Suddenly, a long and haunting note pierced the night air. A deep reverberating hum settled along the old iron bars like a tuning fork as a stone embedded in the rust at my feet came free and rolled to one side. A prickle went down my spine into my feet. Fear blocked reason. This could only be one thing, a train.
With a shriek of steam and grinding metal, a massive black steam engine erupted from the tunnel mouth spewing smoke like a black dragon arisen from the darkest depths of the earth. Blue flame coursed over its riveted body like ghostly waves as white hot steam escaped in powerful jets from huge pistons and blue sparking wheels.
A flash of light snapped me back into reality. Instinct took over, and I dove into the safety of the brush. The train hurtled past, and then it vanished into the forest without sound or trace.
Scrambled footsteps clattered across the gravel. Jessie crouched down beside me and helped me to my feet. “Justin, are you’re all right?” I nodded, and she wrinkled her nose in disgust. “You could have been killed!”
“I thought you said the line was cut! Wait! The camera went off as it came out! Let’s see the picture!”
She flipped up the image, and we both froze. There was no train, just a ghostly blue streak. I felt my blood run cold. “That can’t be right. We didn’t just imagine that thing!”
She shook her head. “Let’s go home before anything else happens.”
I looked back at the empty tunnel mouth. “Yeah, let’s get out of here.”
“That’s the smartest thing you’ve said all night, Justin.”
The wind still whispered with the echoes of what happened that summer night as we scrambled back up the embankment. Somehow I knew that this was only the beginning.
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