to the long track underneath us, our reflections stood around an upright post with a golden bell on top; below that bell hung a delicate silver chain. 'Wondrous illusion.' said Harmony, puzzled. 'How do we reach it?'
'Is that what you've been looking for, Kat?' I asked him, while he tensed his right hand. 'What are you up too?'
'I cannot feel it.' he replied, and making a fist, Kat lowered himself to the mirror before punching through the ice. I winced at the sound of cracking glass and knuckles, but unconcerned, Kat immersed his arm whole into that murky water.
After thirty seconds of scouring, an agitated expression told us Kat was having difficultly finding what he was after. 'Your arm will freeze off!' gasped Eddinray. 'Freeze off then break off! Don't say I didn't war — '
Harmony shushed the knight for stating the obvious, and thirty seconds later, Kat's face beamed brightly.
“What have you got?” I asked, excited. My answer came the very moment Kat pulled his arm from the water. A tremendous school bell rang out underneath us, rippling the water, vibrating the mirror and all her statues in the distance.
'Back!' Kat moaned, as that golden bell and standing post suddenly appeared beside him. Thick train tracks with sleepers ran between our feet too. All but Kat were amazed, and proceeding without pause, the samurai rang the bell again. Its shattering alarm brought our group into a huddle. Kat then manoeuvred us away from the tracks, then pointed his bleeding fingers to a steam locomotive chug-chug-chugging toward us. The glare of its approaching light was uncomfortable, but nevertheless we cheered and waved this machine closer. No matter what cargo the train transported, we wanted inside it; anything to get out of the cold. The oncoming whistle was like teakettles exploding over the working gears and steam, and this transportation, as I could see, stretched its boxy tail back to infinity.
'Room for everybody!' I declared, dusting the ice from my hair. 'Amazing! Kat, you're amazing!'
'Thank goodness!' cried Harmony, her lips blue. 'Thank goodness!'
The industrious locomotive was a cold-hearted design with the look of labor about it. I could easily imagine it carrying coal from a bleak Welsh mineshaft, or taking tourists to some grey Scottish loch. It swept past us with a ferocious wind, grinding wheels and sparks of screeching steel. At the windows, I noticed her many passengers.
'Workers,' yelled Kat, over the mechanical storm; 'taken to toil over the greatest structures!'
'The 9th Fortress?' I asked.
Kat's nod confirmed this a second time, before the rolls of ghostly steam smothered him. The locomotive slowly came to a hissing standstill, and when its smog had cleared, a set of steel steps on-board became apparent.
***
Kat slid a wooden door to one side and moved into the passenger car. Everything here seemed straightforward — basic seats stretching down each side; some full, some empty. We ignored the ogling and demoralized eyes of the few scattered passengers in here. It was deliciously warm after all.
We sat in pairs at vacant seats to the right — Kat and I together, the angel and knight behind. The train did not wait long at this stop. It sounded another mighty whistle outside then started a stagger and shunt over the tracks. 'Nice to get warm!' said Harmony, rubbing the heat into her arms.
'Absolutely toasty!' replied Eddinray.
However before we could relax, the door we entered slid open, and filling the frame was a repulsively fat man with no eyeballs in his sockets. He was dressed in a formal green uniform, complete with matching hat and tie. Much like Deadeye in the saloon, his sudden and substantial appearance spread anxiety amongst the passengers sharing our car. The tension increased when he snatched the wrist of the passenger nearest to him — Kat's. The eyeless man's grip looked firm, and unusually, Kat did not struggle or attempt to remove it.
'What do you want?' I asked, scared.
'I am the conductor!' he wheezed back, blood now falling like tears from his exposed ocular cavities. 'Four new passengers on my train! Destination?!'
We hesitated at first, and he impatiently repeated.
'Destination?'
'9th Fortress.' returned Kat, calmly. 'All four…'
Instantly, the expression on the officious conductor's face mellowed, the blood stopped running from his tear ducts, and he removed his hold of Kat. 'Choose wisely who you sit with.' he advised us, using a handkerchief to smear the blood from his cheeks.
'What on Earth do you mean?' asked Harmony, but with deaf ears, the conductor continued his work through the rollicking locomotive.
'A queer one.' said Eddinray, looking back. 'Our wits will certainly need to be about us here!'
'You've been on this train before?' I asked Kat, watching the scenery race past outside.
'No.' he said. 'But I have heard of its power.'
He crossed his arms and said no more, and while I took a moment to contemplate the power of a train, an unwinding Harmony and Eddinray caught each other's eyes.
'It's fine to be alone.' said Harmony, tapping his palm. 'Don't you think?'
'Indeed,' replied the knight, peering at his fellow passengers; 'but we are hardly alone my dear.'
'This is good enough.'
'Good enough for what?' he asked, clueless.
'To share.” she said, scratching her elbow. “You were right Godwin, about me firing that arrow on the Bounty. I should have listened, I should not have been so stubborn. I destroyed that ship, and almost lost you in the process.'
Eddinray set his blushing face to a blur of land beyond the glass. 'Do not let Kat hear you talk that way,' he said; 'I'm sure the samurai would claim credit for the destruction of that pirate ship. And as for the firing of that arrow? Well, if it weren't for the rain distracting you, the excruciating pain in your arm and the three hour wait for the invisible flesh eating dinosaur…you would have surely made that shot!'
Her smile was subtle, as was the weight of her bandanna wrapped forehead resting against his shoulder.
'It was incredible what you did for Kat on the ice.' she whispered.
Instantly uncomfortable, Eddinray was quick to divert the subject. 'Faces here…they seem terribly afraid of you, don't they?'
Harmony hadn't noticed Eddinray's observations, and turning her head back, she was bewildered to witness the few dotted passengers cowering from her sight, as if each were staring down a very personal nightmare. 'What's wrong with you people?' she asked, disturbed.
Like frightened animals, their response was a collective whimpering. 'Well?' she demanded. 'Speak up!'
Some lowered their heads, whilst others were reduced to tears now. 'I bring no harm to you!' Harmony pleaded. 'None at all!'
'Save your breath.' Kat muttered back. 'They think you're a black angel.'
'Me?' she gasped, her heart shaped face contorting. 'One of those…demons?'
'You are an angel.' Kat returned. 'Black — white — all the same to them.'
'Outrageous!' she hissed, huffing back to her seat with a frown. 'Ignorant lot!'
'I'd be delighted to trade costumes?' offered Eddinray, but unfortunately for him, Harmony was left cold by the remark.
***
The locomotive was recovering at the next stop, a concoction of chilly wind and hot steam blew in through opening doors as passengers stepped on and off the train. Harmony and Eddinray were asleep, strewn together like lazy dogs on a Sunday afternoon. Kat and I remained awake, and in silence, in our seats.
I stood to stretch and was suddenly overcome with weakness, as if all my energy was draining out a hole in my boot. Recent events had caught up for sure, and although I felt the need to sit down again, the thought of more silence with Kat sent me wandering down the car.
I was taken aback by how comfortable Harmony and Eddinray appeared together, and how they could sleep
