The Witch's Christmas Wish

by Rebecca Lovell

  “I’m sure we could go over there sometime and you could meet her. She’d probably offer you some tea herself. Things are a little hectic for her right now, though. She’s about to have a baby and they just adopted a little girl.” Gard blew on his own tea. “Sorry this is so hot, I think it must have been close to boiling.”

  “That’s all right. I don’t mind hot drinks.” As if to prove she wasn’t joking, she took a sip of the tea. “Why don’t you tell me a little more about the accident.”

  “It was a nasty one, that’s for sure. According to the case report, the brakes on the train failed so the whole thing just flew through the station. It didn’t have many cars attached, so there wasn’t a whole lot to stop it and it plowed into another train when it went past the station. Thankfully there was nobody in that one. All told, three people died. The engineer and two passengers didn’t make it.” He pointed at the pictures in the folder. “You won’t get much from those, but I have some here you can look at that were taken right after the accident.”

  “I’d appreciate that,” Terra said. “You’re right, I’m not going to get very far with pictures of damaged trains.” She frowned at the pictures she had in her hand as Gard opened his case. “It’s so strange, though. Trains have air brakes, not mechanical ones, so they can’t fail. If the pressure drops, the train just slowly comes to a stop as they drain.”

  “I wouldn’t know anything about that, honestly. I guess that’s why they sent you.” Gard handed her a file that was much larger than the one she was holding. “There are some pictures in there that are pretty ugly, in case you’re sensitive to that sort of thing.”

  “Usually I’m not. Then again, I’ve never really seen pictures of dead bodies.” She flipped through the pictures quickly, then stopped on the one Gard hoped she would skip. It was a picture of the engineer, who had been in such bad shape when they finally pulled him out of the train that Mr. Keats was the only one who could go near him. Terra stared at it a long time and Gard was about to tell her she didn’t have to look at it when she suddenly turned her attention back to him. “Is it possible for me to see the train it crashed into?”

  “Shouldn’t be a problem. As soon as Mr. Keats comes in, we can ask him how to get out there.” Gard realized he was still wearing his coat and looked at Terra. She was still wearing her own and it looked quite warm, most likely owing to the fact that New York was supposed to be much colder than Virginia in the winter. “Did you sleep well last night?” He was trying to find something to talk about with the pretty young woman who sat looking through photographs at the desk, and decided it was probably better to just keep his mouth shut.

  “Very well, thank you.” Her reply surprised him, as did the way she gave him a tentative smile. “I wanted to apologize for being rude last night. My brother knows how to bring out the worst in me, and I should have directed it at him and not you. I’m afraid you just happened to be in the line of fire.” Terra smiled again, this time deeply enough to show a dimple in her left cheek. It made Gard’s heart speed up just a bit and he fought to keep himself calm. With his fair skin, it was obvious to anyone who looked at him that he was embarrassed.

  “Don’t worry about it. I know how siblings can be. My brothers are always teasing me, even now that they’re grown men.” He sighed. “I’m the unlucky one in the family. They all got blonde hair and I ended up with Grandad’s red hair.”

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Terra said, picking up the police report. “I think it makes you look unique. Not many people I’ve met have that shade of red. It’s unusual.” She smiled down at the papers, even though Gard knew there was nothing to smile about in them. “I sort of like it.”

  “Well, thanks.” Gard didn’t quite know what to say. He’d never had someone compliment his hair before and there was no use trying to hide the fact that his face and ears had turned bright red. Terra wasn’t looking at him, but he knew if she turned around she would see it. “Let me go check and see where the conductor is.” Before Terra could reply, he ducked out of the office and into the hall.

  When he didn’t see Alvin, Gard stepped outside and the cold air felt good on his face. He didn’t want Terra to think he was some kind of creep, but he also couldn’t deny the fact that he liked being around her and having her compliment him. Once he was sure that he wasn’t bright red anymore, he went back to the office and found the conductor going in with his lunch pail.

  “There you are,” he said with a smile. “Sorry I was late, I had problems with my wife this morning.”

  “We already met up in there and were going over the case files.” Gard hurried over to him and fell into step with Alvin. “Miss Rendon was wondering if there was any way we could see the damaged trains. Is that possible?”

  “Sure,” the conductor said. “We don’t have the train that went out of control here, but we do have the one that it crashed into. It’s in the barn up here so we can work on it and possibly get it working again. I can get someone with a truck to take you out there in a few minutes.”

  “We’d appreciate it,” Gard said. “The faster we can see these things, the faster we can get out of your hair.” They went into the conductor’s office and found Terra staring at photographs as if she was trying to see into them.

  “Good morning, Miss Rendon,” Alvin said. “Detective Lewis said you wanted to look at the trains?” Gard noticed he didn’t apologize to Terra for his lateness, and it annoyed him. Terra didn’t seem to notice, as she simply smiled up at him and nodded.

  “Yes, it’s really very important to the investigation. I’d like to see the damage for myself, perhaps take a look at the brakes.”

  “I’m afraid we don’t have the train that malfunctioned here. It’s offsite in a warehouse to be stripped for parts.” This sounded a little strange to Gard. If the train malfunctioned, there was no reason for them to want to use any part of it again. “You’ll have to go to that facility.”

  “I’m sure we can find our way over there,” Gard said, looking at his watch. “For now let’s just go look at the train you have.”

  “Yes, sir.” Alvin picked up his phone and Gard moved closer to Terra so he could lower his voice. She smelled wonderful, like the lavender and ginger from the tea, and for a moment he forgot what he was going to say. Terra looked at him with a curious look on her face and he cleared his throat.

  “The police never got much of a chance to examine the train that caused the accident before they took it out of the trainyard. All our pictures were taken immediately after the accident.” Alvin was still on the phone and Gard shook his head. “They moved it before I was even put on the case, and that’s a big job to get done in less than three days.”

  “Now I really want to see that train.” Terra glanced over at the conductor. “Will you really help me get over to that warehouse so I can look at it?”

  “Of course. If I have to ask for directions from every person in this station, I’ll find a way to get us to that train.” Gard was glad to see the mischievous smile that worked its way onto Terra’s face. It made her look even prettier than she already was, and he wanted to take her hands and pull her out of her chair. Instead, he offered a gentlemanly hand to help her up. Terra looked at it, seemingly hesitant to take it, then put a small bare hand into his gloved one.

  “Thank you, sir.” She stood up from the chair and picked up her coat. From the way she had protested her brother’s request, he had halfway expected her to say she didn’t need his help. Her reaction had been a pleasant surprise and he hoped it wouldn’t be the first one.

  “I’ve got a workman with a truck coming to meet you at the tracks.” Alvin hung up the phone. “There won’t be heat out there so I’ll suggest you don’t stay out there too long.” He looked down at Terra’s feet, which were clad in heeled boots that were rather old-fashioned. “Might be hard to walk on gravel in those.”

  “I appreciate your concern but I’ll be fine,” Terra said. She looked over at Gard. “Shall we go to
the tracks?” Nodding, he picked up his case.

  “Excellent idea, Miss Rendon.” He opened the door for Terra and held it with one hand as she walked through. She didn’t protest this time either, but she did look curiously at his case.

  “May I ask what’s in there? I’m sure you could have left it in the office, though. Unless the contents are important, of course.” There was no doubt that she was sharp and Gard smiled at her.

  “They’re police documents. I don’t want to leave them where just anyone could see them. The chief would tear my head off if I did that. It’s all right if you look at them, though. After all, you’re a part of this investigation.” He frowned slightly. “I should probably tell the chief about that. I haven’t officially told him that you’re consulting.”

  “Consulting?” Terra cocked her head at him. “What do you mean?”

  “Whenever someone helps us on a case that’s outside the police, we call it consulting. The fellow who recommended me for the promotion had the witch I mentioned before help him out. It was extremely helpful – you might even say that she solved most of it herself – so I don’t think the chief would see a problem with an engineer helping me out.” Gard held up the case. “You probably understand these papers better than I do.”

  “I’m glad I can help. I don’t have any experience investigating a case, so you’re helping me as much as I’m helping you.” She kept up with Gard’s long stride and they walked together to the platforms that ran along the tracks. There was a short set of steps that led to the gravel-paved trainyard. True to Alvin’s word, a small open bed truck was waiting there to pick them up.

  “Careful on your way down,” Gard said. He realized that Alvin was right when the gravel rolled under the shoes he’d bought specifically for this case. “This stuff really is uneven.”

  “It doesn’t look particularly easy to walk on.” Terra moved carefully down the steps and took a tentative step onto the gravel. She made it onto the ground safely and started walking to the truck behind Gard. When she stepped into one of his footprints, though, she slid sideways on the loose rock and turned her ankle sideways. “Oh!”

  “What’s the matter?” Gard turned just in time to see her falling toward the ground with her arms out to break her fall. He dropped his case and swooped in to catch her, his own feet slipping on the gravel as he did. Gard landed on his knees with Terra in his arms, and the feel of her slender body so close to his made him blush almost as red as his hair. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, are you?” Terra looked up at him, her face just as red as his. It made her even prettier and for a moment Gard wondered what it would be like to hold her for real. “You hit the ground pretty hard.”

  “I’m all right. I’ll probably feel it tomorrow, though.” Gard set her on the ground and struggled to his feet, then put his arm around her shoulders to guide her to the truck. In any other situation he wouldn’t have been so quick to touch a lady, but he didn’t want either of them to fall again.

  Once they were safely in the truck bed and on their way to the storage house, Gard sat across from Terra and dusted off his case while she rubbed the ankle she had fallen on. There was a slight grimace on her face and Gard frowned.

  “Is your ankle hurt?”

  “I just turned it, I think. It would have been worse if I hadn’t been wearing boots.” She sighed. “I’m sure the druggist will have something that will help it. Thank you for catching me. I could have been hurt much worse.” Terra smiled at him, a genuine, open smile. “You’re very kind, Detective Lewis.”

  “If we’re going to be working together, I really would like it if you’d call me Gard. Jake started calling me that when I started as an officer and it kind of stuck.” Gard shrugged and returned her smile. “If you want to call me Detective, though, it’s not going to hurt my feelings. I always wanted to be one so I’m proud of it.”

  “It just seems so strange,” Terra said. “I’m a doctor but everyone at the university calls me ‘Sweetheart’ or talks down to me. God forbid I not call them by their title, though.”

  “You’re a doctor?” Gard’s eyes widened in surprise. “Like a real, live doctor?”

  “Yes. I have my doctorate in mechanical engineering. I worked very hard for it, but no one seemed to care until now.” She sighed. “It’s too much effort to keep correcting people. I used to do it but people accused me of being difficult and hostile so I just stopped.”

  “Well, I’m sorry for calling you ‘Miss.’ I should’ve asked.” Gard stuck a hand out to her. “How about we start over? I’m Detective Gardner Lewis.”

  “Doctor Terra Rendon,” Terra replied, shaking his hand firmly. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Nice to meet you too.” Gard tipped her a wink. “You can still call me Gard if you want.” This made Terra laugh and she leaned toward him as if she was going to tell him a secret.

  “Very well, then, Gard. I wouldn’t want to be so formal with a fellow investigator.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “Perhaps you should call me Terra.”

  Before Gard could reply, the truck drove into an enormous barn-like structure and they were immediately warmer when they were sheltered from the wind and snow. At the far rear of the train storage was the engine they were looking for and the driver pulled up alongside it. Gard could already see the damage and whistled as he did. The entire back end of the engine looked like it had caved in, crumpled like a piece of paper. It was hard for Gard to believe that anyone would be able to fix damage like this in a way that it would make the train useable again, especially not if they were trying to save money.

  “That must’ve been some crash.” The truck came to a stop and he jumped out first, then went around to Terra’s side and helped her out over the side. “Careful on the gravel.”

  “I’ll be fine.” Terra kicked at some of the gravel. “I just wasn’t paying attention before.” She walked over to the engine and shook her head. “You’re right. It would take a lot of force to slam into a train hard enough to do that.”

  “How long are you two gonna be?” The man who had driven them out to the train looked impatiently at his watch. “I have stuff to do this afternoon.”

  “Not too long, I hope.” Gard spoke to the trainyard worker while Terra went to the train. He opened his wallet and handed two dollars to the man. “Give us about half an hour or so?”

  “That seems fair. You’ve got a deal.” The worker made the bills disappear, then walked out of the storage building and into the snow. Gard turned around and was greeted by a strange sight.

  Terra was standing next to the damaged train with her hand on the twisted iron, her eyes closed. She’d taken off her glove on that hand and was frowning like she was trying to hear something. Gard went over to her and stood by the train, not wanting to say anything that might startle or disturb her. He’d never seen this sort of thing before, but he had heard Jacob talking about it. After a minute or so, she opened her eyes and blinked at Gard, as if she was seeing him for the first time.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, I’m fine.” She sighed. “It’s no good, I’ll need to see the wrecked train. All I can tell from this one is that it was rammed at a high speed. The damage is consistent with what everyone says happened. This particular train may be able to be repaired but it may cost more than the railway is willing to spend.” Terra put her glove back on and Gard saw that she was shaking so hard her teeth were chattering. He didn’t think it was that cold out, but some people were more sensitive. “Brr. That thing is freezing.”

  “Let’s get back into the station and warm up.” Gard started to go find the trainyard worker, then an idea popped into his head. “It’s coming up on noon. Would you like to go get something to eat?”

  “With you?” Terra’s eyes were wide, and her look of surprise shut down any hopes Gard held of winning her affection. “I’m sorry, that was rude. I was planning on going over the case reports, that’s all. I hope I didn’t offend you
.”

  “Me? Not at all. I’m still going to go have lunch. I’ll leave the files with you, since I know I can trust you. I’m going to go find the worker to take us back to the station.” Before Terra could reply further, he turned around and rushed out of the train storage house. His cheeks were burning once again and he couldn’t stop cursing himself for opening his mouth.

  Idiot, he thought as he pulled his coat lapels up further. Could you be more of an idiot?

  Chapter Four

  Once she was alone in the conductor’s office, Terra leaned back in her chair and sighed heavily. She threw the pictures on the desk and rubbed her forehead. It was obvious that she should be looking at the files Gard had left her, but all she could think about was how rude she had been to him. He hadn’t been flirting with her, he had just been asking if she wanted to take a break for lunch with him. Gard was a perfectly nice and respectful young man, and she would be lucky to have someone like him flirt with her but she wasn’t the type of woman that men flirted with, especially after she’d made a big deal about her title.

  Rather than dwell further on how much she had embarrassed herself, she thought about what had happened when she touched the train. She’d never had a vision of the past before. Her only visions had been of the future, both near and far. Terra had no idea what might have triggered this new power but she was glad it had.

  When she’d touched the train – which she had no idea what had possessed her to do – she saw the accident. It was a lot like the one she’d had of Tommy’s death, only without the flames. The engineer had tried to use the brake but the lever had snapped off in his hand. The train had sped through the station at top speed and crashed into the stationary train that she’d visited with Gard. She couldn’t imagine what had caused the lever to snap, they were made of solid pieces of metal.