On the Loose

It was dawn when I woke up in my sleeper car and saw snow on the cacti outside the window.

Am I still dreaming? Are we in Arizona? Perhaps New Mexico?

The light on the horizon was a soft yellow with shades of pink fading to blue. Blinking my eyes to clear my hazy vision, I marveled at the glistening, spiny silhouettes outside. The snow would surely be stored in the stems for a long time. There was no need to pity the cactus in its normally dry, harsh environment. Its roots dig deep and wide, absorbing water from the earth’s nooks and crannies. More than resourceful, it protects itself and embodies the spirit of self-reliance.

When the horn blew—that quintessential sound that screamed, “TRAIN”—we were rolling along rapidly. I put on a turquoise cotton sundress and walked down the corridor, thinking about my upcoming arrival in New York in a couple of days and what a contrast it would be to the scene I woke up to this morning. I was glad I had decided to take the train to help my father transport some cargo—expensive watches, and a lot of them that he had packed in crates. After emigrating from Poland as a child, he did well for himself in America as a jeweler, importing and exporting gems all over the globe. Many times, he took me along with him, making it a point to visit the seven wonders of the world together. I am his only child, and he treats me like a living, breathing gem, precious and unique, valuable and beautiful.

On my way to the dining car, I spotted a woman sitting in the lounge. She had spiky, black hair and perfect red lips. As she raised her head from her phone, her glance met mine midway in space between us. I struggled to swallow, my mouth dry after a brief night’s sleep. As I took another step in her direction, her scent was stimulating.

“Good morning,” I said with a smile, feeling shy because of her beauty. But I couldn’t help myself.

“Hello,” she said, straightening up in her seat. After a deep breath, and looking me up and down, she said, “If you’re on your way to the dining car, let’s get some coffee.”

“Yeah, sure,” I replied. “That’d be great.” I felt warm as I watched her lips move. “I need to swing by the restroom real quick. Can I meet you there?”

When she nodded, I scooted to the end of the walkway and slid open the door to the shaky gangway on the way to the restroom.

As I looked in the mirror, I splashed my face with the water coming out of the miniature faucet. Trying to put together a presentable face, I swished my mouth with the stale water.

What is it about that woman? She has a magnetic energy, sucking me in.

When I entered the dining car, she was sitting at a table with two coffees.

“How do you take yours?” she asked.

“Black with honey.”

“Ooooh, that sounds like it should be the name of a song,” she said playfully.

I wasn’t sure what to say next, but I felt bold as I said, “Well, I have a sleeper car where we can write it in privacy.”

“I usually have two cups of coffee in the morning,” she said. “But in this case, I’ll make an exception. Let’s get these to go.”

“What’s your name, by the way?” I asked.

“Eva. What’s yours? No, let me guess. Amanda? Ashley? Alicia? Why am I thinking A names?”

“Because it’s Alana. Wow! Are you a soothsayer?”

“Something like that.”

When the waitress put some paper cups on the table with the check, I tossed down a ten-dollar bill, and said to Eva, “Let’s go.”

After she grabbed her backpack, we headed toward my sleeper car, which was near the caboose. The train was certainly speeding along. I wondered if that were intentional.

Can we be running late, or is this normal?

I had never been on a three-night train excursion from Los Angeles to New York before. The European trains I had ridden on in the past were so different. They were charming and had compartments with facing seats, where people could talk, laugh, and tell stories. They also were slower.

Something seems wrong here.

“Do you think the speed of this train is normal?” I asked.

“Before this trip, I’ve only taken the subway in New York,” she said with a smile. “I was going to fly back east, but thought I’d try something different. Maybe to meet you.”

I noticed that other passengers were looking worried. A few stood up and shouted that the train had just passed their stop, as Eva and I continued to trudge through people to my little room.

From behind me, she brought her mouth so close to my neck that I could feel her hot breath under my sandy brown ponytail. Trying to balance my coffee as we walked along on the vibrating floor, and feeling weak from a thrill running through my body, I gripped the handle to my sliding door when we reached my tiny compartment.

There were two small chairs on either side of a tiny table under the bunk against the window.

“Watch your head sitting in munchkinland,” I said as she took a seat and flashed her smile at me. “What in the hell do you think is going on? Do you think something’s wrong?”

Just then, an announcement came over the intercom, stating that all the passengers needed to take their seats and remain calm. Help was on the way. Due to technical difficulties, we would be moving at higher than normal speeds for at least another fifteen minutes.

“Oh, my God!” I said as I sat down across from her. “How crazy is that? What in the world is going on?”

She seemed to know something that I didn’t—something important, something I had to know.

“What are you thinking?” I asked.

“I’m thinking about how sexy you are.” She leaned in closer.

I smiled. “It seems like you have a secret that I just have to know.”

“Well, the only thing I really know is, no matter what happens on this train, it’ll be alright, so don’t worry your pretty head about it.”

I felt lighter somehow. The closer she got, the more I was enveloped in her fragrance.

“You smell delicious!” I said.

Then she kissed me, and I felt as if I had never been kissed before.

Suddenly, there was a screeching sound, a jarring motion, and a loud clang that frightened me. Hearing passengers screaming in the next car, I lunged for the door.

“Wait!” she said. “Let me go and see what’s happening. You stay here.”

She winked as she took her backpack with her.

I grabbed my phone and googled what the possibilities were when a train is moving at a high speed.

Is the engineer ill? Are the brakes faulty? Is something wrong with the engine?

I anxiously got up to find out what was happening.

Heading toward the caboose because the jarring motion seemed to be coming from the back of the train, I opened the door to the storage car, where I saw stacks of luggage, some boxes, and a few crates from my father’s store. The door on the other end was open. When I slowly peered from around the edge of a tall stack of boxes, I saw two men tying thick leather straps onto the sides of the caboose and hooking chains from the caboose to the storage car.

“I think it’s secure!” one man yelled to the other. “Let’s get the goods!”

When they started rushing toward me, I quickly hid behind some luggage in the corner of the car. They walked straight to the crates and began to pry them open with a crowbar.

“Where in the hell is Lucy?” one of the men said.

Just then, Eva walked in through the door, cool and calm.

“Speak of the she-devil,” the second man said. “Are you going to pack this stuff up or what?”

I was shocked.

What in the world is happening?

“What’s it like in there?” the first man said, while Lucy was putting small lockboxes in her backpack.

“It’s mayhem, just like we planned,” she said with a giggle. “Open that other crate. There are some smaller boxes with the gems I packed at the shop. Being a good actress certainly has its perks. No one in that store had any clue what I was up to. No one, except for the owner, of course. We should call him the mastermind.”

I couldn’t believe my ears.

This woman works for my father?!

As the first man handed the smaller boxes to Eva—or Lucy—he said, “We have to hurry if we’re gonna catch our ride outta here. Have you seen Max?”

“Yeah,” Lucy said. “He should be here any minute. I’m sure the crowd is overwhelming him, since he’s the only ‘conductor’ left on the train. The engineer is tied up and sleeping soundly from the chloroform I gave him. Max took care of the others.”

By now, I was trembling.

How am I going to get away? What’s going to happen to the train? Are we all going to die?

Because the air was so musty, I felt like I had to sneeze, but fought it with everything I had. To distract myself, I bit my lip, pinched my nose, and held my breath.

“Max!” Lucy said, wrapping her arms around him.

“Perfect plan, my dear,” Max said. “This job’s a piece of cake. Let’s go get our ride.”

The four thieves jumped onto the caboose.

I heard the screeching of metal and the snapping of chains, and then I felt a strong jerk. No longer able to hear the crooks’ voices, I got up and peered around the edge of the door. Thick leather straps were flapping on either side of the storage car, and chains were dragging on the ground. There was no sight of the caboose, the three men, or Lucy, who had put all of our lives in danger. In the distance, I saw a helicopter landing where the caboose had slowed to a stop. One by one, the gang members rose into the air for a clean getaway.

I didn’t care about the jewels or the watches being stolen. I could only think about the terrified passengers as the train shook on the rails.

I decided to run to the locomotive pulling the train to see if I could stop it.

Can I find the brakes?

When I got to the passenger cars, they were chaotic: people were crying as they frantically looked out the windows.

I couldn’t get through because the aisles were packed with people. The scene was madness!

But as we approached the foot of a mountain, the train began to slow down. When I heard a siren coming from the rear of the train, I returned to the storage car, where I saw flashing lights approaching from the side. Another train was coming on parallel tracks from around a bend on the side of the mountain. When its tracks joined ours at a fork, the train almost caught up with us. As our train reached a steeper incline, it slowed just enough for the other locomotive to bump into our storage car with a loud bang, hurling me backwards.

When the rescuing locomotive applied its brakes, I slid across the old wooden floor, catching splinters in my hands. The metallic screeching as we slowed down and eventually rolled to a stop was painful to my ears. As I consciously exhaled, I became aware of my breath. Then I heard cheers from the next car and couldn’t help crying with relief.

I soon learned that no one had been seriously hurt, although the engineer and the conductors only had a hazy memory of what had happened. It turned out that Lucy and her comrades had stolen over half a million dollars’ worth of jewels and watches that day.

Feeling like a fool, I closed my eyes to recall that kiss—soft and pure luxury.

Why did she seduce me? It must have been a game. She knew who I was. She must have been planning this for weeks while she worked for my father.

My mind was racing as thoughts that my father was involved in this scheme left my body feeling paralyzed.

With the sun at its peak by now, I prepared to answer questions for the investigators who were bound to show up any minute.

Will I tell them what I know? I think not, since it could incriminate my father. I can’t stand the thought of him being involved with this. Maybe I’ve misunderstood something. Maybe my mind is just spinning.

A runaway train, a kiss, a crime, and a rescue. It will make a tale that I will tell and retell, and it will probably get more elaborate as time goes by. I woke up to snow-capped cacti and got caught up in Lucy’s act. Yes, I was used. Still, it gave me a thrill. I marveled at a woman who fascinated me, but who was as tough as the cacti outside. She certainly pricked me with her spiny touch. And so, with that sly smile and cunning charm, a tainted beauty now roams free.

After all this commotion, I’ll continue on to New York. Yet, I know I’ll be looking for Eva among the crowds in the streets, on the subways, and in the cafes. Her spine pierced me here in the desert, sparking a fantasy I didn’t want to let go of. I wonder whether cactus spines grow back, or if they fall off like a bee’s stinger, to be lost forever.