Temporal Exploring 101 - Branch Cut

V.24 Like a sister

"Thank you, Miss," the conductor said as he handed back Mallory Carmichael's ticket.

Fortunately, it was not the person who had checked our tickets on our previous unauthorized excursion to London, the one whom Mallory had told that we were students of St. Carmichael's School for Specially Gifted Girls – a completely unnecessary bit of silliness that had earned her a spanking, or perhaps even a caning, at the hands of Headmistress Stuart later on.

I had feared that we might encounter the same conductor as last time and that he was going to recognize Mallory and make a fuss about it, perhaps to the point where he might have informed the police. Which would have foiled our plans right at the start.

To my relief, Mallory had refrained from spinning tall tales for an unsuspecting conductor, this time around. To be fair, she had applied her story-telling skills in order to save our butts, back then. Though I suspected that the wish to to amuse herself had been at least part of her motivation.

"Thank you, sir," Mallory now replied. "Are we going to arrive in London on time?"

"Yes, I expect that we will, Miss. There has been no delay worth mentioning, so far," the man told us.

He proceeded to check my ticket, then he walked over to where a family of four was seated on the other side of the aisle. "Good morning, may I have a look at your tickets, please?"

The Sunday morning train to London was not exactly crowded with passengers.

If our plan succeeded, tomorrow the authorities, including but not limited to the police, would leave no stone unturned in their efforts to determine the whereabouts of the missing student Eunice Ndemba, royal princess of Kwilbasi.

Natty, Mallory, Ndemba and I had taken a number of precautions in order to avoid standing out or attracting any sort of special attention.

Rather than travel together in one compartment as a group of four girls, one of them black, we had split into two groups: I was sharing a bench with Mallory while Natty and Ndemba were sitting together at the other end of the carriage.

Also, we were not so stupid as to wear our school uniforms, this time. I had chosen a nondescript blue skirt, a white blouse and a duffel coat while Mallory was wearing corduroy pants, a blouse and a matching blazer.

Mallory was sitting next to the window. I watched her watch the scenery – currently consisting of fields, pastures and forests for the most part – pass by.

Great Gauss, she was so breathtakingly beautiful. That amazing auburn hair, those brilliant green eyes and those – extremely kissable – lips that had a tendency to curve into a warm, dazzling smile whenever she happened to look at me.

I could not help but wonder and marvel at what she could possibly see in me, a girl who was neither particularly beautiful nor, for that matter, all that entertaining.

At that point Mallory turned to face me.

"What are you looking at, Hart? Would you prefer to have my seat, at the window?"

"Nah, I am fine."

"But from your place, there is so little to be seen. Just plain old Mallory Carmichael," she added with a self-deprecating smile.

I snorted. "Yes, just plain old Mallory Carmichael. A bit like looking at some plain old sunset over the Pacific Ocean or at that plain old mirage of colors of the leaves on the trees in autumn. Or like listening to Beethoven's plain old fifth symphony."

I was fairly certain that I had never seen Mallory Carmichael blush before. But now she did.

"If any further proof were needed, this goes to show that, as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder," Mallory softly observed. She leaned closer to me. "When I look into a mirror, all that I see is plain old Mallory Carmichael. But when I look at you, Hart, I see beauty beyond words."