Midnight Train

by Angie Sage

  “Indeed I do,” Danny said—and, like a magician producing a small animal out of a disconcerting item of clothing, he opened his fists to show two round nuggets of dusty blackness. “Ta-daa! Coal!”

  Benn and Alex stared at the two lumps of coal in Danny’s hands. “So you found the coal tender,” Benn said.

  Danny looked deflated. “You knew it was there?”

  “Of course I did. Jay made me help him cover it up to stop water from dripping into it.”

  Danny went over to the driver’s cab, jumped up and reverentially placed the two pieces of coal into the firebox. He spun around, firelight glinting in his eyes. “First coal for ten years.” Then he jumped lightly down from the footplate and headed over to the bunkhouse, leaving Benn and Alex dumbstruck.

  “He’s gone crazy,” Benn said in a low voice. “Even if he could get the Puffer going, there’s no way it can get all the way to Rekadom. There’s no track. Okay, I know it goes over the bridge across the river, and Jay says it goes past the salt oaks, but everyone knows that Belamus tore up the track in the desert.”

  Alex leaned back against the warm metal of the footplate. “No, he didn’t,” she said.

  “Yes, he did,” insisted Benn. “They even came halfway down Lemon Valley tearing up the track. Gramma saw them. They threw the rails into the river. Hey, what’s so funny?”

  A feeling of hope had been creeping up on Alex, and she realized she was smiling. “But that was the track up to Seven Snake Forest. There was another railway track from here that went up the coast.”

  “Yeah, I know. I remember Gramma saying. The train used to stop at little places on the way. Halts, she called them,” Benn said. “But in school they said the king got rid of that one too.”

  “They told us that too,” Alex said. “But it’s not true. The track is still there. I walked along it all the way to Netters Cove. So if we can get the Puffer to Netters Cove, then we can get it to Rekadom.”

  Benn looked at Alex in surprise. “Are you serious?”

  Alex nodded. “I am. And you know, I think Danny is right. How else are we going to get to Rekadom so quickly? People die in those dungeons, Benn.”

  Benn nodded somberly. “Yeah. I’m sorry. Your mom.”

  “And both Danny’s parents too,” Alex reminded him. “We have to go and get Louie out of there. Fast.”

  Benn grinned. “Don’t forget Francina.”

  “Ha ha. If only.” From the secret pocket inside her sash, Alex took the Tau and held it in her palm. The T-shaped charm threw a brilliant blue, shimmering light over her face.

  Benn took a step backward. “It’s so bright.”

  “And powerful,” Alex said, closing her fingers over it so the light dimmed, although her hand still had a strange blue glow. “Benn, it’s not just Louie I’m going back for, it’s this too. I want to get the Tau back to Poppa.” She looked at Benn, her eyes shining with excitement. “With this we can get rid of the Hauntings forever. Just think, Benn, we can all be safe. Together.”

  Benn sighed. “I get all that. Really I do. But taking the Puffer without Jay feels so wrong.”

  “But the Puffer doesn’t actually belong to Jay, does it?” Alex said.

  “In a way it does. If it wasn’t for Jay, it would still be a heap of junk,” Benn said. “We can’t just steal it.”

  “We’re not stealing. Jay will get it back.”

  Benn was silent, biting his lip in thought. “I’m going to check on Merry,” he muttered. “See you later.”

  Alex watched Benn head off along the tunnel, his lanky shape dark against the light. She put the Tau back into her sash and went to find Danny.

  Danny was sitting in the bunkhouse on one of the sleeping platforms, peering so intently at a thin and very grubby notebook that he did not notice that Alex had appeared in the doorway.

  Unwilling to interrupt, Alex waited for him to look up. She tried to match the studious-looking teen with the terrifying Flyer on the Hawke who had aimed his Lightning Lance at her, but she couldn’t. There were, of course, physical differences. Danny now wore his long red hair in a braid tied back like a pig’s tail. Gone was his Flyer headband, and although he still wore his Flyer Jacket, it was now ingrained with soot, and the silver Hawke with its beak of gold was no more than a dim shadow. But it wasn’t these external changes that made Danny unrecognizable—something in his very essence had shifted. Now he emanated a steady calm, a feeling of purpose. Not only was he no longer the enemy, he now felt like a friend.

  Suddenly aware of her presence, Danny looked up. “Hey,” he said, smiling. He held up the notebook. “Want to take a look?” he asked.

  “Sure,” said Alex. She walked over and sat beside him.

  “It’s the driver’s handbook,” Danny said. “For the Puffer. It tells you everything you need to know, from a cold start, getting it running at a steady speed, and then to fire down. It’s brilliant. And at the back, see . . .” Danny flipped the dog-eared, greasy pages to the back, where there was a selection of simple maps. “It has all the routes. And this, here . . .” Danny’s sooty fingers flipped through the pages until he found the map for the track that led up the coast to Rekadom.

  “Is where we’re going!” Alex finished for him.

  Danny looked at Alex, a slow smile dawning. “You’re in on this? Really?”

  Alex nodded. “I can’t bear to think of Louie terrified in those dungeons for one second longer than he has to be.”

  Danny nodded. And then together both he and Alex said, “Or Francina,” and laughed.

  “Don’t know how we’ll get them out though,” Alex said.

  Danny pushed his hand deep into his pocket and pulled out a large iron key. “Key to the dungeons. Stole it when I was the Flyer. Because I was never, ever going to have anyone I loved stuck in that place ever again.”

  “Oh, Danny,” Alex murmured. Touched that he had taken her into his confidence, Alex decided to do the same. She took the Tau from her sash, and its brilliant blue light burst into the dark little bunkroom.

  Danny gasped. “What is that?” he murmured.

  “It’s a kind of amulet. It’s called the Tau.”

  Danny stared at it. “That’s the Tau? I thought it would be bigger than that.”

  “You know about the Tau?” Alex asked.

  “Yeah. Mr. RavenStarr—your dad—he went on and on and on about it. You have no idea how much. He said it would . . . well, it would make everything right, I think. Though I can’t remember how. Something to do with a book and some cards.”

  “He actually said that?” Alex was amazed. “About making things right?”

  “Yeah. He did.” Danny chuckled. “Not that I ever understood much of what he said. He had a habit of making simple things complicated, you know?”

  Alex nodded. She knew. So in the simplest way she could, she explained to Danny about the Tau, and the codex and the cards, and how they must all three be together in order to end the Hauntings.

  Danny listened attentively, and when Alex had finished, he said, “You and Mr. RavenStarr have to do this, you really do. I’ll help you any way I can.”

  “Just get me back to Rekadom,” Alex said. “I’ll do anything to help us get there. I’ll put the coal in, clear the track, whatever you need. I don’t mind.”

  “It’s a deal,” Danny said, jumping up excitedly. He handed Alex the notebook. “You’d best take a look at this,” he said. “And Benn too.”

  In the excitement Alex had forgotten about Benn and his objections. “Benn thinks taking the Puffer is disloyal to Jay,” she said. “I don’t think he’ll come with us.”

  “I’ll go see him,” Danny said.

  “He’s with Merry,” Alex told him. “I think he wanted to talk to her.”

  “Talk to a boat?” asked Danny.

  Alex grinned. “Like you talk to the Puffer.”

  Danny laughed. “Okay. You got me there.”

  Alex watched Danny stride away. She wasn�
�t at all sure he would have any luck with Benn.

  Chapter 35

  An Unexpected Crossing

  DANNY CAME OUT OF THE tunnel to find the tide had retreated from the reed bed, leaving Merry lying on the mud below the dock. Inside her sat Benn, lost in thought.

  Danny sat on the crumbling old dock and swung his legs over the side. He looked at Benn below. “Hey down there,” he said.

  Benn did not reply.

  “Benn, will you come to Rekadom with us in the morning?” he asked.

  Benn looked up. “Us?”

  “Me and Alex.”

  “Huh,” Benn said. “That would be mean to Jay.”

  “Is that a no?” Danny asked.

  “Yes,” said Benn.

  “Great!” said Danny, leaping up.

  Benn looked up at Danny, annoyed. “I meant yes, it’s a no. Now go away.”

  Danny did as requested. He wandered off down the raised path that led through the reed bed to the estuary. He headed for the jetty and walked slowly to the end, where he stood looking out across the mud with a thin channel of deep water winding down the middle. It was a very low tide that evening and the water was still, poised between the ebb and flow. On the far side, Danny could clearly see the pebble beach, beyond which lay a rambling wood of stunted salt oaks. Lost in his thoughts of Francina being terrified in the Rekadom dungeons, it took Danny some minutes to realize that something big was moving through the trees.

  What was it?

  Using his old skills as a Flyer, Danny focused on the darkness between the trees and caught a glint of red high up in the canopy. He slipped back into Flyer mode, watching so intently that when a giant spider, about twenty feet tall, suddenly broke cover, Danny did not move a muscle—at least not on the outside. On the inside his heart began hammering fast.

  Against the darkness of the treetops, the spider’s cluster of red eyes shone like beacons. Had Danny not been Dark to Enchantment, he would have also seen the Enchanted dark mist swirling around the lower part of its legs—but the spider was enough for Danny. Fascinated, he watched the creature delicately pick its way down the pebble beach, its fat abdomen swaying to and fro, its eight eyes scanning the surroundings. At the bottom of the beach the retreating tide had left a wide strip of mud, but this did not deter the spider. Lifting up its spindly legs and carefully placing them into the soft mud, it walked forward into the estuary bed. When it reached the narrow but deep channel of water in the middle of the estuary, it stopped and looked straight ahead—at Danny.

  Confidently—because there was water between him and the spider, and everyone knew that spiders drowned in sinks when you ran the tap—Danny returned the stare. Until it felt just a little too creepy, and then he turned and jogged back along the jetty and retraced his steps to the path through the reeds, where he was less exposed.

  From the cover of the reeds, Danny watched the spider. To his surprise, it suddenly plunged into the channel—but it did not disappear. The muddy brown water completely covered its legs so that its body looked like some kind of bizarre spider boat, slowly but surely making its way across. Danny began to feel just a little concerned. He watched, crossing his fingers for luck, and when, in the middle of the channel, where there were swirls of current, the spider wobbled and seemed to lose its footing, Danny gave a small cheer. But it regained its balance and continued doggedly on until Danny realized he could now see the top of its legs—the spider was climbing up to the mud on this side. It had crossed the estuary.

  “Sheesh!” muttered Danny. He turned and ran, racing along the reed path, scooting onto the old dock and skidding to a halt in a hail of loose stones, which rained down onto Merry and Benn below.

  Benn looked up, glowering. “Very funny,” he said. “Not.”

  “Get out! Quick!” Danny shouted.

  “I told you, Danny. Go away,” Benn said angrily.

  Danny hopped up and down with frustration. He always lost his words when things were going wrong. All he could manage was, “Dumbo! Get out! Now!”

  “Get lost,” said Benn.

  At last Danny found his words. “There’s a giant spider. Massive. Twenty feet tall. Hairy legs, red eyes.”

  Benn laughed. “Ha ha. I’m not that stupid.”

  “Benn, I’m not kidding. I watched it cross the river. It’s so big it just walked it. And now it’s over here. Please, Benn. Get out of the boat. Please!”

  “Yeah, yeah,” said Benn. “Buzz off, Danny.”

  Danny gave up. He scrambled down the ladder to Merry, grabbed hold of Benn and roughly pulled him to his feet. “Look, you total turnip head, get up that ladder right now!”

  Benn felt like a tsunami had hit. Danny pushed him up the ladder, threw him onto the dock and roughly pulled him to his feet. Angrily, Benn shoved Danny off and sent him sprawling backward onto the stones. He was about to drag Danny to his feet and punch him when he caught a glimpse of movement above.

  “Look up, you dingbat!” Danny yelled as he scrambled to his feet.

  But Benn was already looking up—at a twenty-foot-high spider lurching toward him. He grabbed Danny’s hand and, dragging him along, raced into the mouth of the tunnel along the track and hurtled into the dark warmth of the cavern.

  “Shut the doors!” Danny yelled.

  Together Benn and Danny sent the doors trundling along their runners and slammed them shut with a bang. Asking no questions, Alex helped throw the locking bar across.

  “Sheesh!” said Danny. “That was close.”

  “What was close?” Alex was not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

  “Spider,” Danny and Benn said in unison. “Huge.”

  “Twenty feet tall at least,” said Danny.

  “Horrible hairy legs,” said Benn.

  “And staring red eyes,” added Danny.

  Alex regarded Benn and Danny suspiciously. “Is this some kind of joke?” she asked.

  “No!” they chorused.

  “I thought Danny was joking too,” Benn said. “I didn’t believe a word and he had to drag me out of Merry.” He looked at Danny. “Thanks. I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d just left me to stew.”

  “We’re all in this together, right?” Danny said.

  Alex was confused. “But it’s not twilight yet, so it can’t be a Haunting.” She remembered the spider in the Iron Tower. Surely it couldn’t be that one, could it?

  “Shh!” Benn hissed loudly. “Listen.”

  On the far side of the heavy doors, they heard a soft scratching noise. Benn shuddered. He really did not like spiders.

  “It won’t get in,” Danny said confidently. “These doors are massive.”

  “That’s what you said about the spider, too,” Alex muttered.

  They listened to the scratchy, restless sounds of the spider outside in the tunnel. “Do you think it’s making a nest?” Benn whispered.

  “Spiders don’t make nests,” Danny said. “Must be a web.”

  “Spiders do make nests,” Alex corrected. “To lay their eggs in.”

  “Oh, cute,” said Danny. “We’ll be trapped in here with lots of massive baby spiders running around. Great.”

  Benn had made a decision. “No we won’t,” he said. “Because tomorrow we’re taking the Puffer out of here.”

  Alex and Danny looked at Benn, surprised.

  “We’re taking the Puffer?” asked Danny.

  “Yeah,” Benn said. “Count me in.”

  Alex and Benn did what they could to help Danny prepare the engine. They brought small sticks from the kindling pile and then coal, handing them to Danny while he fed them through the open doors of the firebox in the driver’s cab. With a long rake, Danny pushed the burning wood as far forward as it would go, and added more. While Danny worked, they brought him bread and cheese they had found in the bunkhouse and brewed lemon-and-honey tea. Once Danny was satisfied that the fire was burning steadily, he beckoned them over to the workbench at the back of the cavern, where his grimy, d
og-eared notebook lay open. With a pang of guilt, Benn saw that it was written in Jay’s neat and precise handwriting.

  Danny was pointing to a list. “This is the greasing procedure,” he said. “I need to start that now. But you guys should get some sleep.”

  “We don’t need sleep,” Benn protested.

  “Yes, you do. It’s hard work running an engine. I’ve done nothing but sleep for days. I’ll snatch a couple of hours when I’m done and wake you when we’re almost ready to go. Okay?” He went to find the grease gun. There were bearings to be greased.

  Alex and Benn reluctantly headed to the bunkhouse but within minutes they were deeply asleep on the hard, narrow beds. Neither had realized how tired they were. And while they slept, Danny worked tirelessly through his checklist, feeding the fire deep in the Puffer’s belly, greasing the old stiff joints, balancing the steam, checking the valves and slowly, with the aid of Jay’s precious book, bringing the cold tangle of tubes, metal plates, rivets and rust to life.

  Chapter 36

  Steam Up

  “WAKE UP! HEY, WAKE UP, you guys!”

  Danny looked as though he’d been in an explosion. His face was streaked with black grease and shone with sweat. His hair looked wet and his hands—in which he was clutching two steaming mugs as grease-streaked as he was—were covered in soot. He looked blissfully happy. “I made tea,” he said, handing Alex one of the filthy mugs.

  “Did the kettle blow up?” she asked.

  Danny laughed. “It’s way better than that.”

  Benn’s voice came sleepily from the bunk. “What’s that smell?”

  “Well, thanks a bunch, buddy,” Danny said, going over to the lump in the covers on the bottom bunk. “I bring you tea and you tell me I smell.”

  Alex heard the laughter in Danny’s voice—he was bubbling with excitement. She breathed in the air, humid and heavy with the smell of soot, hot metal and boiling water. It caught the back of her throat and made her cough. “The Puffer’s ready, isn’t he?” she said.

  “The Puffer,” Danny said as he almost danced out of the bunkhouse, “is ready and waiting. All we have to do is hook up the tender, open those doors and we’re off. We’ll knock that spider out of the way before it knows what’s hit it.”