Rika Bennet found herself riding shotgun on the wagon of Remington Blackstone.
He mentioned he was making one of his normal trips back East, and offered to give her a ride as well.
It had been a while since she's last been to the Prairie Lands, or the little town of Wildflower, where she was born and raised.
A few months, maybe. Rondo had mentioned it recently as well, so she saw no real reason not to go.
She never found herself going past the Prairie Lands. Not if she could help it, at least.
The city of Stonegate and the world of civilization that stretched out beyond it, it seemed so rigid, almost suffocating.
It would never be for her, she thought. Others could thrive, but she might just go mad.
She'll always long to stand beneath the great, western sky.
She looked around. She knew they'd be reaching the plains soon.
Of course, they probably would have reached them by now if not for Remmy's penchant for stopping to collect plants or other ingredients for those tonics he makes and peddles.
They didn't taste great, but they seemed to work. And, of course, he wasn't above picking through an abandoned wagon or some crates left behind by someone.
“Frontier Treasures” he’d call them.
It didn't really matter though, she supposed. She wasn't in a hurry, she rarely ever was.
It worked out, though, since Remmy’s horse never seemed to be in a hurry either.
She looked down at the large, powerful horse pulling the wagon all on his own. He didn't seem at all bothered or even hindered by the wagon's weight.
His dark and ruddy coat had a healthy sheen, and when the light hit it just right you could see a ripple of red move down his body.
“Duke's quite the animal, isn't he?” Remmy asked, breaking the silence in that familiar drawl of his
“I figure he is. What kinda horse is he, anyway?” She asked
“What kind?”
He paused for a moment.
“He's a Southern Draft.” he answered with a smile
“Never heard of that breed before.”
“Well, you do live in the middle of nowhere, so it's not out of the question you haven't heard of them.”
Rika began to argue, before stopping and shrugging slightly. He wasn't wrong.
“Though in fairness they aren't all that known outside the South either.” he continued,
“I brought the old boy with me when I left home, I'd be lost without him. Isn't that right, Duke?”
Duke let out a grunt, bobbing his head slightly.
“Yes indeed, I can't see myself ever parting with ol’ Duke here. Even if that proposed Prairie Line idea were to go anywhere.”
“Prairie Line? What's that supposed to be?” Rika asked with a slight hint of concern for the answer
“Well, from what I've heard, some folks in Stonegate have suggested building a railroad line to connect the prairie towns to the main lines back east.”
“What for? Folks out there do just fine without trains.”
“A few people are starting to take notice of the farming and homesteading opportunities, as I understand it.” he said, frowning slightly,
“It would let them move more goods and the like, and possibly…”
He trailed off as he glanced at her, noticing her tensing up
“Well, possibly expand westward…”
She was quiet for a moment
“Nobody needs any of that…” she muttered quietly
After a few, awkward moments of silence Remmy spoke up.
“Well, luckily, the idea is fairly new and doesn't seem to be getting any heavy consideration at this point.”
She remained quiet.
A few minutes passed before Rika heard Rondo's voice echo in her head.
“Rika, I can sense something. It is approaching at a high speed.” said Rondo, still at home in her shadow
“Must be serious if you can feel it in there.” She thought back to him
She started scanning the horizon intently, with Remmy quickly taking notice.
“Something wrong?” he asked, pulling back on Duke's reins
“Rondo feels something.”
He reached behind his waist to his holster and pulled out that funny pistol of his. Made in the Old World and imported, she knew better than to underestimate it.
He knew how to use it and, though she might not like to admit it, he was an even better shot then her.
There weren't many folks that she could think of that she wouldn't want to get in a shoot out with, but one of them was Remington Blackstone.
They continued to look around before Remmy grabbed Rika’s shoulder and pointed.
She looked and saw a white, billowing cloud forming just up ahead off the right side of the road. It grew tumultuously, larger and larger before they heard something.
It sounded like a shrill roaring that echoed in the distance. But it was also somehow familiar.
The sound wailed out again and she recognized what it was.
A train whistle.
Seconds later, a steam locomotive erupted from the cloud with blistering speed.
Its whistle roared as fire belched from its smokestack and out from beneath it.
Trailing behind it were what looked like passenger cars, but it was moving far too fast to see inside.
“It's moving around without rails.” Rika said with shock and a touch of excitement
“Yes, but the way it's moving…”
Remmy trailed off as they watched the train move off a distance away before it began to make a wide turn.
“We have to go!” he said with barely hidden panic as he sat down and grabbed the reins, “Duke, ol’ boy, it's time to start hauling!”
Rika frowned as she realized what was happening. The end of the train's turn was putting it directly behind them.
Duke began to pull as the whistle let out its wail again. The powerful beast quickly reached an impressive speed for his size.
The wagon rocked and bumped wildly, as the train continued to catch up.
Again and again the whistle sounded as it grew closer and closer.
Rika watched helplessly as the train advanced, making small corrections as it did to stay right behind them.
As the train was about to reach them, right before impact, the whistle sounded and the world seemed to spin.
And then, darkness.
She felt a gentle shaking as she slowly regained consciousness. Was someone shaking her? No. It was the ground that was moving.
She could hear a low, steady rumble with various clicks and clacks accompanying it.
She rolled onto her stomach and began to push herself up, getting into a sitting position as she rubbed her eyes and opened them.
She found herself sitting in the aisle of a passenger car. She pulled herself up and looked down the length of the car.
There were benches on each side, with seats for two people on each bench. In most of the seats sat shadowy, semi-transparent figures.
They looked like people, but they had no features and seemed to take no notice of her.
Turning around she saw Remmy not too far behind her, beginning to sit up as well. She walked over, offering him a hand up when she reached him.
“You alright?” she asked, wobbling a bit from the trains motions
“I fear that remains to be seen.” he replied, taking her hand and pulling himself up, “I think it would be best to try and find a way off the train.”
“Right,” she nodded, “Gimme a second.”
She took a couple steps away from him.
“Rondo, you okay too?” she said in her mind
Nothing.
“Rondo? Partner?”
Silence.
He wasn’t there. He wasn’t in her shadow. Normally he’d respond right away.
She knew when he was in her shadow, she could feel it. It was difficult to explain, but she just knew.
“Everything alright, Rika?” Remmy said, placing his hand on her shoulder
“Rondo isn’t here…” she said, trying to hide the worry in her voice
“Oh.
He was silent for a moment before continuing.
"Well, perhaps he’s elsewhere. Further up the train, maybe. We appear to be in the last car.”
They looked out the windows, watching the scenery pass by in a blur. This train was moving with astonishing speed, that much they could tell.
“That was thoroughly unpleasant.” he said, wiggling his fingers as if to make sure they still worked
Rika glanced at one of the shades and let her own hand pass through it. It was a little cold, maybe, but hardly unpleasant.
She looked at him and saw him staring back incredulously before shaking his head and continuing on.
They passed through several cars, filled with only the shades, until they reached what they believed to be the last car before the engine.
Standing unmoving at the end of the car was a well dressed man in blue.
He didn’t seem to take notice of them as they entered, and they kept their hands near their guns as they slowly approached him.
They made it halfway down the aisle when, with a soft hissing sound, he perked up to attention and looked right at them.
“My oh my,” he said with a slight, tinny echo to his voice, “I don’t think you two belong here.”
“And who might you be, friend?” Remmy said, hand still hovering over his pistol
“I’m the conductor of this fine train. And you,” he raised his arm and pointed with a stiff, jerking motion accompanied by another hissing sound “aren’t supposed to be here.”
“We didn’t ask to be here, your train came after us!” Rika shot back
“Irrelevant! You’re on it now, and that's what matters!”
“Okay, so stop the train and let us off.”
“Stop the train?” he asked, still pointing and raising his thumb “You can’t stop the train. How ridiculous.”
“Then how do you expect us to leave, then?” asked Remmy
“Bang!”
The Conductor quickly lowered his thumb followed by popping, whistling sound and feeling something whizz by their heads.
A shot rang out almost immediately after and the conductor jerked back slightly. Rika never even seaw Remmy draw his gun.
They watched the Conductor lean forward again, the new hole in his chest leaking what appeared to be steam.
They looked at his hand, now missing its pointer finger, more steam billowing out from the hole where it used to be.
The Conductor bent his arm up at the elbow and, with his other hand, reached into his pocket and pulled out a new finger.
Another shot and the finger clattered to the floor, the hand that held it ripped open by a bullet.
There was no blood, no bone, just steam and twisted metal. The Conductor stared at his damaged hand and then at them.
“Very well,” he said, stepping forward, “the hard way then.”
Remmy didn’t hesitate, emptying his gun into the Conductor as he walked towards them.
Steam billowed out of his chest as his steps slowed, becoming stiffer and more awkward until the steam stopped pouring out and he fell to the floor.
The pair stared at the motionless shell as Remmy slid a new set of bullets into his pistol.
"No Rondo..." Rika said
"Perhaps he wasn't brought on board." Remmy said, trying to reassure her, "Maybe because he was in your shadow, or maybe because he's an Umbral Hound. Duke's not here either."
Maybe...
"Either way, we need to get off this train.
They left the car and stepped out into the rushing air. They were going to have to climb over the tender to get to the engine.
They carefully made their way over, Rika going first. Remmy gave her a boost letting her climb up and over the top, Rika turning around and pulling him up in turn.
Slowly and shakily they crawled over the tenders coal pile, trying to keep low.
Rika reached the end and slid down into the locomotive's cab, quickly raising her hand to signal Remmy to wait.
In the end of the cab, among the valves, pipes and gauges, was the upper body of a man.
His lower body was a mass of pipes attached to the engine itself. Below it was the door to the firebox, closed at the moment.
She saw an orange light through the man’s ragged shirt, slowly pulsing. She inched forward, her hand hovering over one of her guns.
The train bumped and the man jostled slightly. Once she was fully in the cabin, she noticed the pulse of the glow begin to quicken.
It pulsed faster and faster until it stayed lit, and the man raised his head.
He stared at her, his eyes glowing like embers.
“You ain’t supposed to be here.” he growled
She drew one of her guns and pointed it at him.
“We wanna to get off. Stop the train.” she demanded, pulling back the hamer on her revolver
“We? There’s more of you?! You ain’t supposed to be here!”
“Stop the train!”
“You can’t stop the train!” he roared, the firebox door swinging open and spitting a quick burst of flame,
“The train keeps going! There’s work to be done. People to move. Rails to be laid. We’re building the future! Destiny made manifest!”
“You ain’t building anything, you’re just driving around like crazy in the middle of nowhere!”
“You’re trying to stop the train! Stop humanity! Stop progress!” he shouted, the firebox belching more flames, “But you can’t. You won’t be allowed.”
Rika heard a thump behind her as Remmy dropped into the cabin.
"Sorry, but it was getting a bit bumpy out there for my liking." Remmy said before noticing the Engine Man, "Oh dear."
“Try as you might, nothing will hold humanity back!”
The Engine Man roared, spewing forth a burning, ember filled plume of smoke. Rika and Remmy dropped to the floor and Rika fired six shots.
Smoke and cinders shot out from his wounds as he roarded in pain and rage. He thrashed his arm about, futiley trying to reach her.
The train began to tremble. The man’s shirt ignited and burned away, revealing a large piece of burning coal in his chest.
“You think you’ve stopped me? Stopped the train? Stopped progress?” he said, placing his hand over his burning heart as cracks began to form on his body revealing a fiery glow within him,
“You’ve done nothing. We’ll continue onwards, never stopping. We’ll carve out our path and tame this land with hearts of burning coal! With roaring fire and billowing steam!”
The Engine Man released a final defiant roar as the train began to quake violently.
The engine bulged out towards them before an explosion of fire and steam ripped through with a deafening boom.
Rika felt herself sailing through the air.
And then, darkness.
She felt herself on the ground. Hard and unmoving. She heard a voice.
“Rika.”
It sounded distant.
“Rika!”
But it was familiar, closer now.
“Please, wake up.”
“Rondo…?” she asked wearily
Her eyes slowly opened and saw Rondo looking down at her. She began to sit up, Rondo putting his head against her back and pushing to help.
She wobbled for a moment before wapping her arms around him and hugging him in relief.
She looked around. Down the road a short way was the wagon. She looked next to her and saw Remmy stirring on the ground. He rolled over and slowly sat up as well.
“What happened?” she ask, turning back to the Umbral Hound,/p>
“The train was pursuing us. When it blew its final whistle, you and Remington fell unconscious, and the train vanished in a burst of steam before it hit the wagon.
The two of you fell from the wagon shortly after.” he said, walking around her to make sure she uninjured
“But we were on the train.”
“You never left. I had to squeeze out from under you to leave your shadow.”
She pulled out her gun and checked the cylinder. Six empty casings.
“I appear to be missing a clip as well.” said Remmy, feeling around in his coat and stumbling to his feet
Rondo watched Rika stand as well.
“Well,” Remmy said after a moment, “let’s go check on Duke then, shall we?”
He began walking back to the wagon, followed by Rondo who turned to see Rika staring out towards the horizon.
“Nobody needs any of that…” she muttered quietly
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