Wool of the Prince-- Chapter 29

Chapter 29

~900 words

They pushed through the crush of the crowd, heading toward their train. They stepped with a hundred other people out into the place where the trains stood ominous, waiting for passengers. It was chilly in the darkness, lit only by feeble lights with a greenish tinge. Pillars of stone held up the low roof from which all sounds echoed and bounced, making it near-impossible to hear anything. The trains themselves looked like malevolent maze walls, or empty husks.

The Los Angeles-bound train was boarding, so William led them a ways down the track before shepherding them into a doorway lit with a cheery warm light. As Fleta stepped of the yellow-painted edge of the walkway onto the train, she looked down at the space between. She looked down to where all the gravel lay, to where she could catch a glimpse of the tracks. She made a noise that sounded like “eep” and hopped onto the bus, clutching at the metal pole set right near the open doors. She hung there for a moment, as if fearing that if she let go, she would be whisked under the train, onto those tracks, into that dark, cold space. Cabot smirked at her then, and she released her grasp on the pole, following William to find seats.

They were able to find a cluster of four seats that could be arranged to face each other. Jay let Fleta take the window seat, and William let Cabot do the same, sensing his anticipation to see just how a great machine could travel so many miles in such a short time.

It was silent for an uncomfortable stretch of time. A baby cried somewhere, and a mother trying to quiet it. Fleta’s ears perked up at the sound, but she didn’t turn around to find it. Instead, she looked out at the now-even-more-greenly-tinted view outside the windows.

Jay cleared his throat. “So what did you think of the bathrooms, you two?” he asked Fleta and Cabot.

William gave Jay a funny look, but before he could say anything, Fleta answered. “Either that is the weirdest practice I have ever heard of, or the most useful. I’m still debating.”

“I think it’s downright barbaric,” muttered Cabot.

“You mean the new hand-dryers? I don’t like them either,” said William, trying to understand what was going on.

Fleta gave him a blank look. She leaned in towards Jay and whispered, “Should we tell him?”

“I don’t know how we can continue with him being here if we don’t,” responded Jay. “What do you think?”

“I think we ought to.” Fleta straightened in her seat for a moment, before nodding and continuing to stare out the window.

“Okay, William? We have something to tell you.”

Cabot raised his head from studying his fingernails “You’re going to tell him?” he asked. “Do you think that’s wise?”

“What harm can he do?” asked Jay.

“I would very much like to know what you’re all keeping secret from me,” interjected William.

“Well William, you may notice that these two have been acting a little strange… heck, we’ve all be acting like complete wackos. Why in the world did you trust us?”

William looked a little upset. “Does it matter? Maybe I was really desperate to make a quick buck.”

“No, I refuse to believe it. No one desperate for money helps someone who came off as ‘con-artist’ as strong as we did,” said Jay.

“You want the truth? Fine. I saw a little of what I used to be in you. I used to go around, looking for ways to get rich quick.”

“But why did you decide to stay with us?”

“I thought that maybe by hanging around with you all, my creativity and passion for this company could be rekindled.” William fiddled with the arm of his chair. “And you guys looked like such a motley crew, what with Cabot’s cape and such. I figured that if anyone would be doing any rekindling around here, it would be you.”

Jay pondered this for a moment, wondering how much he should say about what they had come for. He shrugged and said, “Well, what we’re here for is to find a movie prop. Fleta and Cabot are from… a place where they don’t have hardly any modern things. They’ve never heard of using the bathroom indoors before, for example.”

“I guess that makes sense,” William said. “But I don’t know of any country like that that speaks perfect English.”

“They’re quick studies,” Jay said.

“What do you need the movie prop for?” he asked.

“Ask Cabot. He’s the one who needs it.”

William turned to Cabot, but Cabot just shook his head and said “I need it for my personal matters.”

Before Jay could wonder about what that meant, the train jerked to life, and started traveling to the grand state of New Mexico: the first stop on their couple-day trip.

Fleta watched, fascinated, as the lights blurred past the windows. Her mouth hung open, like she couldn’t believe what she saw. Even Cabot watched with wide eyes.

“We’re going so fast!” Cabot exclaimed. “How is it that it’s so smooth? How have we not been blown out through the walls?”

Jay smiled as William tried to teach a little physics to Cabot. He was starting to feel sleepy again. What is it with trains and sleep, he thought.

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A/N: Usually I don't do an author's note but here I thought it needed. I was physically falling asleep when I wrote this (I woke up to have written "to economics"  after "what harm can he do...") so there are most likely parts in this that don't make any sense at all, especially speaker dialogue tags. I didn't have much time to edit (my family's going on a little vacation) so all those mistakes are probably still in there. Sorry for the hasty chapter~