Turnings (Southern Vampire Mysteries)

Chapter 17 - Between Thee and Me

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Riding trains was different than Rick thought it would be. Initially, there was the adrenaline of getting them situated with all the right passes and paperwork. Peter showed up outside the B&B at six in the morning, the way he'd promised, and George and Rick jumped in the running car, each dressed in their school uniforms. The cover story was easy. They were headed to New Orleans where George's mother was waiting to take them on an impromptu Caribbean cruise. Peter pretended to be their house proctor/teacher. He wore a tweed jacket with a tie over a denim shirt, his long hair tied back.

It was a feature of being a student at schools like those in Chester. You were a boarder. It was assumed you were more self-sufficient. It was assumed your parents expected you to be more independent. While other parents hovered around their children, stunting their initiative under the guise of protecting them, the students of Chester were expected to act as adults, and the successful ones did.

As Peter predicted, the stationmaster barely rolled his eyes before giving their documentation a cursory glance and then moving through the stamping and issuing of tickets. Since neither were technically thirteen, they should have been traveling with a companion, but even that was treated with a shrug. The boys were tall and they were wearing uniforms. It was unlikely they would be mistaken for runaways. "Stay in your sleeper cabin," Peter cautioned them. "If you don't call attention to yourselves, no one is going to give you a hard time. Pretend you're doing school work or play games. There will be electrical outlets."

"Thanks, Peter," Rick was having a hard time holding back his emotions and it was making his mouth feel heavy.

"No big thing, Chub," Peter smacked him on the arm. "Here. Use this to keep your head straight," and he handed Rick a penny whistle.

"You're not playing that in the cabin," George warned.

"You really are a music hater!" Rick teased. It was enough and the boys took their overnight bags and got on the train that would take them to New York where they would catch the bigger train that would take them from there.

"We should buy a couple things when we get to New York," George was making a list as they passed the small towns that were becoming progressively larger. "Pens, paper. Maybe a book or two. Snacks! We're going to be on the train for over thirty hours. That's provided we don't have delays."

"What time does that put us in New Orleans?" Rick asked.

George closed his eyes for a minute, making quick calculations in his head. "About three or four in the afternoon," he nodded.

Rick pulled out his phone and scanned, then said, "Two hours before sunset."

"So, we'll have to hang out for a little while before they wake up." They both knew 'they' was code for vampires. George was starting to look nervous. "My Mom is going to flip out," he said.

"Peter's going to tell Aunt Lora and the school he took us rock climbing. Everyone knows it's been stressful because of my Aunt Fran and the weather is supposed to be perfect. It gives us a good day or two before folks really start to look for us. By then? We'll be in Louisiana and calling your Mom, so mystery solved."

"Did you do this to your Mom, too?" George asked. He looked at Rick in a way that wasn't exactly an accusation. "It's kind of mean. I'm sure she worried when you just took off. She was probably wondering every minute if you were hurt."