The Night Train- Pioneer Read online

  The Night Train: Pioneer

  Published by Don Fern at Smashwords

  Copyright 2014 Don Fern

  Table of Contents

  The Afternoon

  The Evening

  The Night

  The Artifact

  Trapped in the Barn

  Also by Don Fern

  The Afternoon

  It was an October afternoon, the passenger train, Pioneer, was boarding passengers in Memphis to begin its overnight route to Washington DC. Matt and Kim were near the end of the line to board the second coach car behind the engine. They watched the front of the line, as Wanda boarded the coach car. On the platform beside Matt and Kim, Amy and her luggage were being driven beside the train. She was being taken to her sleeping room which was towards the rear of the train.

  Matt and Kim, were among the last to board the car, so the conductor asked Wanda, who was sitting in a window seat, if she didn't mind having a person join her. She said it was ok and Kim sat in the aisle seat. Matt sat in the aisle seat across from Kim's.

  Outside the window which Wanda was sitting next to, Donald walked past. Donald went to the fourth coach car and found a seat.

  Then a bit later Delores walked by. Delores went to the third coach car and found a seat.

  The Pioneer's lights went off.

  Matt and Kim, both thought something was wrong.

  And Kim asked Wanda, "Why did the lights go out?"

  Wanda answered, "They always do that. That's when they disconnect the electricity from the station and connect the electricity supplied from the train."

  The lights switched back on.

  Kim asked, "Have you took this train before."

  Wanda replied, "A couple of time since I moved to Mapleville from Kentucky.

  Wanda continued, "I've rode this train a couple of times since I moved to Mapleville."

  Kim motioned to Matt, "Neither of us have been on this train before. Is Mapleville in Tennessee?"

  Wanda replied, "It's in West Virginia. It's a small town. But they have a growing economy. I started my own psychic business there. In Kentucky there weren't enough customers to keep it going. There are several psychic businesses in Mapleville. It a place where the psychic energy is strong."

  Kin didn't know what to reply after Wanda mention psychic energy. So she said nothing.

  Over the speaker the conductor announced, "Welcome to the Pioneer. We left Memphis on schedule at 3:35 and are scheduled to arrive in Washington at 9: 32 am tomorrow morning. We will be stopping at Nashville, Louisville, Cincinnati, Charleston, and all intermediary points. There is a quiet time on this train it is from 10 pm to 6 am. At that time the lights will be turned down in this car. If you like to be up during that time you should go to the café or lounge car

  The lounge car is the third car behind this one. The café car is the car behind that one. And the dining car is behind the café car. The restrooms are located below each coach car. There will be two smoking stops the first is at Nashville at 6:15 pm and the second is at Cincinnati at 12:15 am. These stops are for anyone who would like to leave the train while other passenger are boarding.

  This train has been sold out. This means all seats will be taken part of the time. Passengers will be boarding and deboarding during the trip. So your carryon baggage should be above your head and any large luggage should be in the luggage area below, where you entered the train. There is an area at the end of each car, where luggage can be placed. If you want to put your luggage there a conductor will assist you in doing that.

  This route follows the route of the original Pioneer train, which was discontinued in the late 50s. So welcome to the resurrected Pioneer."

  In the fourth coach car, Delores walked down the aisle, passed Donald, and went down the steps to the restroom area. Donald got out of his seat and went down the stairs to the restroom area.

  In the corridor, outside the restrooms, Delores said to Donald, "Can't wait to get off this train in Washington tomorrow. It'll be all over then. Then I'll have what I deserve. That Connie is getting nothing."

  Delores pulled a group of stapled papers, held them up, and said, "With these and her signature. I will have it all."

  Donald, "How is she supposed to sign them? She not going to sign them. She's signing nothing you have."

  Delores, "She will sign for Connie."

  Donald, "You keep saying that, but it's not going to happen. Connie is in Mapleville. Not on this train. This is just stupid."

  Delores glared at Donald. Donald's expression of comprehension, changed, to the expression of puzzlement.

  Delores, "Nothing I say is stupid. You remember that."

  Delores stopped talking, stared into the abyss, and said, "We've been following her around Memphis for three days. That's how we know what to do, idiot."

  Donald, "We been following Amy around Memphis for three days."

  Delores, "I know that. You just be around in case I need you. You can have your money and leave after that, as far as I care. Lets get back to are seats and stay away from each other until tonight."

  In the second coach car Kim watched, the seat in front of Matt, where one person was setting in the window seat. He was somewhat rugged, skinny looking, and was wearing a bandana on his head. His appearance reminds Kim of the pirate characters she has seen in movies. And Kim knew the cargo from the islands of the Caribbean crossed the gulf and continued up the Mississippi to Memphis and the North. Kim found it both interesting and difficult to understand the cultures of the world. So she watched him.

  The pirate had two opened cans sitting on the fold down tray in front of him. The lids, still attached, were being used to place each can in just the right position. Using the spoon in his hand, the pirate quickly put a spoonful from one can into his mouth and then two spoonfuls from the other can into his mouth then he relaxed while he properly chewed the food. After swallowing the food he repeated the process of quickly putting food into his mouth and the properly chewing of it until both of the cans were empty. He then folded the lids of both cans, placed them and the spoon into a brown sack. Then he slid the sack into a black bag on the floor at his feet. Then he laid back in his seat and watched the woods go by outside of the train window.

  The conductor came through the car, scanned their tickets and put a tag above their heads. The tags showed Wanda was going to Mapleville. And Matt and Kim were going to Washington.

  After this Wanda said to Kim, "The café car will be opening soon. I think I'll go back there. Would you two like to come along."

  Kim looked at Matt and answered for both of them, "Sure. We'll go along."

  They walked to the café car. Matt and Kim both got sodas. Wanda got a soda and a cheese stick. Wanda picked up a couple of napkins from the counter. The three went to a table and sat. Wanda sat on one side. Matt and Kim sat on the other. Wanda broke the end of the cheese stick off and placed the remainder of the cheese stick on one napkin and placed the other napkin on the table beside the cheese stick. Then she ate the portion of the cheese stick, opened her soda, and drank from the can. Matt and Kim each opened their soft drinks and took a sip. The napkin, beside the cheese stick, rose up from the table and stopped in the air about six inches above the table. Matt and Kim were stunned and speechless.

  Wanda said, "There is psychic energy on this train."

  The napkin drifted to the table top. Matt and Kim could not believe what they had just seen. Kim just didn't know what to say or do. She found herself looking at the remaining piece, of the cheese stick on the other napkin. She watched as the cheese stick changed into a curved round shaped piece of cheese. She looked at Matt. He was looking at the cheese.

  Now she had to speak. All she could s
ay was the question, "What?"

  Wanda answered, "The energy is more strong then you would expect."

  Kim managed to ask, "What energy?"

  Wanda, "The psychic energy that people have. I can sense it. Particular in Mapleville. That's why many Psychics are moving there. As they move there it becomes stronger. That's why I moved there."

  Kim, "What has that to do with cheese?"

  Wanda, "I really don't know. But it's known the energy can cause objects to change their shapes. Sometimes a psychic event is a warning of what's to come. I hope it's nothing to do with this train."

  After this Kim and Wanda chatted a while, but not about the psychic energies. They completed their drinks and, with Matt, began their return to the second coach car from the engine. As they walked through the third coach car, they noticed a mother and daughter who were setting together. They were watching a black and white movie. Something that would have been made in the 30s. However they were watching on a modern flat screen device. The screen had a split cord going to two pair of earphones. The mother and daughter had their own earphones while sharing the picture.

  After they arrived at their seats, the conductor announced the first stop will be Clumber Plains. The stop will be in three minutes. The passengers deboarding at Clumber Plains, should check above and below their seat to gather their possessions. The passengers going to Clumber Plains should go to the lower level of the third coach car from the engine. Kim watched as the pirate walked past her on his way to the third coach car. The black bag in his hand. The sack inside. The two cans and the spoon, inside the sack.

  After an hour of traveling the conductor announced that the next stop will be Nashville and everybody going to Nashville should check around seats.

  He also said, "There will be two doors open for leaving at Nashville. Nashville is the first smoke break. So whoever wants to leave the train for a while should go to the lower level of the fourth coach car from the front of the train. Stay around the door. The train will be leaving as soon as the new passengers have boarded."

  Matt and Kim went to the fourth car and stood outside the train while the passengers boarded. There was a younger man, probably in his early twenties, talking with a small group of passengers about how he was in the army and had a fierce looking eagle tattoo on his back. He said his army unit symbol was a fierce looking bird. And his tattooed bird was fiercer then that.

  A middle age man with another group about twenty feet away was listening. He walked over to the former army man and held out his hand and said, "I like to thank you for your service."

  The former army man did not shake the other man's hand. Instead he said, "Don't thank me, I spend two years working in an office in Texas."

  The middle age man return to his group. The Former army man continued talking, saying he has been out two years and has not been able to find a job in Texas. He said he grew up about 125 mile northeast of Cincinnati and he was going to Frankfort to look for a job. That he had passed through there once while he was in the army and thought he could find a job there.

  Then the conductor shouted that the train was leaving and everybody should get onboard.

  The train ride through north Tennessee was a pleasant journey. The train reached Kentucky. The clouds started moving. A rain storm was in the distance. Lighting blots were hitting the ground. The thunder was not heard as the distance storm approached. Suddenly the storm was on the train. The heavy rain, thunder, and lightning.

  The storm caused a strange feeling in Wanda. Wanda's reaction was strange and frightening. She spoke to Kim, "I don't like this. This is not good."

  Kim replied, "It's just a passing storm. Should go by soon. A quick moving storm. Should be over as quick as it arrived."

  Wanda, with a removed look, said, "No it's the cheese, in the café car, prediction."

  The train moved threw a thick woods and curved into a tunnel. It was black outside. Wanda and, Matt and Kim, sat waiting intensely to see the end of the tunnel. Finally there was a light and the train emerged into a rocky, treeless area with a creek of rushing water running beside the train. The rain continued. There was a bolt of lightning that hit the ground a quarter mile away. The clap of thunder reverberated in the train. Then it disappeared. Everyone looked around. Everything seemed ok. The rain continued. The thunder and lightning became more distant.

  A conductor walked by. Wanda asked, "Where are we?"

  The conductor replied, "We're going through Gopher pass."

  Wanda, "Does it always rain like this. Cause the creek to rise like this. It's out of its banks."

  The conductor, "There's a dam upstream about a half mile. When it rains a lot they let the water out. In a little bit will be going through another tunnel and will be out of the pass."

  A lingering flash of lightning hit the ground about one half mile up the creek."

  The clap of thunder was louder and different. The vibrations of the thunder persisted longer.

  Wanda glared at the creek as water rushed by, "It's the dam. That's what it was, it's the dam."

  Matt and Kim sat there stunned and speechless.

  Wanda watched the creek waters rush above the banks. The train curved to the right and entered the second tunnel. The train curved to the left. The tunnel continued. The train continued on the curve.

  Wanda looked into emptiness, and audible, under her breath, spoke, "Get off the train."

  Kim looked through their car door to the first car. The passageway, between the cars, was filling with passengers. The aisle in the first car was filled with passengers pushing toward the back of the car. A conductor ran down the aisle towards the front car.

  A young man, seated toward the front, said, "We’re getting off." and stood up.

  The conductor running forward shouted, "Nobody gets off this train. Stay in your seats."

  The conductor opened the door to the passageway and shouted, "Nobody allowed in this area. Get back to your seats. Everybody, get in your seats."

  The train curved right. The woods reappeared. The rain was falling. The thunder and lightning were in the distance."

  The passengers returned to their seats. There was silence on the train. A few miles down the track people began speaking with each other and began walking to other cars. No one spoke of the storm or the tunnel.

  The Evening

  As the clouds cleared the sun was just setting below the tree tops in the west. The trees were almost bear with only a few yellow and orange leaves still on the branches. Matt and Kim sat on one side of a café car table and Wanda sat on the other. The mood the storm had left on the train had been slowly disappearing.

  A middle age lady sat by the window across the aisle at another table. The café car was getting crowded. A second middle age lady with a young man, who looked the age of someone recently out of high school, came to the table. The lady asked the setting lady if they could sit down. She said it was ok. The lady sat with the other lady and the younger looking man sat across from her.

  The lady by the aisle glance across the aisle at Wanda and said, That was a scary storm we went through back there. And going through those tunnels made it worst."

  Wanda said, "Scary it was."

  The lady asked," Where are you from?"

  Wanda answered, "I'm from West Virginia now. I've lived in Kentucky for 7 years. before that. Where are you from?"

  The lady answered pointing at the much younger man, "We're from California. We've been on the other train from Los Angles to Memphis for two days. It seems like forever."

  Wanda, "That's a long way. Where are you going?"

  Lady, "We're going to Cincinnati."

  Wanda, "Well. It shouldn't be too much longer now."

  The lady turned to the lady sitting by the window and said, "We've seen people going to a lot of places for the last two days. Where are you going?"

  She replied, 'To Orlando. I need to change trains at Washington."

  The lady by the aisle asked wondering, "Wh
y are you going there?"

  The lady by the window replied, "To sit by the pool."

  At the next table Kim watched a very young looking male, maybe 15, and a younger looking female, maybe 14 or even 13. Kim though, from their clothes, that they were both Amish. There was a very young child, perhaps a few weeks old, in a carrier on the table. The attention they were giving to the child caused Kim to feel they were the parents of the child.

  Once they felt relaxed Wanda and, Matt and Kim, left the café car. Wanda and, Matt and Kim, entered the lounge car. Amy was sitting in the observation car and asked a conductor if lights in the hallway of the sleeping cars after 10 pm. The conductor answered that they would be, but there are lights at the edge of the floor so the hallway can be easily seen for walking.

  After the conductor left, Wanda, not knowing she would get an answer, "I have been wondering about the prices for the sleeping cars. Are they very expensive?"

  Wanda was a little surprised that Amy was happy to answer and said, "They usually are. They can cost two to three, maybe even four times the coach price for a ticket. It all depends on the time of the year you are traveling and where you are going."

  Wanda was surprised by the answer and said, "I never knew they were that much."

  Amy, "Most people don't. I've been riding trains for most of my life. The sleeping car prices have increased over time. My parents introduced me to riding on trains. A lot of people no longer use trains. but I just continue to ride them. Our parents introduce them to us. Everybody in the family would rather take a train then a plane. It just got started and continued."

  Wanda listening asked, "Mind if I sit down?"

  Amy, "That's fine go ahead."

  Wanda sat in the chair beside Amy. Matt and Kim sat in the two chairs beside Wanda.

  Amy continued talking, "Of course it has gotten more expensive as the years go by. But if I have the time I always use the train. I never been bother by the expense or time. I was born into money. It was passed down through the family. When your life is like mine you do things different than others. Today someone needs to take a plane just because of their working time limits and the time that have for the vacation is limited. When you don't work you can go at any time you want and stay any amount of time you want.'