The man held the girl’s hand in a tight grip, while she followed meekly with slow and heavy steps. She seemed to be wearing a backpack. Maybe it was heavy and tough to carry, David reasoned. But he immediately knew that wasn’t it. The girl didn’t want to go with him. He also became aware of the train slowing down and heard a few honks from the conductor’s horn. They must be nearing the station that Dad had mentioned. An explanation began to coalesce in David’s mind: the man and the girl were going to get off at the next station; the man was not this girl’s father; the girl did not want to go with him.

  His stomach tensed up, which he knew was his body’s way of getting ready to take action. But his head didn’t know what to do. And that’s when the girl lifted her head up and the boys saw a look of terror on her face. She said nothing, but her eyes searched up and down the aisle as she walked, as if wanting someone to intervene.

  That’s when she locked eyes with David, and then Robbie. Both boys stared unabashedly at her and it seemed as if her tired eyes had found new life suddenly - someone had noticed her, finally. She looked all around her again but all of the passengers seemed to be talking, looking out the window, or reading their devices. No one was paying attention except the two boys. She fingered a crumpled ball of paper inside her pocket with her free hand and made up her mind: it was now or never.

  As the man and the girl passed near the boys’ seat, she shouted and turned around: “Oh no, I think I forgot something in my seat.” The man instinctively turned back and as he did so, she flung something out of her pocket which bounced off the table between the boys and landed on the floor, near Robbie’s seat. The man turned his head back without noticing what she had done and noticed a few people looking at them with curiosity. He got frustrated.

  “What? Are you sure? No, we have everything. C’mon.” He grabbed her arm roughly as if to remind her not to play any tricks. “It doesn’t matter. We need to get off or we’re gonna miss our bus”. He smiled a fake smile and shrugged at the passengers who had been watching – as if to say ‘kids, you know…’ - and, since the girl said nothing else, they turned back to their distractions. The man kept walking and led her down through the snack car. On the intercom the conductor announced the impending stop: “Desert Station” and the train began slowing to a stop.

  Robbie and David looked at each other and, as soon as the man was slightly further away, Robbie grabbed the object the girl had thrown. It was a balled-up napkin. When he unfurled it, it had something in roughly-drawn ink letters that Robbie immediately turned to show his brother. David’s heart jumped as he read it: ‘HELP! PLEASE!”.

  “What’s happening” Robbie asked with concern, not quite knowing why his brother should know. David gave him a helpless shrug that screamed, I don’t know, wanting to run out of his seat and say something, but not being totally sure what to do. Was she being kidnapped? He looked several rows behind him to see if any passengers noticed anything. He should say something to them, but what if it was all a joke? He’d feel really stupid if the whole thing was an elaborate prank. And his parents were a few cars away – it would take him a while to get to them.

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  He heard the hiss of the train as it came to a full stop and as he looked down the aisle the old man and the girl had just left the snack car and were beginning to make their way out of the train and down a step ladder between the cars. He looked at Robbie and his breathing got faster and shallower his head and his heart went to war with each other. His heart said: She’s in danger. What if that was you? Or Robbie? But his head said: This is something for adults, the train’s about to leave, and your parents don’t know what’s happening. Don’t be foolish.

  Finally, he couldn’t take it any longer. He looked Robbie in the eyes and said “Stay here!” With this, he dropped his candy bar down, ran down the aisle through the snack car, yanked his body in a sharp right turn to the door, and flung himself down the step ladder to the platform.

  The small station’s platform was totally empty and he stopped suddenly, not knowing which way to go. On his left was a ticket booth, but it looked closed. He ran across the platform, in the direction of the town, but as he turned the corner of the station, all he saw were a few parked cars some distance to his left and a woman walking on the other side of the street. His heart beat furiously as he turned to look back at the train, assuming it would start up again anytime. It was still there, unmoving, though he heard the engine running. How much longer did he have?

  Then he heard the sound of an engine starting and saw a white pickup truck coming out of a side street. He took a few quick steps forward to see better and inside the truck he saw the man from the train. But now there was another man with him, driving the truck. Where was the girl, though? As their vehicle turned onto the main street and away from him, he finally saw her sitting between them – no doubt about it. Suddenly the train’s horn boomed through the air in two quick bursts and David’s heart almost popped out of his chest. It was leaving. Immediately after, there was a ringing sound that he knew meant the doors were going to close.

  That’s when he saw Robbie jump off the train.

  When David had left the train, Robbie hadn’t known what to do except to go get his parents, who were several cars down from them. He had started running down the aisle and past the snack car, but in the next car after that, he was stopped in his tracks. An elderly man and his wife were blocking the aisle with their luggage and walking very slowly in his direction. He was stuck. He briefly considered climbing over the seats to go around them but most of the seats were filled with people and he wouldn’t be able to explain to them what was happening.

  He had turned around and gone back to the door that David had left from and had decided to stand guard at the door. As he had watched David helplessly wander about the station, he also knew the train would be leaving soon and had made up his mind he would not leave David alone. When he had heard the ringing of the train, and one of the train workers had come by to gently remind him to step away from the door, he nodded and backed away from the exit. But as soon as the employee turned around, he jumped down the ladder onto the platform and ran after his brother.

  David felt a mix of relief and alarm as he saw Robbie running towards him, and the doors of the train closing behind him. Just as Robbie reached him, the train started up and began to leave the station. Robbie collided into him and gave him a big hug - it felt really good to have him there with him. Then they both turned to look at the train as it took their parents away and left them behind.

  ? 2025 Gil Pedro Bento. All Rights Reserved.