Shadow Train (48 page)

Maggie was speechless.

“Go and check it out,” Violet urged, and Maggie raced down the steps. The basement was gloriously normal, filled with a Ping-Pong table, a pool table, a wet bar with a mini-fridge, a couch, and a big-screen TV.

She walked through it, taking it all in, and then she flopped down on the couch and sobbed, great tears of joy and relief pouring down her cheeks and onto the new leather sofa. She had expected to spend her life as her mother had spent hers, locked up in this house and guarding the basement door until she slowly lost her mind with loneliness. Now, she was free.

“You like it?” her mother shouted from above.

“I love it!” Maggie shouted back, her voice choked with emotion. “And we're totally going on that cruise this summer!” she said, and the invisible ghost crown on her brow throbbed in time with the beating of her happy heart.

* * *

Zhai and Kate embraced in her little train-car home for what he feared would be the last time. She'd told him again that she had to get back to her real home, in her own time, and he couldn't bear to think of what his life would be like without her.

The last few days had been a whirlwind of activity as he made arrangements for his parents' funeral, found a temporary place to live, and met with his family's lawyers to check on his father's will. What Li had told him was true. Somehow, Lotus had either convinced Cheung Shao to leave Zhai with nothing, or she'd forged his signature on a new will. He'd insisted that Nass and his folks keep the guesthouse until they found something else, or until Li's guardian, who Zhai knew had to be the new leader of the Black Snakes, evicted them.

To his surprise, Raphael and Savana had insisted he bunk with them for a while, until things got sorted out. He'd also had to find a job, which hadn't been as difficult as he'd expected. When Orias had returned from Dark Territory, he'd started his restitution thing right away. The first thing he'd done was sign all his interests in Jack Banfield's enterprises over to Aimee's mom, and then he gave his coffee shop, Elixir, to Savana so she and Raph would have a steady source of income. Savana had happily hired Zhai to work there, too.

Zhai also had to keep up with his schoolwork and, at Kate's insistence, he'd also made time to grieve for his dad and play his violin. Today, she had asked him to meet her in the train car for a special talk. He'd shown up with flowers and as usual, she scolded him for spoiling her and then led him inside. They sipped tea, kissed, and gazed into each other's eyes before she grew serious and got down to business. She took out a book—
A Local History of Central Ireland
—and opened it.

“I borrowed this from Miss Pembrook,” she said as she placed it before Zhai and pointed to a picture.

“That's me,” she said faintly, then sat back, waiting for Zhai's response.

The picture was labeled
St. John's School for Girls, August 1915.

Zhai looked from the picture to Kate. “You were adorable even back then,” he said and kissed her freckled nose.

She smiled sweetly at him. “Well, you know I'm a time traveler, but I haven't told you how it happened. I was out digging potatoes from our garden one day when my mother called me in, crying hysterically, saying my brother was on his way to Dublin to enlist in the army so he could go and fight the Germans. She shook our last bit of money out of the can where we kept it and told me I had to go and find him and talk him out of it. He was too young to sign up, but she knew that once the soldiers had him they wouldn't let him go.”

“And you took the train?” Zhai guessed.

“Aye,” she said. “But I was soon to learn it was no ordinary train. I was the only one on the car I boarded, but for our small village I didn't think that was anything unusual. I figured more people would be getting on soon. But we left the station and somewhere along the way, the train started glowing and picking up speed, going faster and faster until I got so dizzy I must have fainted. When I came to, it had stopped. You can imagine my surprise when I found out I was no longer in Ireland, and it was no longer 1915.”

“I can't imagine how hard that must have been for you—never to have seen all the modern technology we have—TVs, cell phones, airplanes. And no money to live on. I think you're a genius—I don't know anyone who could have made a home here in the locomotive graveyard and survive on fish and berries, with no electricity and no running water.”

“And don't forget—I'd found a couple of gold coins around these old wrecked trains. That helped a lot.” She frowned. “But I have to go back, Zhai, if there's a way. I've got to complete the task my mother sent me on. If I don't, my brother could die in the war. I've got to try and get back there.” She had tears in her eyes.

“I know,” he said. “And I've been thinking . . . maybe I'll go with you, if that's okay.”

“But what if something happens, and you aren't able to get back here? Are you absolutely certain that's what you want?”

Zhai nodded. “I'm sure. I'm hoping that with Aimee and the Wheel, we'll be able to come back once in a while—but even if we can't, I don't want to lose you.”

She kissed him, then, in a way she'd never kissed him before, and the kiss told him all he needed to know. “I don't want to lose you, either,” she said when she finally pulled away. “The only thing I can't figure out is why the train—or Halaliel, or the All—brought me here in the first place. I mean, sure I was a grenadier in the Army of Light, but you certainly could have won without me. . . .”

Zhai shook his head. “I couldn't have won without you. I couldn't even live without you. Kate, you taught me to
feel,
to need something, to open myself up to other people,” he said vehemently. “I never could have gotten through any of this without you. You taught me to love.” He reached into his pocket and took out the lock of hair she'd given him so many months ago. It felt like a lifetime.

“I've kept it with me ever since,” he said softly. “And I'll always keep it with me.”

Her smile was radiant as she went into his arms again. Not long after, they got together with Aimee, Maggie, and the Flatliners at Lily Rose's house for a special victory dinner. Even Orias was included in the celebration.

When they told everyone that Kate was going home and that Zhai was going with her, Lily Rose gave her a copy of
The Good Book.

“This will help you both in your spiritual journey,” she told them. “But it'll do more than that. We want you to keep in touch, to let us know how things work out for you. ”

Kate looked at the book in awe. “How does it do that?” she asked.

“Just write me a letter and tuck it inside the book,” said Lily Rose. “And let your heart fill with love when you think of us. The book will do the rest.”

“Zhai,” Raphael said. “It's a major decision, man. You sure you want to do this?”

“I'm sure,” Zhai said. “You know I've always felt a little out of step with these times—and all the plans my dad had made for me to take over his business. I've always felt a little like I didn't belong here. There's nothing left for me here—and I can't live without Kate.”

Orias cleared his throat. “I'd like to go, too,” he said. Everyone looked at him, surprised. “I have a lot to make up for,” he continued. “It wouldn't hurt to go back about a hundred years and get a head start.”

* * *

It was the earliest and most resplendent spring anyone in Middleburg could remember. As the days passed, neither the Flatliners nor the Toppers spoke of that terrible day filled with fighting and destruction. Most Middleburg residents, once they woke up from Dalton's song-induced sleep at Middleburg United, seemed not to remember the events at all. After the battle, they'd simply walked, squinting, into the unusually bright afternoon sunshine, heading back to their homes after what they'd thought had been a tornado warning. They hadn't even seemed to notice when Agent Hackett and his men climbed into their helicopters and Humvees and rolled out of Middleburg. The Obies who'd survived the fight had quietly left town. In place of the destruction that now seemed like an odd half-remembered dream, the ruined houses and buildings were now miraculously intact—except the one that had belonged to Oberon and Orias. The lot it had stood on—the whole town, in fact—was overrun with so many varieties of beautiful wildflowers that it looked like Lily Rose's garden had exploded. Orias had donated the property to Middleburg, along with some money, with the understanding that a park and teen community center be built there.

Nass had made good use of the early bloom. Every day after school, he'd spent hours gathering flowers, making them into bouquets and surprising Dalton with them at every possible occasion. Soon, she'd said she'd date him, run away with him, marry him—anything to get him to stop giving her the darned flowers. Her house was full of them, and she was getting tired of vacuuming up the petals. He said he'd be content if she would just forgive him—and she did. Nass and Dalton were officially Middleburg's most entertaining couple once more.

Raphael had enjoyed the beauty of the early spring only in passing; he'd been busy with school and rebooting his relationship with Aimee. He also had to help his mom run Elixir, and he'd managed to find housing for Emory's family. The rest of the Flats families had gotten a reprieve from eviction, since Jack Banfield had been found wandering around on Golden Avenue with no idea who he was. Aimee's mom had committed him to the state asylum, and she took over running his companies—after she and Aimee moved back into the Banfield mansion. Every Sunday Emily faithfully went to the county jail, where Rick was being held until his trial, but he continued to refuse to see her or respond to her letters.

Raphael tried to get to know his new baby brother, who his mom had named Gabriel, but Lily Rose was helping take care of him and she would let Raphael hold him for no more than a minute or two before she spirited him away to rest. Raphael wasn't worried about it, though. He'd have the rest of his life to get to know the little guy, and he trusted Lily Rose's judgment in all things, especially when it came to babies.

There hadn't been time, after what he'd come to think of as the Great War, to have a big celebration, and the Flatliners and the Toppers had mutually agreed to put it off until spring break. They had learned to peacefully coexist and there were no more gang fights and hardly ever any disagreements. They were all getting along so well that the Cunningham brothers joked about combining them into one group and renaming it the Flat-Toppers, and Nass had quipped that nobody'd better expect him to get some kind of loser retro haircut to go along with it.

The economic situation was improving, too. Agent Hackett had made good on Halaliel's suggestion about developing wind and solar power in Middleburg and not long after that, when Beet, Benji, and Josh were poking around in the old train graveyard they found an old safe that was full of gold coins. The best they could figure, it had been exposed when all the explosions shifted some of the old boxcars around. Letters in the safe dated it back to 1877, and laughing as if it was the biggest joke in the world, Aimee and Maggie had explained to them that it was the lost payroll the outlaws had been after when they'd gone back in time. It was Benji's idea to turn the locomotive graveyard into a train museum and charge admission. Every chance they got, they worked on cleaning up the place, and Josh built a website to promote it. Already, it promised to become some kind of cool tourist attraction. There was a lot to celebrate.

The party was going to be at Master Chin's farm and everyone in town was invited. The flyers Raph and his friends had posted downtown had billed it as a spring festival, but those who were in the know understood that it was a celebration of the Army of Light's victory over the Dark Territory hordes, and the restoration of the celestial staircase. Already the creepy feeling that had permeated Middleburg for so long seemed to be dissipating. Raphael wasn't sure why, but he guessed that maybe a backlog of ghosts and darker entities that had been loitering there were now moving on to a better place.

On the night of the party, Raph and his friends crammed into the Beetmobile and rolled up to Master Chin's farm. They found it transformed into a carnival, complete with rides, a live band, and dozens of food vendors.

Beet, Benji, and Josh insisted on using part of the money from the safe to pay for the party.

“It's like Disney World, right?” Benji asked.

“Like you've ever been to Disney World,” Beet scoffed.

D'von Cunningham was riding shotgun next to Beet. Ever since Beet found out D'von was into cars, they had been hanging out quite a bit. He glanced back now. “You've never been to Disney World?” he asked Benji in amazement.

“Of course not. You have any idea how much it costs?” Benji said.

D'von shook his head sadly. “I'm taking you there some time,” he said decisively. “Y'all are deprived.”

“Not as deprived as you losers,” Benji joked. “Our train museum is going to make a load of money. How about I take
you?
” And everyone laughed.

As soon as the car stopped, Raphael was out, and he and Aimee hurried, hand in hand, through the labyrinth of smiling faces and twinkling lights.

Master Chin's barn/kung fu school was at the center of the festivities. Its doors were shut, Raphael knew, because this was the V.I.P. area, the party within the party—the area reserved for members of the Army of Light and their families. Inside, Master Chin's
kwoon
was decked out, its rafters festooned with glowing paper lanterns and filled with potted flowering plants. Against one wall, there was a table full of all kinds of fancy gourmet food catered by Spinnacle, with servants in white linen uniforms dishing out delicious-looking portions of steak, au gratin potatoes, grilled salmon, salads, rolls, desserts—the works. Against another wall, there were burgers, barbecued ribs, hot dogs, and French fries supplied by Rack 'Em and served buffet style.