The train wheels clattered as the pinewood forests rolled past the window. My car was a quiet one, but one expects such a thing on a small line traveling to a sleepy little town.
In car 3C, it was just me and a hippopotamus that had chosen to seat himself in the back corner, away from me. After my long years in Defkin, I became accustomed to half human animals, and even considered many my friends. This one was not.
I stared at the diamond patterning on the green wallpaper, and probably would have drifted off, had a door at the end of the car not slid open.
It was a black cat, a female with a shapely body, clad in a pink track suit. She was attractive, if you happened to be feline and were into that sort of thing.
She surprised me by taking the plush upholstered bench right in front of me. "Is this seat taken?"
I waved for her to sit down.
She offered her paw. "Tangy."
"Spanky," I said, shaking it.
She laughed. "That's your name?"
I shrugged.
"My condolences."
"My last name is Spankton," I said. "My family runs a line of bakeries. If you've been on the force as long as I have, nicknames grow on you."
"So you're okay with me calling you Spanky."
I just smirked.
Looking amused, she grinned and said, "All right...Spanky. You piqued my interest. You're a police officer?"
I shook my head. "Was. I'm retired now."
She still seemed impressed. "Where are you headed?"
"Crimson Beaks."
She frowned. "That seems like an unusual choice for a vacation."
"I'm moving there," I said. "It's a nice little quiet town. I know some people, er, animals there."
Tangy grabbed my hand, staring at me with a look of concern. "Spanky. You don't want to do that."
"Why not?" I said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
"You just don't." She glanced back and forth like someone were watching her. "I've heard things about that town. Animals have disappeared. Trust me, Mr. Spanky. You don't want to do this."
I pulled my hand away. "I'm friends with two police officers there. Officer Zany and Officer Pudgy. I trust them. I'll be perfectly safe. If something's off, I'll take it up with them."
She sighed. "I hope you're right."
"So," I said, changing the subject. "What about you? What's with the jogging clothes?"
Tangy reddened. "It's embarrassing. I was in the middle of a workout when I suddenly remembered the time. I boarded five minutes before the train started taking off."
I smiled. "And what do you do for a living?"
The question appeared to catch her off guard. "I...teach school."
She smiled, but it was a nervous smile.
"Do you...like your job?" I prompted, growing suspicious.
"Yes," she said. And then I heard a cel phone ringing.
She dug a small silver flip phone out of her pocket. "Excuse me, I've got to take this."
She disappeared through a door at the end of the car.
An hour passed, but she didn't return. I figured she had found her correct seat, or had gone to the restroom and `fallen in.'
After ten more minutes of solitude, I decided to give my legs a stretch and go check on her.
I traveled the length of the train, from the deluxe compartments near the engine to the rear caboose, asking about, but no one knew anything about a cat in a track suit, not even the ticket takers or security could tell me. It was as if she hadn't existed at all.
On the way back to my car, I found a cel phone on the floor, a silver flip phone matching the model I'd seen tangy pulling out of her track suit.
It had been left near an outer door, the one hanging over the tracks.
And there, sticking out a crack in the door, was a piece of torn pink fabric.