Chapter 13: Suspicions All Around:
{Another short chapter, but this is in Sally POV, during Trevor's conversation in Ch. 12, hope you enjoy it.}
Sally was finishing up cleaning the passenger coach, she heard the door open. "Excuse me, but we're not taking passengers yet, you'll have to wait at the station like everyone else," Sally said without looking up. "I know, but we need to talk Ms. Troodon, this is important," a familiar voice said. Sally felt a bit of colour drain from her face as she looked up to see Mr. Ebb, an older Troodon responsible for her employment. "Sorry sir, I…didn't realize it was you…" she said quietly. Mr. Ebb smiled "Don't worry Ms. Troodon, you're not in trouble, but you may have noticed that the Conductor family is here," he said. Sally nodded "Yes sir, in fact, they arrived on the Dinosaur Train a few days ago," Sally replied.
Mr. Ebb adjusted his glasses & gave a worried look "We at Dinosaur Train Industries are fully aware of the Conductor family & their expectations, Mrs. Conductor was less than pleased to learn you were chosen for the position of 'Dinosaur Train's Conductor' over her son, she has resentment towards you ever since," he explained. Sally looked more serious this time "So she's here to try to get rid of me?" she asked with a raised brow.
Mr. Ebb shrugged "Right now, I'm not sure, but that's always a possibility, said son accepted the position of 'Station & Supplies Inspector', so he didn't take it too hard. You know we only accept the best graduates from the Academy, so you were chosen because you were the best in your class, not because we wanted brownie points for having a female conductor on our train." Sally giggled "of course, you were never the type to do such things, they need to learn that life will never go their way, even if it's the hard way," she said in a low voice. Mr. Ebb nodded in agreement "I'm here to let you know to report any behaviour from her, you know the type of behaviour that'll mean you'll get in trouble for," he said. "Sabotage?" Sally scoffed "She doesn't like me, I know that, but I know she won't stoop that low," she said.
Mr. Ebb raised his brow "But we both know she has connections," he said, sounding concerned. Sally knew that, but she also knew that Tiana would try to get someone to start rumours, damaging rumours about her; the family did have good money, money that could be used to bribe people into making such rumours. "I already lost everything once, I don't intend to lose it all again," she said quietly. Unlike the rest of her coworkers, Mr. Ebb knew the entirety of her story; after all, he was the one who helped her get into the academy in the first place. Mr. Ebb placed a gentle hand on her shoulder "You know I will not let that happen, & we both know that Trevor won't let it happen either," he said.
The tension left "Well, I have to go now, take care," he said as he left the passenger coach. "Goodbye sir, have a good day," she said, she returned to cleaning the passenger coach.
The silence was uncomfortable, & made her uneasy, Is Tiana really planning to sabotage her? If so, why now? Why not when Sally was fresh from the academy? A hundred & some questions were running through Sally's mind. 'She'll never accept me when she learns where I originally came from, instead she'll make my life a living nightmare, strip me of what little life & salvation I gathered & have left,' she thought. She leaned against the passenger coach door, a single tear streamed down her face.
'This train was my only salvation then & is my only means of life now; it can be stripped away in a matter of hours, not the train itself, it'll be here for generations, but I will not, I'll disappear like stars at dawn, I can't help but worry of the future, what fortune & misfortune it brings, will he see my suffering that lasted for years? Or will he see through me, like the glass he sees every morning?' she thought worriedly. "I can't worry myself with something that doesn't exist yet," she told herself. She sighed as she put away the cleaning supplies & wiped the tears from her eyes.