Chapter three Meeting your neighbors.

The kids looked up at the man who stood in the doorway holding out their tickets. Danny took the both of them and lead his sister inside. They stepped inside onto a deep red plush carpet. The first thing they noticed was the warmth that seeped into their chilled fingers and toes. The sting told them how cold they had gotten without being fully aware of it. Jazmine gave one strong shiver which seemed to flush out the remnant of the cold as she didn't shiver again the rest of the trip. Then as they looked around they took in their surroundings more thoroughly. There were benches all along the car all facing forward except the one in the very front which faced backward and was equipped with some kind of squawk box. There was an assortment of children of all races in various sleeping clothes: some were sitting at the benches and looking out the windows or talking to their neighbors, some were jumping up and down on their seats or running between the isles, and one little girl in bunny pj's with a fluffy tail and blonde hair was doing twirls.

Danny heard the door slide shut behind him. He grabbed Jazz's hand and lead her to the nearest empty bench. He set her down and slid in next to her. The conductor made his way to the front and grabbed the old fashioned microphone and clicked it to life. He then addressed the kids.

"Alright people settle down. We have all of our passengers and are now officially on our way to the North Pole. My name in Mr. Lancer and I will be your conductor this evening. It's about an hour and a half trip and it's my job to see you all safely there, on time, and return each of you to your homes. If everyone stays on their best behavior and no one causes any trouble, this shouldn't be a problem." Here he gave a warning glare and caught every pair of eyes with his own. He continued on.

"Tonight will be a night to remember for each of you. The North Pole is a special place. There is nowhere else like it on Earth. And one of you will receive the first gift of Christmas." His speech was interrupted by a sturdy kid, perhaps a year or so older than Danny, with blond hair and a square jaw. His clothes were a solid blue with a red and white outer coat. He had an 'all-American-football-star' vibe.

"Who gets the first gift of Christmas?' He called out in a self-assured voice. Mr. Lancer instantly planted his eyes on the child and locked his gaze as though searching his soul. The child gave an audible gulp. Without breaking his gaze Lancer answered the now nervous child. "Santa will choose one of you". Finally, he broke his glare and swept his eyes around the room, and Danny wondered if being chosen was a good thing or not judging by the reaction of this conductor.

Then the conductor broke into a smile that reflected genuine content and said, "Now, it's my pleasure to serve you tonight. We'll have snacks in an hour and then to Santa before you know it." With a screech that had all of the kids clutching their ears Lancer clicked off the mike and returned it to it's place on the wall and sat down.

Danny sighed from his seat and settled further into the cushion. He looked at his sister who was looking around the car with shy curiosity. Danny took a moment to look at the other kids himself. He saw a group of kids towards the middle of the car in the same area as the blond kid who spoke up earlier. The kid was talking with the blond girl that was twirling earlier, an Asian kid that was the tallest of the group, and a dark haired beauty. She looked to be Hispanic and her wide dark eyes caught the light in a mesmerizing way. Danny found himself staring. He continued to look until the girl turned around in her seat and her eyes caught his. He quickly looked away feeling his face turning red. He heard laughter coming from that direction and only felt his blush deepen. Jazmine noticed and turned towards him.

"Danny?" she questioned. Before he had the chance to answer his sister he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up to see who it was. Standing next to him was a dark skinned boy who might have been a bit younger than Danny but older than Jazz. So…seven maybe? His clothing style reflected a different culture than Danny's and he had to wonder if there were kids representing all parts of the world on this train.

"Hello" he said in a rich melodic accent. "May I sit with you?" He seemed very formal in his speech. Danny gave a short nod at the kid and slid over further. Jazmine looked at the kid with an intensity that Danny was afraid would be interpreted as rude. But the new kid didn't seem to take any notice as he pulled out from his clothes a strange hand held device.

"My name is Takondwa. But my English name is Tucker. Or just Tuck. You may call me as you like." His English was proficient, if not to a level of fluency yet. It took some effort, but the kids could understand him well enough. Danny nodded his head and replied.

"Hello Tucker. I'm Danny and this is my little sister Jazmine. Or just Jazz." Takondwa, or Tucker as Danny was already referring to him in his head, smiled at the both of them.

"Hello, then, Danny and Jazz. It is a pleasure to meet you. I cannot wait to get to the Northern Pole. My home country of Malawi rarely sees snow." After making this proclamation he turned to the device he held in his hand and turned it on. Danny and Jazz were both a bit taken aback by this newcomer. His speech was extremely formal, though Danny attributed that to learning English through a classroom environment which rarely focuses on colloquialism or casual vernacular. But he seemed friendly enough.

Jazmine, ever they shy but inquisitive one, had been studying Tucker the entire time and leaned over her brother to speak to the boy. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again, her cheeks tinted red. Danny knew that meant his sister wanted to be friendly but couldn't think of anything to say to break the ice. Danny almost rolled his eyes at this. He was starting to worry that his sister was developing a handicap from her shyness. He took pity on her and asked what he knew she was curious about: the handheld device.

"So Tucker, what is that?" Danny took a concerted effort to limit his use of contractions in his speech to be more easily understood. Tucker looked up at him with a wide smile. "This is called a PDA. I can use it for many things. Right now I am researching this kind of train. It is a very old style. I do not believe they are made anymore."

"Oh." Danny replied. "Any luck?" "Yes. This is a…"

He was interrupted by a commotion coming from the front of the train. Danny craned his neck to see over the seats to see what was happening. From what he could tell one of the kids from before had cornered a heavy set kid with frizzy red hair and his friend.

"What's with those clothes?" Rang the snarky voice, instantly raising Danny's hackles. Many of his own fights had started with similar opening lines. "Did you come from some place that hasn't invented pajamas yet or something?" Danny was not surprised to see that it was the same blond kid from before who had challenged Mr. Lancer. The same Mr. Lancer that was nowhere to be seen. Danny could only guess that after the humiliation he had suffered, the kid needed to reestablish his dominance. In the back of his mind Danny found it strange that the fact that they were on some form of mystical magical train seemed to have made no dent in the usual social priorities of the bully.

A female voice cut into the conversation. Danny saw that the Hispanic beauty had entered the conversation. "Come on Dash. He probably doesn't have any money to buy decent sleep wear." Now she grabbed her nose and added spitefully, "or hot water for a bath. You know, in the last five months or something." The redhead's face began to blush a shade that clashed with his hair.

Tucker made an aggrieved sound from beside Danny. His face was scrunched up and his lips were in a thin line, but he hunkered down lower in his seat, not liking the situation but not seeing it his place to get involved. Danny tried to resolve himself to do the same and looked out the window in an effort to ignore the commotion, but as he looked toward the fogged glass he caught the reflected image of his sister's eyes. She was gazing out into the inky night staring at nothing. And Danny was lost for a moment thinking about all of the times he had tried to save his sister when nobody else would look up to see the torment of a little girl. Especially the freak kid of the Fentons'. The kid who saw things. When Danny heard a voice speak up he was broken from his slight trance and his attention was brought back to the front of the train.

"Leave Michael alone." This was said by the slender dark haired companion of the now named Michael. He had what Danny equated with an Irish accent.

"Leave Michael alone," came the mocking voice of the Asian kid. "Ha! Good one Kwan!" Dash praised. The two shared a high five over the two kids heads that they had squashed between the two. Now the dark haired kid began to flush like Michael but for a whole different reason.

Danny had slid himself out of his seat around Tucker before he even realized he was standing up. He watched the interaction wavering on what he wanted to do.

"Stop it."

"Stop it."

"Stop It!"

"Stop It!"

"It's fine Nathen. Ignore them." Said Michael. But Nathen continued,

"Just stop it, Please! We aren't doing anything to you. If you don't like the way someone smells sit somewhere else. There's plenty of seats in here".

"Oh, yeah?" Dash had stepped back in to continue his own torment. "It doesn't matter how far away you sit, 'cuz you're stinkin' up the whole trail. Guess you'll just have to sit on the roof."

Danny had crept up to the group and was now nearly at arm's reach without having been seen. Sometimes this creeping ability that he had honed so well made Danny feel like he was nothing more than a shadow that could be seen, but wasn't worth the effort of taking notice. A frustrating ability sometimes, but one that certainly had its advantages.

"I know." Said the bright voice of the beauty queen. "We'll just open the window and stick his head outside." She giggled at her own creative idea.

"Not bad Paulina. That would save us a trip outside. Let's try it."

Dash made a grab for Michael who squeaked like a frightened mouse. Nathen looked to the front of the car where Mr. Lancer had left and continued to be conspicuously absent. Before the bulky arm could land on either boy, another hand intercepted. It was a slender, pale, and lithe hand that had a surprising grip. All eyes fell to the messy haired boy whose hand was locked around the bully's wrist.

"I think," came the quiet calm voice, "that they asked you nicely to leave them alone."

Silence reigned. Then a snort came from Paulina's direction, though Danny wasn't sure of this as he refused to break eye contact with Dash. "So, it's the quiet boy to the rescue, huh? I saw you looking at me. You think I'm pretty don't you?" She threw her hair back in a tease.

Danny only shrugged. "Yeah, I think you're pretty. Too bad you have such an ugly mouth." Again everybody stared at the small figure.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Dash came to the rescue as he wrenched his hand out of the smaller boy's grip.

Danny rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to continue what he knew could only be more physical pain in the making. "A hateful brat who's looks earned her a life without the word 'no' and a bully whose parents never loved him enough to teach him respect to his fellow man"

Silence. Deafening silence.

Paulina looked like she had been hit. The blond girl in the bunny outfit was clutching her hands in front of her mouth with huge bugging eyes. Kwan had an almost amused look, like Danny had done what he had merely for his entertainment. And Dash, well, Dash looked like he was fuming.

Danny saw the hand that he previously had a hold of cock back in the universal tell-tale sign of raging bully, when an entirely new presence made itself known in the form of a boot. A black boot. A black boot that looked especially hard and heavy and made an interesting noise when it was applied in force to the shin of an already overbalanced oaf.

Whump!