason why. The train had encountered two individuals, a boy and his mother, stranded along the line outside of Cascade Canyon. The mother and child had been found with injuries and the conductor was requesting that the local railway detective and the Sheriff of Silverton meet the train at the station with a doctor.
Taking a few moments to let the message sink in, Granger had then rushed outside, calling to one of the porters, Francis Corman, and told him to rush straight to town and get Sheriff Foley and Doctor Warren, tell them what was going on and bring them back to the station as quick as he could. He then sent Dawson off to Railway Detective Shawn O'Keefe's office on the other end of the yard and do the same.
Now, twenty minutes later, he paced the platform with all three men standing behind them waiting for the arrival of the train. Sheriff Lawrence Foley stood with his legs apart and his hands in his trouser pockets, making his long black coat hang open exposing his holster belt containing his Colt Single Action Army revolver and the silver sheriffs badge pinned to his vest glinted in the afternoon sun. His wide brimmed black hat shielded his eyes from the sun as he scratched his chin while his bushy black mustache shifted as he chewed on his wad of tobacco. Next to him, Shawn O'Keefe put his tan and crumpled wide brimmed hat back on his balding head. Puffs of smoke came from his mouth, swirling up around his thick grey beard, as he continued to pull on his brown pipe. Doctor Frederick Warren was the most still as he stood to O'Keefe's left, firmly holding onto his leather medical, thinking of whatever possible situations he was about to face with these two rescued people. He especially was concerned for the child, as the Rocky Mountains, even in the late fall, were a harsh environment for a child to wind up in. In comparison to the other two men by him on the platform, his attire set him definitively apart from them. His black felt bowler hat, grey tweed suit, vest and pants, his starch collar, red silk cravat, polished round spectacles, and even his finely trimmed small brown mustache proclaimed to all his profession and the status that it came with.
Granger was just about to reach back into his pocket to retrieve his watch once again, when he was interrupted by the distant echoing wail of a whistle. The four men turned to look down the track and were greeted by a distant white trail of smoke coming from the exit of the canyon. The whistle of the Silverton blasted again, as the column of smoke got closer and closer. Soon the form of the locomotive could be seen and the sound of the engine steadily grew louder and louder, until the Silverton was slowly pulling in alongside the platform. At last with a scrape of it's brakes, the train lurched to a stop, blast a quick toot of it's whistle to announce it's arrival to the town.
Normally this would be when Granger and the staff would greet the passengers as the disembarked the train, but today was not normal. Gesturing to the three men behind him, Granger led the way to the rear of the train as the usual passenger got off onto the platform and watched the men head to the caboose, remembering what they had stopped abruptly for back down the line. Reaching the caboose, Granger was greeted by the sight of Conductor Henry Calloway standing on by the door.
"Well Henry." Granger's gruff voice cut through the hiss of the steam coming from the engine. "Where are they?"
Henry quickly went back into the caboose, returning shortly with Brakeman Charles Fuser, who was with a young and dirty looking who didn't look a day over 12. Beside Henry, holding his hand, was a woman in a dirty blue dress and dark brown hair who held onto the conductor's arm as he guided her down the steps and onto the platform. There he helped her over to Doctor Warren who stood patiently waiting.
"Now Miss Twilight." Henry spoke to the woman. "This here is Doctor Warren, one of the best doctors in Colorado. He'll see that you and your boy are alright. Alright?"
The young woman nodded saying thank you to the young conductor. Doctor Warren smiled and walked up to the young lady, taking off his hat in respect.
"Ma'am." He said. "If you and your son would just follow me to the ambulance wagon, we will make our way to my office in town." The young woman smiled at the doctor, nodding as Henry guided her with Doctor Warren to the black ambulance wagon waiting out behind the station with two brown horses standing by. Soon, the young woman and her child had been helped into the back of the ambulance, the doors closed and Doctor Warren began driving the wagon back to town, with Sheriff Foley following behind on his black horse.
After watching the wagon disappear into town, Henry turned around to find Granger and Detective O'Keefe standing behind him. Granger was the first to step forward.
"Alright Henry. What in the hell is going on?" He pointed towards town where the wagon had disappeared. "Just who are those two? What were they doing on the tracks at Cascade Canyon?"
Henry rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "It's....complicated George."
Granger pinched his nose and gave an exasperated sigh. "Alright. You go on with O'Keefe and he'll ask you all the questions. Then get yourself down to Doctor Warren's office. Then report back to me as soon as you get that done."
Henry nodded before he began walking in the direction of the Railway Police office.
"And Henry!" Granger shouted, causing the conductor to pause and turn around.
"You were one minute late." Granger said with a sly smile. "Never let that happen again."
Author's Note
Hey everyone again. Here is the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy. Also for those of you who are wondering, all the names of towns and rail lines are real. here is a pic of the Silverton Depot
Again I hope you all enjoy.
