Chapter 10 Landing Apart
Bogg's Landing
Phineas Bogg landed with a hard thud and immediately was surrounded by the roar and squeal of engines. The surface he'd landed on was shaking violently and freezing cold. Icy wind whipped sleet in his face and he had to close his eyes. He reached out, still blinded by the sleet, but his hands could find nothing to grasp on this flat, icy surface.
"Jeff?" he called out loudly, but the roar of the wind and the engines drowned out his words. He listened hard but didn't hear an answering call. Suddenly he slid back and felt no support under his legs, and then his whole body slid off the edge of whatever surface he'd been on. He flailed out his arms and his hand connected with an icy metal bar, he brought his other hand to it and forced his eyes open. The roaring of the wind as it whipped around him grew even louder as his foot also found a slippery bar that would hold his weight and he realized he was on a ladder on the side of a boxcar at the end of a very long train. But where was Jeff?
"Jeffrey?" he called again and listened, but still there was no answer. He climbed down to a platform behind the car and bent over, holding his side, catching his breath and clinging to a metal railing on the back of the car, afraid to let go. He hoped Jeff had landed inside. If he'd landed on the roof there's no way he could have hung on. The wind would have sent him over the edge. Suddenly a door next to him opened and he felt himself pulled inside.
Jeff's Landing
Jeffrey landed in a small space between two chairs. The floor was shaking and he had trouble keeping his balance as he stood up. He looked around and noticed that he'd landed in an open area at the front end of a railroad car. He stood up and was facing two men, well dressed, in old fashioned clothing. Just past them, on a bench seat in the first row, a boy slept, covered in a quilt.
"Where did you come from?" one of the men said, looking up as Jeff fell.
"Sorry, just, uh, fooling around, lost my balance, have you seen my uncle?" he asked hopefully.
They stared at him for a moment, then went back to their conversation and Jeff looked around.
"Bogg?" he called out, and the few people in the car turned their heads to look at him in surprise. He couldn't see Bogg and immediately began to worry. He moved unsteadily to the very front of the car, it was hard to keep his balance with the car shaking. He looked out the window in the door. He could see inside the next car, that would be where he looked next, but first he had to search this one. The engines and the noise from the train moving over the rails were so noisy that he didn't think he'd be able to hear if Bogg had called to him. And if he'd been hurt, his voice might be very soft. So he made his way slowly from the front of the car, to the back, checking behind every seat as he went, continuing to call out, and to listen. At the back of the car he looked out the window and into the next car, still nothing. Panic was starting to get a grip on him and he forced it down and tried to think. He fingered the omni, hanging on his belt. Bogg had let him handle it this trip, but it was little comfort. He couldn't go anywhere without Bogg. He'd always thought that the omni was so powerful and had been very excited to be in charge of it during this mission, but now he realized just how useless it could be.
Suddenly he heard a soft thud, as if something had banged against the back entrance of the car. He looked out and spotted someone, then opened the door and saw Bogg bending over holding his side, as though exhausted. "Bogg!" he shouted, but with the door open, the noise of the train was 4 times as loud and he knew he wouldn't be heard. He grasped Bogg's belt and hauled him inside the car, then pushed the door shut as Phineas fell onto his knees in the aisle.