The Train to Nowhere

Chapter 13 - The Key

That night, Breanna found herself standing in an unfamiliar coach. It was decidedly fancier than the last two had been, though there had been tables in the second one. This one had nice, soft, royal blue seats with gold embroidery and detailing placed on either side of beautiful dark wood tables. As she looked around, taking the time to appreciate the intricate details of the elegantly decorated coach, Breanna spotted Rider sitting at one of the tables, legs crossed and sipping on what was now his signature cup of tea, though this one was of course much fancier. Looking up to meet her gaze, he offered a smile, which she returned. She gracefully walked over to him, only tripping over the pristine carpet once, and sat across from him.

"To be honest, I was expecting to see you here last night," Rider said once she had sat.

"I wanted to spend a little time with my Dad, and that clearing was the perfect setting," Breanna replied. They sat in relative silence for a moment, listening to the sound of the wheels on the track before a thought crossed her mind, "Say, how is it that you are always waiting for me on either side of each car?"

"I've already been to the front, I can move freely throughout the train," he answered.

"Wait, so you've had your wish granted then?" Breanna asked, excitement painting her voice.

"Yes, though not in the way one might expect. When you reach the front, your greatest wish is granted, but it might not always be what you think it is," Rider explained.

"So, what did you wish for?" she asked. He only smiled in reply. Breanna let out a huff, "Fine, don't tell me. What do you think my next challenge is going to be? Or do you even know? Who am I kidding, you're probably just going to give me some sort of cryptic answer anyway."

"You have all you need to get the key," he responded with a coy smile.

"Yep, called it. I'll see you tomorrow night, I guess," she said, grumbling slightly as she stood and made her way to the front of the coach.

This time, when she stepped through the door, she was presented with a street jam packed with people weaving between booths and stalls vending all manner of trinkets and nick-knacks. This was her first encounter with people inside of her cars besides her Dad, though on closer inspection, she decided that they couldn't be real as most of them weren't actually human. She saw a number of different creatures, all resembling humans, but with subtle differences. She swore she saw a mermaid in a nearby fountain.

As she continued to look around, Breanna spotted her Dad bartering jovially with one of the vendors and started walking to him. He waved once he spotted her and quickly finished his purchase before jogging over to her.

"Hey there, Peanut," he said, pulling her into a tight hug.

"Hey, Dad! What did you buy?" she asked him.

"Oh! It's a gift. For you," he answered, presenting a small, intricately carved wooden charm on a leather string. "It's supposed to bring fortune and happiness." A large smile crossed Breanna's face as he placed the necklace around her neck.

"Thanks, Dad. I love it," she said, examining the charm. He offered a smile of his own.

"You're welcome, Peanut," he replied. She thought to ask him what exactly he bought it with, but decided it didn't matter, it was a dream after all. The pair took their time looking at various stalls as they passed, occasionally stopping to look more closely at some item or another. Eventually, they ended up back at the door that Breanna had come through, which unlike last time, was still there. She and her Dad looked at one another.

"Surely it couldn't be that easy, could it?" she asked.

"I don't know, why don't you give it a try?" he replied. She shrugged before walking up to the door and attempting to turn the handle. It refused to budge. This reminded her of the first car, so Breanna tried just pulling on it. Then pushing on it. Then glaring menacingly at it. The door was unmoved. Shrugging again, she turned back to her Dad.

"Guess not," she stated glumly.

"Y'know, I saw a stand selling a bunch of keys just over there. You think we'll find the key there?" her Dad asked, gesturing vaguely toward a vendor down the road a little way.

"Maybe. It's worth a shot," she replied. They began walking toward the key vendor while chatting. "Why do you think he has so many keys? Like, what do they even go to?"

"I don't know, maybe he has the keys to the whole street. Everyone would have to go to him to go into any of the shops," he said jokingly. Breanna giggled. After a few minutes, they made it to the stall and began perusing the various keys on display. Some of them didn't even resemble actual keys.

"Hello there, what can I do ya fer?" A short, stubby man with dark hair and a bushy mustache asked in a lilting voice, seemingly appearing out of thin air. Once her heart moved back to her chest from her throat and her Dad touched the ground again, Breanna opened her mouth to speak, only to freeze mid syllable. Atop the man's head sat a pair of curled horns, and his ears resembled those of a goat. The man cleared his throat as she shook herself back to reality.

"Right, we were wondering if you might know where we would find the key to that blue door over there," Breanna's Dad said after a moment. The vendor adjusted the small lenses perched on his nose as a large smile crossed his face.

"Indeed I do, I just happen to have it right here," he responded enthusiastically. Breanna and her Dad shared a look of relief as the man ducked below the table only to pop up a moment later with an ornate silver skeleton key.

"How much?" Breanna asked hurriedly.

"Beg pardon?" the man asked.

"What do you want for it?" her Dad clarified.

"Oh! Well, ya see, there's this very rare jade key that I've had me eye on fer a little while, but I can't get the stubborn hag to sell it to me. If you can bring me that key, I'd be happy to trade," the man replied. Breanna looked skeptically at the hundreds of keys that were displayed all over the tiny stand.

"And where might we find this 'jade key'?"