As far as Claire could tell, they all seemed to be males. “Flattery?”
“That’s right. Watch where you’re stepping, it makes them cranky.”
Given the nature of some of the debris, Claire figured stepping on one of the Abatwa would be the least of her problems. She didn’t even want to consider how some of it had gotten down there. About to push off, she caught a memory and froze. “You said something about maintenance trains?”
“You’ve got lots of time.”
“But we don’t know how long this will take.”
“Girl, you worry too much.” Nalo’s pat was almost a push.
Claire took the hint and dropped down onto the greasy ties. As she turned toward the job, heavy footfalls heralded the approach of Transit Security. They seemed perfectly willing to believe that both Keepers were maintenance workers and that Austin’s carrier was a toolbox, making only a cursory check and leaving quickly. Claire suspected that the collection of filthy shopping bags discouraged suspicion. And conversation. And breathing.
Her suspicions were confirmed when one of the guards promised to tell the cleaning crew about the mess. “They can get them ready for the garbage train.”
“Garbage train?” Claire asked when they were gone. “Is that the maintenance train you mentioned?”
“One of them,” Nalo allowed, pulling a piece of chalk from her tool belt and squatting by the upper edge of the hole.
“One of them? How many of them are there?”
“Depends.”
“On what?”
“On how many of them there are.”
“Wonderful.”
The cleaning crew arrived before they finished mapping. None of them spoke English, two of the three couldn’t speak to each other. They all made their feelings quite clear about the bags.
“I don’t know about you,” Austin muttered when they left, “but I’ve just learned a few new words.” He wandered over to the edge of the platform and peered down at Claire. “How’s it going?”
“Fine.” The hole came over the edge of the platform, wrapped around the lip, and extended two feet down a blackened concrete block wall. It took a liberal application of nail polish remover to get even small sections of the concrete blocks clean enough to take a definition. And her fingers were getting cold.
“Dean could get that clean in no time.”
“And if Dean were here, that would be relevant.”
“Hey, I didn’t chase him away.”
“Shut up.”
“Almost done?”
“Almost.”
“Good.”
She glanced up at his tone. “Why good?”
“Well, I don’t want to rush you, but there’s something going on just down the line.”
“Going on?”
He cocked his head, ears pointing south. “Sounds like a train.”
“Great.”
“But it’s stopped now.”
“Fine. Let us know when it starts moving. Nalo?”
“I’m ready. If you’re not sure you can finish before the train gets here, hop out and we’ll redo after.”
Claire glanced down the tunnel. She couldn’t see a light, she couldn’t feel the wind of an approaching train, and she just wanted this whole thing to be over. “There’s one last definition; I can finish.” The concrete wasn’t exactly clean, but it would have to do. A little extra pressure on the chalk got the symbol more-or-less inscribed. “That’s it.” A movement in the air lifted her hair off the back of her neck as she straightened. “Let’s go.”
Because of the bend in the site, it was impossible for a single Keeper to see the entire perimeter. While Nalo pushed her edge in, Claire reached into the possibilities and lifted.
The movement in the air became wind.
Claire could feel the vibrations of the approaching train in the soles of her feet.
The hole fought to stay open.
As the bottom edge reached the tricky turn at the lip, she could see a small light growing rapidly larger in the corner of her eye.
Rapidly larger.
It became a train.
I might just as well throw myself under it. I can’t believe I screwed things up so badly with Dean. How can I miss him so much and keep on living? What’s the point of a life without someone to share it wi…
A sudden multiple puncture through the skin of her hand jerked her back to herself. Grabbing possibilities, she tightened her grip on the definitions, flung herself up onto the platform, and slammed the hole shut just as a three-car train roared through the station, lights blazing and Christmas music blaring.
Lying flat on her back, she lifted her injured hand up into her field of vision. “I’m bleeding.”
“You’re lucky that’s all you’re doing; that cat just saved your life. What happened?”
“I was…”
“Thinking about Dean.”
She turned her head until she could see Austin, opened her mouth to deny it, and sighed.
“Were you thinking about this boy?”
Another turn of her head and she could see Nalo frowning down at her, hands on hips. “It was more like a bad soap opera than actual thought,” she admitted reluctantly.
“Get up,” the older Keeper instructed. “We need to talk.”
Her tone left no room for argument. It barely left room for vowels.
As Nalo made sure the hole was truly sealed, Claire got slowly to her feet then bent down and picked up the cat. “Thank you.”
He rubbed the top of his head against her chin. “Same old, same old.”
“…and being without him is affecting the way you’re doing your job. Not to mention putting your life in danger. And what do you think would have happened if that train had killed a Keeper while you were under the influence of darker possibilities? I’ll tell you what, we’d have had a repeat of that whole Euro Disney thing!”
Claire shuddered.
“The powers that be clearly want the two of you together, or you wouldn’t be in such lousy shape without him.” Nalo handed her a glass of eggnog and set a saucer of it on the coffee table for Austin. “Drink this. You’ll feel better.”
“There’s rum in it.”
Austin lifted his head, a fleck of foam on his muzzle. “There’s no rum in mine.”
Both Keepers ignored him.
“Do you love the boy?”
A mouthful of eggnog came back out Claire’s nose. “He’s not a boy!”
“Pardon me, Miss Defensive, and use the napkin, not your sleeve. Do
