Light as a Feather, Silent as the Grave

Chapter 15

In the ladies bathroom at Union Station, I gawked at my reflection in the mirror over the sinks. With a few minutes of semi-privacy to let my drastically new look sink in without Trey's disapproving expression, I simply couldn't tear my eyes off of blue-eyed blonde whose eyes met mine in the mirror. Esther really had made me look kind of like Olivia. The girl I saw in the mirror was more delicate, more traffic-stoppingly gorgeous, than I'd ever been in my whole life. Even though looking so different from myself was horrifying, I had to admit: I kind of liked it.

My new huge eyes, long lashes, and full lips were a great distraction from the awful decision I was going to have to make within the next few minutes. We'd ended up at the train station even without agreeing that a train would be our method of transportation out of Chicago. Having tickets already waiting for us at the Amtrak counter made escape via train seem pretty appealing, so we'd ditched Laura's VW Bug at a meter on Van Buren Street. An hour and ten minute had passed since we'd fled Esther's house. By now she could have easily figured out that Laura and Trey had swapped places, although I wanted to believe that if she'd already made that realization, she'd have repealed the glamour spell on me. If we intentionally missed the train to California that we were booked to ride on, by the time we finalized an alternate plan, the credit cards in Laura's purse could have been cancelled and we'd be stuck at the train station, penniless.

As an additional complication, neither of us looked like Laura anymore, which was sure to be problematic if we attempted to use her credit cards for anything pricier than lattes at Starbucks. I'd never had a credit card of my own, but had been with my dad's girlfriend Rhonda plenty of times in Tampa when store clerks had asked her for photo identification to verify that the name on the credit was her own.

When I stepped out of the women's restroom, I saw Trey waiting for me on one of the wooden benches in Union Station's elegant Great Hall. The station was swarming with people rushing to work with cups of coffee clutched in one hand and newspapers tucked under one arm. Fortunately for us, they were all in far too much of a hurry to get to their offices to take notice of a sullen boy slouching into his hoody. Sensing that this might be my last opportunity of the morning to try to gain control over our predicament without having an explosive argument with Trey, I walked the perimeter of the Great Hall behind Trey's back so that he wouldn't see me, and pushed my way through the crowds down a long hallway. The station bustled with the smells and sounds of morning; a long line snaked out of a Corner Bakery where customers were waiting to order croissants and coffees. Following signs, I found my way to the significantly less crowded Amtrak area, and nosed around at the ticketing counter until I was pretty sure I'd figured out which train Esther had booked us on.

There seemed to be only one train that went directly to California, and it did so by way of Texas. I slid the pamphlet for the 421 Texas Eagle line into my coat pocket, and in doing so, my fingers brushed against my cell phone. It was Tuesday morning; Henry was either at O'Hare about to board a return flight to France, or was already miles overhead in the sky. It was ridiculous of me to expect him to come running to my aid, I knew. He'd voluntarily conducted research on his own about how to destroy the trees on the Simmons' property, but he'd never outright said he'd make himself available in Weeping Willow after the ground thawed to help me. I couldn't blame him for wanting to distance himself from Violet and the challenge I'd undertaken, and I deliberated for a long minute before tapping my phone's screen to contact him. I had to take a lot of possibilities into consideration by even reaching out to him; it was possible that his phone was being monitored by the police in Weeping Willow if my parents had given the cops any reason to believe he might have been involved in my sudden disappearance while en route to Florida.

Hey Henry. Trey and I are going to get Mischa. If you hear from Laura, don't trust her, and don't tell her anything.

I hit send after reading and re-reading my message a few times to make sure that it didn't seem like I was insisting that he jump back into the action. Of course, I wanted him to find a way to meet us in California and help. But that was too great of a request for me to make, especially considering all he'd done to aid me and Trey back in January.

And considering that he'd laid his emotions bare for me just a few days ago, knowing that my connection to Trey was something I couldn't abandon. The beautiful silver orchid pendant he'd given me was in the suitcase I'd left behind at O'Hare when Trey and I had gotten into Laura's car. I knew I'd probably never see it again, which made me regret the actions I'd taken over the course of the last twenty-four hours even more.

Back in the Great Hall, I sat down next to Trey and absorbed the spectacle of morning rush hour, daring to wonder if I'd ever be a grown-up with an important job like all of those around us considering the mess I'd managed to make of my life. Trey stirred to life and stretched one arm around my shoulders, making me suspect that he might have nodded off during the time that I was studying my appearance in the ladies' room and exploring the train station.

"It's nine-fifteen," I announced, knowing that this probably wouldn't mean anything to Trey. "I think Esther has us booked on Train 421, the Texas Eagle. It takes about three days to go all the way along the bottom of Texas to Los Angeles."

Surprising me (and giving me a little hope that he might not insist that we try to use Laura's credit cards to get to Alaska), Trey perked up. "Texas, huh? How far south does it go?"

I shrugged, trying to make it seem as if I hadn't just practically memorized the train's route a few minutes earlier. "Um, I think it stops in all the major cities. San Antonio? Austin?"

Trey lifted one eyebrow, intrigued. "What about El Paso? Does it stop there?"

"I think so."

"El Paso's right on the Mexican border. That might work to our advantage."

A quick Google search on my phone indicated that the Mexican border crossing at El Paso was probably not going to be a piece of cake to cross. There was a long, multi-lane bridge with scary-looking border patrol stations at its center, surrounded on both sides by a tall fence. It was kind of impossible to get a sense of how hard it would be to pass through on foot, and exactly what awaited on the Mexican side of the border. Juarez was the Mexican city on the other side of the border, and what little I knew about Mexico from watching cable TV suggested that Juarez was not exactly the safest of places. Neither of us spoke especially good Spanish, so I wasn't sure if I was super in love with the idea of fleeing our problems with the law for Mexico, but El Paso was over half of the way to Long Beach, where Mischa was training.

"So," I began hesitantly, "The train probably starts boarding in about fifteen minutes. Should we just get on and see what happens?"

Trey looked like he was about to say something and then his face exploded into a brilliant smile. "Sorry. It's just so weird looking at you right now. It's like... cuddling with a total stranger."

He looked like he was sort of blushing, and that really ticked me off. "Um, do you like me better this way?" I asked.

Thankfully he had the sense to shake his head and reply, "No. God, no. Definitely not. It's super weird."

With the twenty-dollar bill that we found in Laura's wallet we bought coffee at Dunkin' Donuts after a brief disagreement about whether it was smarter to risk getting busted using her credit card or to waste valuable paper money. The enormous train was waiting with its doors open on the track as advertised on the track listing inside the station. Its engine, even at rest, was so loud that I sensed its vibrations in my bones.

Just as we were about to step aboard, Trey grabbed my arm. "Wait," he whispered. I followed his gaze further down the track and when I saw what he'd seen first, I gasped and spun around to face the doorway leading back inside the station.