Secret Places and Hidden Things

Chapter Twenty-One

The train was winding slowly through the mountains, cutting its way around the edges of the lower peaks like a long snake. Jack was laying peacefully by the open door of the boxcar, just as William had set him on that fateful day long ago, one hand dangling over the side. He was covered in a thin layer of snow, along with the rest of the boxcar, flakes resting gently in his eyelashes and hair. He may have been dead if it wasn't for his flushed cheeks and slow, steady breathing. If he dreamed, he gave no sign of it.

His sleep was long and deep as the train wound its way around the edges of time. The oldest parts were rugged and cold, bleak mountains and dark landscapes covered in snow and ice. The middle was covered in trees, old and ragged forests with long mosses hanging from their limbs. Giants watched him, or slept nearby, their eyes hidden in deep caves, their bodies resting beneath the hills. Time passed in green waves, his singular moment isolated and hidden away.

When Jack finally woke, he was moving over a grassy plain as the train wound its way towards tall sand dunes. For a while he didn't move, he just laid still, feeling the vibrations of the boxcar though his back. When he sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes, sea birds were calling off in the distance. The grasses became fewer as sand overtook them. The train took a slope downward and then turned sharply, skimming the very edge of the ocean. It began to move slower, edging closer and closer to the water, and then it turned sharply again, making its way out into the waves. Jack leaned over the edge of the boxcar but could see no tracks.

The sun was low, peering through a curtain of clouds. He had no way of knowing what direction he was looking, but it felt like morning. The air had a freshness, and the water was strangely still past the surf, only the slightest ripples moving off from the wheels of the train. He looked behind him and the edge of land was nearly gone already, just a thin line of green and a darkness in the sky above hinting at tall cliffs. Soon, even the circling birds above disappeared and there was only the morning sky and the reflection on the water, wavering slowly in the ripples.

Jack looked around inside the boxcar and found a ladder leading to a hatch in the roof. He climbed up for a better view, standing on top of the chimney vent built in the middle. The train wasn't moving so fast now, and the breeze was pleasant, blowing his hair across his face as he turned to watch the cars snake away behind him. The sky was vast and endless, the morning sun pink and gold on one horizon, and the last faint stars nestled into the darkness on the other. Higher up, at an angle from the sun, the morning star was glowing brightly, false rays pointing out in four directions as the breeze made his eyes water.

"What a lovely view," a voice said behind him.

He turned. A woman was sitting in the corner of the boxcar, looking out at the sunrise. She had curly red hair with streaks of white, and pale green eyes so light they almost blended with the whites. Her clothing was strange. It looked like a simple white robe, but in places, when she moved just right, it would catch the sunlight and flash gold and red like fire. She was sitting on an old fur coat.

"Who are you?" Jack asked. She looked familiar, but the memory that tickled the back of his mind was from a different time, long ago.

"I don't know anymore," the woman said. "I thought I knew who I was, but I'm too many things at once now." She looked out over the water.

"Where did you come from?" Jack asked, following her gaze.

"Nowhere. I've been riding this train for a long time. I didn't want to wake you, you looked so peaceful." She looked back at him and smiled.

"I've been dreaming." Jack said, rubbing the side of his head. "I don't remember what I was dreaming about. I don't even remember what happened before that. Maybe I'm still dreaming." He looked back at the woman, her strange dress rippling lightly in the wind. "Why are you riding this train?"

"I was waiting for you. I want to help you."

Jack's eyebrows rose and he took a step back unconsciously. "Help me? Do I need help?"

"Yes, I think so," the woman said. "I think you're looking for something. You've been wandering all over, trying to find it."

Jack shook his head. "I have? How strange. I can't even remember what that was." He took a deep breath. The sea air made him feel more awake.

"I can't either, now." The woman said. "I guess you've pulled me into your wanderings." She smiled, lines crinkling around her eyes. "We'll have to try to remember."