The Grand Snowball Express copy

Te Grand Snowbal Express

Book One: Many Meetings

Chapter One - The Grand Snowball Express

I was aboard the Grand Snowball Express. Why? Because I was a government agent tasked with a very unusual task. My task was to find a briefcase. In that briefcase was classified documents that I did not know the contents of. But I was a man of duty, and here I was on that train.

It was a very nice train. It had purple curtains, lanterns peppered the walls of each car, the rug was soft in touch and mood. The train was just littered with interesting characters. One was an unattractive portly man who had mouse-ish features, who sat alone.

“Excuse me, sir.” He flagged me down.

I approached the man.

“Whatever business do you have on this train. Me?” He looked around attentively. “I’m trying to meet someone.”

“That’s nice.” I said. “A woman?”

“You’ve hit the mark.” Said the man. “And yourself?”

“I’m just here for business.” What business would one have on a train? Other than to get from point A to point B.

“You seem like a man of business. Well, I’ll leave you to it.”

There were two other characters in this train car. One was a young woman who sat still as a frightened mouse, and was slightly shaking, with eyes wide. In her hands she was tightly clutching a suitcase. The other was a tall man curled up in the fetal position. He seemed to be in great distress. I decided to leave him be and moved on to the next car.

I arrived at a hallway of sorts, which had doors to individual cabins. There were plaques set on the doors with guest names. The first one read: 'J. and S. Bennioch’. Curiosity got the better of me, and I entered the room. Staring back at me were two kids with a somber yet blank air about them.

“I think you’ve got the wrong cabin.” Said the girl, who stood slightly taller than the boy standing next to her. The boy, who had an eyepatch on his left eye, said nothing.

“I’m sorry to have disturbed you,” I said, “do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

“I suppose not,” said the girl. “Who are you anyway?”

I told her.

“I see.” She said, “I’m Jenny, and this is my brother Sebastian.”

“Why are you on this train?”

“It’s a family vacation. The family hasn’t gotten here yet.”

I left the cabin of the Bennioch children and circled back through to the dining car. I sat myself down at the bar and ordered a drink. The bartender was a goat of a man (with a tall hat that could be hiding horns), and didn’t talk much, which gave me time to think. So far, we had the portly man looking for love, the scared woman tightly clutching her suitcase, the man in the fetal position, the Bennioch kids, and this goatly barman. The time was 8:09 pm. There were 9 hours left on this train. It was going to be a long night. Page of 1 6

Chapter Two - A Curious Case Indeed

I sat nursing my drink in silence when I got a phone call from an unexpected source.

“Hello?”

“Are you on the train?”

“Affirmative.”

“I have some new information for you. The Bennioch kids are important.” The man hung up. It was almost as if the man on the other line was deciphering some code from a supernatural source that was slowly being revealed to him in cryptic messages. I got up and went back to the cabins.

There were five remaining cabins: in order, ‘M. Burbank’, ’S. Kristen’, ‘H. Hightail’. And one of them was mine. The other was empty. I went back to pay the Bennioch kids a visit. They were as I had left them.

“Oh, it’s you.” said the girl, neither cheerful nor upset.

“Can I see what’s in that briefcase behind you?” I asked.

Jenny looked at the briefcase in the cubby behind her right leg.

“Oh that? It’s a family heirloom.”

“Might I see it, please?”

Jenny shrugged. She pulled out the briefcase, laid it on the floor, and opened it. Sebastian was still just staring.

I went over to examine the contents, and I saw a bracelet made of gold, with a ruby as deep red as the heart of the most tormented poet.

“Why are you traveling with this?” I asked

“Like I said, it’s a family heirloom.”

“I feel like that doesn’t really answer my question.”

“It belongs to our grandmother.” Sebastian said.

I turned my head to him, somewhat surprised at him suddenly speaking up, but neither of the kids said anything.

The lights flickered, flickered, and shut off. Fear seized me suddenly, and I fumbled for a matchbook I kept on me somewhere, all the while calling, “kids? Kids? Are you there?” I finally found it in my breast pocket and lit a match. Unfortunately, it can only light so much. All I could see was that the bracelet that had been there before was no longer there. I fumbled around the room, calling, “kids? Kids?” to no answer. Grabbing for another match, I found my way out of the cabin, and started the way I’d come. Stumbling through the sitting car, I made it to the dining car, where the goat man had lit a candle. He looked strangely serene, like a resting point. I waited there with him until the lights came back. Going back to the sitting car, I found that all three of the passengers that were previously there had gone back to their rooms. The time was 10:09PM. I went back into the Bennioch room, and found only Jenny standing there, and the empty suitcase. While her expression didn’t change, it seemed different.

“Where’s Sebastian?” I asked.

“I don’t know.” There seemed to be a hint of panic in her face, or was that always there?

“And the bracelet?”

Jenny looked down at the empty briefcase, “I don’t know that either.”

Chapter Three - Investigations

“I’m going to help you find your brother.” I vowed to her. “And wherever he is, I have a sneaking suspicion the bracelet is close by.”

“Okay.” Jenny tried to remain calm.

“The train isn’t that big. He can’t have gone far.”

“It’s not like him to wander off.”

“Well, wherever he is we’ll find him.”

I started by checking the adjacent cabin rooms. First, M. Burbank.

I knocked on the door. “Just a minute,” came the response. The door slid open. “Ah, it’s you.” said the portly man. “As you can see, I don’t have a lady caller just now. Ah but the night is still young! Who knows what could happen between now and sunrise?”

He invited me into his spacious cabin, and offered some tea. “Not now, I have a pressing matter to attend to.”

“Too pressing for tea?”

“Quite.”

“Well what could possibly be so urgent that you can’t take time for tea with a new friend?”

“There is a boy on this train who isn’t where he should be. Have you seen him? He disappeared during the blackout.”

“The blackout! Now that was funny business. If you ask me, I think the conductor is trying to pull one over on us. Odd gentleman, that one.”

“Have you seen the boy?”

“Boy? No, no boy.”

“Thank you for your time.” I got up and left.

Next one, S. Kristen.

I knocked on the door. The silence seemed to grow stiffer. I knocked again, “Excuse me, ma’am? I just have a question to ask you. I assure you it is very urgent.”

“What is it?” Came the voice, at once fearful and dramatic, “Can’t you see I don’t want to be disturbed? Oh can’t you see that? Can’t you see?”

“My apologies, ma’am, but have you seen a boy? He disappeared during the blackout and I’m wondering where he went off to.”

“A boy? I haven’t seen a boy! Oh can’t you see I haven’t seen one at all!”

“Alright ma’am, that’s all I wanted to know. Thank you for your time.”

Two steps down the hallway and the voice called back.

“Fine! But not now. Come back at 11:27. Then I can tell you more.”

“Ma’am?” But there was no further response.

Finally, I approached H. Hightail. I gave a swift knock at the door.

“Excuse me, sir? I just have a question to ask you—“

Before I could finish the door slid open and the man greeted me with a smile—the very same man who was curled up in a fetal position not three hours earlier.

“A question? You caught me at the right time! I was just looking for a little brain teaser. Please, come in!”

The man led me to his sofa and sat down slowly. “Tea?” He offered. I let him pour me a cup this time.

“You see,” I started, but was interrupted.

“Let me guess.” His face turned solemn. “You want money. They always want money.”

“Sir? I didn’t even ask my question yet.”

His face lit up.

“It’s quite simple, a boy has gone missing. Have you seen him?”

“I was a boy once. And he has gone missing.”

“Well, no. Not you. This is a boy that was on the train here with us.”

“A boy, you say?”

“Yes, sir.”

“I don’t think I can help you.”

“Well that’s fine, sir. Thank you anyway.”

I left the cabin feeling strangely hopeful. There was more to all this than met the eye.

Chapter Four - A Conductor Shrouded in Secret

I felt it high time that I finally met this conductor. I went back through the dining room, passing the goat man, and arriving at a metal door that I assumed lead to the engine room. I gave a loud knock on the hard metal which rang out and hurt my knuckles.

“Wazzit.” came a voice from the other door.

“Excuse me sir, do you have a moment?”

“Ask Surly.”

“It will take just a second.”

A latch unhinged and the metal door creaked open. On the other side was a redwhiskered man, his shortness compounded by his hunch.

“Are you the conductor?” I asked.

“The conductor? No.” He had a gruff voice and impatient tone. “I’m Marty, just an engineer. Whaddya want?”

“Is the conductor here? I’d like to speak to him.”

“Mr. Frost is away. Now leave me alone. Unless you wanna give me a hand in the engine room. Come on!” He said, not even waiting for a response.

Inside was a complex system of pipes and valves. Periodically Marty would say ‘hold this,’ or ‘hand me the screwdriver.’

Sometimes, I would get opportunities to question him: “what can you tell me about the blackout?” “who is this Mr. Frost?” He wasn’t very much help.

“The blackout? I’ve been telling them to fix this dang thing for years now. No harm, no foul.”

“Actually a kid went missing.”

“A kid? Hand me the wrench.”

On the topic of Mr. Frost he didn’t say much.

“He’s a good man. Don’t say much. Old Marty likes it that way.”

After a while I was relinquished of my duties and was set free.

“So when do you think Mr. Frost will be back?”

“Oh, bugger off.” He said, and closed the door in my face.

I headed back to the cabins, when I looked at my watch and noticed the time: 11:27. I went to S. Kristen and knocked. The door opened instantly. The woman on the other side looked completely different from the nervous woman in the sitting car earlier. If I hadn’t known, I might have thought they were two different people. “Come in, come in.” She hastily brought me in and closed the door.

“I haven’t got much time.” She looked in the mirror, and seemed to hold her own gaze for a very long time. I cleared my throat, which snapped her out of her reverie.

“Oh, don’t you see?” She whirled, “Don’t you?”

“Ma’am? Do you have information on the missing boy? This is a very pressing matter.”

“Of course I know that!” She snapped. She marched to the tea set and poured two cups. I had the feeling this wouldn’t be the last cup of tea offered to me tonight. Now, sitting across from me, she brought her voice to a low whisper. “The boy is here.”

I nodded slowly. “Where?” I asked.

“Oh, what am I doing?” she mused. She got up with her cup and walked to the wall, “why must I always try to get in the way of what he wants?”

“Who? What who wants?”

She whirled. A look of consternation plagued her face.

“You should go.” She said. Page of 4 6

“Ma’am, I’m afraid you’ve already given me too much information. You must tell me what you know.”

She sat.

“The boy.” I prompted.

“Is with the conductor, Mr. Frost. As well as their ‘family heirloom.’”

“I see.”

“Now you must go. The hand is approaching the half hour. We will be seen.” She shoved me out of her cabin. But before she shut the door, she added: “I’m sorry you got mixed up in all this. Please, find him.”

The door closed.

Chapter Five - A Face with Death

What a bizarre case this was turning out to be. Everybody I’d met thus far had been exceptionally odd. What cosmic forces had brought this cast together to converge on this train? The woman I had just got done talking to had given me a heavier heart. Whether she was fibbing or not, one thing remained certain: I had to find this conductor. But first, I’d pay Jenny another visit.

I slid open the door to find her sitting down this time.

“Oh, hello again,” she said in her solemn yet composed way, “any news of my brother?”

“Yes, I think so. If the lady two doors down is to be believed, I just have to find the conductor. Your brother should be with him.”

“Oh.” Jenny’s breathing began to grow more rapid. “He’s with…him?”

Jenny fell to the floor of the cabin, hyperventilating. I rushed to her side.

“Jenny! Jenny. It’s okay. Calm down.” This was the first time I’d seen her like this. It was quite a shock. I guided her towards deeper and deeper breaths, until she finally regained her composure.

“I’m sorry. That won’t happen again.” She said.

“It’s okay. What got you so worked up?” I asked.

“If he’s with the conductor…you better not bother them. If we leave it be, I’m sure he’ll return my brother.”

“Nonsense,” I said, “I’ve been wanting to meet him since I got on this train.”

“Okay,” she said, “then…I’ll tell you how to call him.”

“He isn’t on the train. I talked to the engineer.”

“No,” she shook her head, “he isn’t on the train. But you can call him. Here’s how. Go into a bathroom alone and turn off all the lights. Light a candle, look in the mirror, and say his name three times.”

“Mr. Frost?” I asked. A shiver snaked up Jenny’s spine. “That’s right.”

So I went into one of the bathrooms alone with a tallow candle I’d borrowed from Surly, the goat bartender. The wallpaper was a deep purple with a diamond pattern. There were two lanterns on either side of the mirror, and the sink was a luxurious white and gold. I opened each lanterns and extinguished the flame. Then I lit my own candle and set it on the sink. Here goes nothing.

“Mr. Frost…Mr. Frost…Mr. Frost.”

I suddenly saw a face in the mirror behind me that wasn’t previously there. I whirled around and there he was in the candlelight: a tall man in a conductor hat. The man reminded me of a wolf. He had an evil expression and his presence was foreboding. The lights winked back on at his arrival.

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“Ah, so I finally have the honor to meet our most…inquisitive passenger.”

“It’s good to finally meet you. I hope you don’t mind if I ask you a few questions.”

“I would expect nothing less.”

“A boy has gone missing on this train. Would you happen to know his whereabouts?”

A boy, a boy

A silly thing to you and I

But when he grows he’ll be a man

And then you’d better worry

For if that man is wicked Or sick, vile and twisted It wouldn’t be so bad To put him out of his misery

But now he’s still a child

And there’s no telling what may come When spring blooms tenfold And his wintry song is sung

And yes it’s true I’ve seen him

The boy with one eye missing You do not need to worry He’s safe in my keeping

The limerick was over, and Mr. Frost made for the door.

“I’m afraid that is not satisfactory. His sister is here on the train, and they need be reunited. Plus, there is the question of the missing heirloom, of which I’m sure you’re aware.”

“Ah yes, that little family knickknack. I’m sure they’ll get over it. There is so much more to life than things.” And he left the room. To be continued…