Barb Hendee - Hunting Memories

She felt him inside her mind.

Sorry .

Her eyes flew to him in surprise. Was he apologizing?

It's all right , she flashed back.

Then he pretended that nothing had happened.

"Wade, you should eat food," he said, "and we should play at cards again. You still owe me money from last night."

"That's because you cheated and tried reading my mind on the last hand. I don't owe you anything. And I think you still owe Rose forty dollars."

Had they been playing cards? That seemed a good way to pass the time. Robert stepped aside to let Philip pass into the cabin.

A few moments later, Rose, Wade, and Philip were engaged in a game of poker.

"Full house, aces high," Rose said at the end of the third hand. "You're right, Wade, this was an easy game to learn."

Philip dropped his cards in a huff, and Robert actually laughed. Eleisha had never heard him laugh before.

"I didn't know you liked games," Eleisha told Philip. "Do you know how to play chess?"

"Chess? Ugh," he answered. "Angelo tried to teach me. Boring."

"Do you own a set?" Robert asked her.

"Not anymore, but we could get one in Portland."

"I'll play it with you."

As Eleisha settled back on the couch, she almost forgot why they had run for this train in the first place. They almost seemed like friends on a holiday. Robert's promise to play chess with her brought up more unbidden fantasies of their future at the church, living together, drinking tea in the kitchen, playing board games in the sitting room… just like everyone else.

"Philip! Stay out of my head," Wade snapped, holding his cards closer. "You know I can feel it when you try that."

And the hour rolled by.

Wade had a decent dinner-chicken breast, rice, and salad-which an attendant brought to their cabin, and after eating, he acted as dealer for a round of blackjack. Before Eleisha knew it, they were pulling into Eugene.

"Everybody, get ready to move," Robert ordered, and for once, nobody seemed to notice or mind.

A knock sounded on the outer door.

"Porter," a man called through.

Robert slid open the door. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but we've had an overbooking on the Express to Portland. All the cabins are filled except for one small half cabin, and I'm not certain it would accommodate your needs."

Rose looked up in alarm, and Eleisha moved quickly to the door. "I paid for two adjoining cabins on that train," she said around Robert's shoulder. "We have a traveler in our party with… special needs. You'll have to bump somebody else."

The porter looked at Rose settled on the couch with a blanket across her lap. He ignored Eleisha and spoke to Robert. "We still have ten minutes to departure. Would you like to come and examine the half room? Perhaps it might be suitable?"

"It's only a three-hour trip," Wade said. "But I don't want make Rose move until we know where we're taking her. Just go and make sure we'll all fit." He looked at the porter. "If not, you'll have to make other arrangements for us."

Robert picked up his long nylon bag and slung it over his shoulder, following the porter out into the hall.

"I'm coming, too," Eleisha said. She had made certain Rose would have comfortable accommodations in a setting where everyone could stay with her. This was unacceptable.

She glanced over to Philip. "We'll be right back."

He nodded, and she knew he'd keep watch over Rose and Wade.

After sliding the door closed, she followed Robert and the porter only a few cars down, and then the porter led them down a set of metal stairs outside.

That was the first action she found out-of-place. She'd expected him to lead them into the station where they could board the Express from a well-lit, cavernous area and take a quick look at the cabin.

But they were outside in the night, gazing across multiple sets of tracks.

"That one," the porter said, pointing to the left up ahead.

He led them along their own train, and Eleisha suddenly didn't care for all the shadows and black spaces in between the cars. Was it common for Amtrak personnel to escort passengers right along the tracks like this? The situation felt wrong. She took her first close look at the porter. He was thirty years old, average in weight and height, wearing a wedding ring and no coat. The night air was cool… and he was sweating.

They were almost to the front of the train they'd come in on. The Express to Portland was one track over, just up ahead.

She reached out and tried to pick up any surface thoughts coming off the porter, and she almost tripped upon feeling the waves of fear inside him.

At least I can make the house payment. Laura won't even know I lost the money. I couldn't just pass up two grand.

Someone had paid him two thousand dollars? For what?

They were passing the front of their own train.

The night air by the first car seemed to move, and she saw the glint.

"Robert!" she called in warning.

He was directly ahead of her, and she shoved him. The blade slashed down, catching the back of her hand and the top of Robert's shoulder in the same swing. He cried out as he fell sideways. Eleisha fell to the ground on the momentum of her push.

She rolled, looking up in disbelief and shock to see Julian standing over her in a long black coat with a sword in his hand.

A wall of fear hit her with full force.

Wade looked down at his watch and shifted uncomfortably.

"They've been gone almost ten minutes" he said. "We're going to miss the Express." Where were they?

Philip lifted the sliding shutter over the window and peered out. "Something's wrong."

"Maybe she's still arguing with the porter," Rose said. "She looked so angry about that mix-up."

Philip looked back at Wade. "Maybe we should just go?"

"No," Wade said, opening his bag, strapping on his gun, and pulling on his jacket. "You stay with Rose. I'll just take a look. They must be on their way back. It's better if we can make the switch all together."

He slipped out into the hallway, closed the door, and made his way down the train. A few cars down, he came to an empty car with an open doorway.

Moving to the steps, he peered outside. Looking to the right, toward the end of the train, he was surprised to see how far the cars reached behind him, all the way into the large train station, which appeared to be a good four-minute walk away. He couldn't even see the end cars. Would Eleisha have gone that far? He didn't think so. Tracks stretched in both directions. He wasn't sure where to look.

His growing discomfort turned to anxiety.

Where had the porter taken Eleisha and Robert?

Jasper walked into a bathroom stall of the men's room inside the train station. He wasn't crazy about the trench coat, but he liked the new sword hidden beneath. It was a lot lighter than Julian's.

He only waited a few seconds, and then Mary appeared.

He was relieved to see her.

"Julian says only two of them came out," she said, tilting her magenta-tinted head, "but one is that Robert guy he's after, and the other one's Eleisha, so it's okay. He's waiting up ahead now-found a good hiding spot. The other three are still on the train from San Francisco, and it's about to pull out, so they're going to get stuck if they're too scared to get off by themselves. He says you should get on and look for a chance to kill one or two of them alone if you can break em up. He said that train is heading east toward someplace called Bend. They'll panic when they figure out Eleisha and Robert aren't coming back to get them… and that they're going the wrong way."

Jasper blinked a few times.

Julian wanted him to get on the train and start hunting on his own?

He thought about this. He knew he'd screwed up badly back at the station, and he was still pretty shaken by Julian's reaction, but the payoff was worth it. He just had to prove himself.