I'll Burn With You (MXM)

Chapter 14 : Which Mill Creek

Several parcels tied in brown paper and twine clutched under his arms, Ben left the haberdashery and ran, trotting across the square and back to the Meyer, Jonestown, & Mill Creek railroad station. Taking a seat at an outside bench, packages beside him, he sat upright and stared out at the street, straightening himself out in the window's reflection. Ben swallowed, his breath and stomach uneasy, his face burning in the July air. "Twelve o'clock," he muttered to himself, glancing up to the two-faced clock hanging overhead, chiming out 12:00. He whispered the time to himself again, turning back to the street. Ben swallowed the hot moist air, hands folding into his lap. He fixed his hair, straightened his clothes.

A train departed from behind him, the wagons aching as they started moving. A cloud of steam drifted from the breezeway, tugging the summer air with it.

He wiped his eyes of perspiration, sighing. Exhaustion began creeping through him; he could see the fire. Ben so wished the city was not so tiresome, though he also reveled in it, even if he would not admit it.

Regardless, his eyelids grew heavy. He regretted not bringing her letter with him, to keep himself awake, distract him. He missed her beautiful, kind words.

Placing one hand on the packages, Ben closed his eyes and drew in another sticky breath, waiting.

Somewhere in the distance, church bells rang out.

The clock framed by the two graceful figures read 12:02. Fidgeting with his fingers, Jack could not bear to torture himself like this anymore, yet he could not bring himself to look away. Jack studied every person coming in through the front doors, his stomach uneasy with every new arrival. Every new departure, he observed. He waited, hoping for Ms. Price to wander through, her eyes wide, seeking him out.

He grunted, clearing his throat and placing a hand over his stomach. He stood up to pace, only to sit back down a moment later and remove some paperwork. Jack threw it back into the suitcase and rose again, stepping quick across the waiting room to the newsstand. He glanced at the roses beside him, their buds closing. Jack chuckled but could not shake away the feeling of dread sitting in his stomach.

He sighed again, leaning forward. "What train is she coming in on?" His blue eyes turned to the station's schedule, glancing it over and over. He moved closer, reading through it again. Another minute passed before he succumbed to the anxious feeling burning through him; Jack stood, grabbing his suitcase, flowers, and approaching the ticket counter. "Excuse me, what time does the train from Durmont come in?"

The ticket agent blinked. "You must be mistaken. Trains to and from Durmont don't use this station."

He could feel his blood run cold. "What? There's another station?" Jack asked.

"Yes, Durmont's serviced by the Meyer, Jonestown, & Mill Creek line," they whispered, taking out a small piece of paper. "Are you meetin' someone?"

"I – y-yes, I am. Where is this station?"

They wrote out the address, then handed it to him. "Turn left when you exit the station. Follow the tram line on Railroad Avenue left to the public square. It's on the right side; you can't miss it."

"Th-thank you," Jack spluttered, throwing the bouquet into his arms and sprinting through the front doors and into Mill Creek.

He waited, fidgeting as he watched every passenger depart the station. Ben peeked into the waiting room a few times, but no one cared to see him. He listened to the sound of the sighing locomotives pass in and out of the yard, assembling trains ready for departure back to Jonestown or to Meyer further down the line. The arriving riverboats and the men screaming as they slowly docked.