The rumbling of the ground and the loud whistle from the train startled the slaves from their sleep. Chorizo sat bolt upright, while Edwardo yelped and got to his feet, thus causing the tent to collapse on them. Tia woke up just as the sheet came down on her.
"What's going-?" she started but was interrupted when the train whistle went off, nearly deafening their ears. Everyone got up from where they slept and groggily watched as the train thundered on past their place.
Finally, it was gone, heading down the tracks with smoke puffing out from the top till it was out of sight. Everyone packed their things and ate a quick breakfast before heading off toward the direction the train was heading off to.
The sun was up and causing the dirt and sands to glitter in gold and crunched underneath Chorizo's dusty boots. Iniko talked to Edwardo and Tia in the front as they headed along the train tracks. Edverd and Ignacio walked with Chorizo, scarfing down the rest of their breakfast (which mostly contained bread, potatoes, and dried bacon) then begging to Chorizo to let them have the rest of his dry bread he didnt finish.
"Please, Chorizo? Jus' one bite?" Ignacio asked. Edverd nodded as he licked his lips. "Yeah, jus' a small bite? We promise to not beg anymore," he said with his paws under his chin. Chorizo rolled his eyes and let them have the bread. They grinned happily and began to tear into the bread.
"Hey! you had a bigger piece!" snapped Edverd. Ignacio's round ears went back. "No I didnt! Besides, you had a bigger breakfast then me!" he snarled. Chorizo walked faster from the two and began to listen to what Iniko and Edwardo were talking about.
"Will the people in the town think us suspicious and ask where we have come from?" asked Iniko. Edwardo turned his head to the meerkat. "They should be used to strangers coming into their town, but we need to get rid of the tags on our ears before we get there," he explained. Tia winced at the thought. "Do we have anything that can help us take them off?" she asked. Edwardo smirked as he flicked out Romero's knife.
When the freed slaves saw town far off in the distance, Edwardo used the knife to take the tags off the meerkats, hyenas and wild dogs. Finally, it was Chorizo's and Edwardo's turn. "Here. Don't slice my ear off," Edwardo said as he handed the knife to Chorizo. Chorizo's hand shook as he held the knife close to Edwardo's ear.
"Ow! careful!" Edwardo said as Chorizo accidently nicked his ear. A small red line appeared on Edwardo's ear. Chorizo felt ill. "I-I'm sorry," he said. Chorizo cut the tag off, then Edwardo took the knife and turned to Chorizo. "You need to be careful next time. I need to show you how to use a knife properly," Edwardo said as he cut the tag off Chorizo's ear.
After everyone was free from their tags, they all headed off to the town. The town was fairly big, and had many shops and boars pulling carts of potatoes and carrots along. The town's name was La Bonita. It had many wooden buildings and people bustling around with baskets of fresh food. In the middle of the square, was a huge fountain which was a dried up hose nozzle in a cracked bowl filled with murky water. The towns streets were long and stretched out from the square, where everyone seemed to be in a hurry for the next train or to buy more food for the family.
Edwardo eyed the train resting at the station, which was at the edge of the town, and began to head over to it. Chorizo followed right behind him, while everyone else stared at the town and the food. Ignacio and Edverd grinned and began to head over to the chain of little food shops and squeezed through the crowds.
Edwardo pulled out a piece of jewelry from his pocket and slapped it down on the counter. "Give me three tickets to the next town," he said. The man behind the counter stared down at the jewlery in slight confusion, then shrugged and took the jewelry without asking and handed Edwardo three tickets. Edwardo grabbed them and turned to Chorizo.
"Here," he said as he handed him his ticket. Chorizo accepted the piece of rectangle paper and stared down at it. Tia walked up the wooden steps to Edwardo. He handed her the other ticket and placed his into his back pocket. "You ready to go?" he asked. Tia nodded, then turned her head, just as the group of freed slaves came up the wooden steps onto the station.
"So...I guess this is goodbye then..." said one of the hyenas. Chorizo looked over to Edwardo, who nodded his head. "We are now free men and women from Elfonzo. We all deserve to start our lives over and live how we want to live...Tia, Chorizo and I are heading off to the next town to start our lives..." Edwardo told everyone. Iniko smiled and came up to the two shrews.
"Adios, Chorizo y Edwardo, we will miss you," said Iniko as he gave them both a hug. Edverd and Ignacio hugged Tia at once. "We will miss you, Tia," said Edverd. Ignacio nodded. Tia hugged them back. "I know I'm going to miss the way you two used to argue all the time," she said with a smile. The twins smiled back.
After the twins said their goodbyes, the kids came up and hugged the frog lady. "Visit us soon, Tia," Zulekha said as he hugged her ragged dress tightly. Tia smiled as tears came down her face as she hugged each and every one of the children. "Have fun, kids, and don't get caught if you play any pranks on the townspeople," she said.
After everyone said their goodbyes, Tia, Edwardo, and Chorizo stepped onto the train. The train whistled and a bunch of smoke choked the air. The conductor looked at his watch one last time before calling out: "All Aboard!"
A couple other stragglers quickly jumped on board the train with suitcases in hand. Finally, the wheels began to move and the train began to leave the station. Chorizo, Edwardo, and Tia sat down in a couple seats closest to the station where the group of slaves still stood and waved goodbye to the three.
Zul and the other kids ran alongside the train as it began to pick up speed. "Adios, Chorizo!" they yelled as they waved their arms and laughed. Chorizo smiled back and waved back. The kids continued to chase the train till they ran out of walkway and stopped at the edge of the station. The train whistled and was off to its next location.
The three sat down in the long seat and sighed. Chorizo rested his head against the cushioned headboard and closed his eyes. He could still see the freed slave kids running along the wooden boards of the station. He felt his heart twist in pain. He wished they could have stayed in the town with the others.
Edwardo rested his head against Tia's shoulder. "How are you doing?" he asked her. Tia didnt answer as she stared out the dirty window at the passing houses and endless desert. She blinked away a couple tears and touched the top of Edwardo's head.
"I'm doing fine," she said. Edwardo slowly lifted his head up to her. He lightly kissed her cheek. Tia smiled a small, sad smile. It still amazed her that they finally escaped Elfonzo's ranch and were now on a train. She couldnt remember the last time she was on a train, or even saw a town. On top of that, she never had a family before. The only family she ever had were the slaves... They were so kind to her, especially Edwardo.
Tia turned her head to Edwardo and kissed his rough cheek, then snuggled up against his chest. Edwardo smiled and rested his head on hers. Chorizo moved away from the two and decided to go explore around the train. The train rattled over the tracks as Chorizo looked around.
There were a lot of people on board, but most of them were either asleep, or reading a book. Some wore very strange clothing as Chorizo went down the open pathway. A couple times he had to squeeze past some passengers who were walking down to their seats.
The conductor blocked his path when he got to the end of the car. "Ticket?" he asked. He was a dark colored squirrel with a big mustache. He wore a dark, royal blue coat and matching pants with gold trim. Chorizo pulled out his ticket and silently handed it to him. The conductor snatched his ticket and punched a hole in the corner with his own pair of silver hole punchers before handing it back to Chorizo.
"Where are your parents, nino?" asked the conductor before Chorizo could get past him. "I-I'm with my hermano, senor..." he said. The conductor stared down at Chorizo before nodding his head and letting him through. Chorizo continued on down till he got to the end. Outside his car was another car, linked by a iron spike, along with the other cars behind it.
Chorizo opened the door, and a gust of wind blew in his face, nearly knocking him down. He looked down and saw the huge metal coupling that linked the train cars together. He stepped on it and opened the next door to the other train car.
The next train car didnt have as many people as his, but they all seemed to be staring at him. He ignored them and walked down the long asile of seats. He slowed down when his eyes caught a couple staring at him funny. He tried to look away, but found himself looking up and staring back at them.
They were rodents in their twenties or thirties. The woman was wearing a dark purple dress while the man was wearing a nice business suit, and they were staring at him. Chorizo slowed to a stop. He stared back. They seemed to be staring at something other then his eyes.
He reached up to the side of his head. He stopped when he felt something wet. He moved his hand back down and stared down at it. Blood. It must have been when Edwardo cut his tag off, and now he was bleeding. Chorizo sighed and rolled his eyes. I guess I'm not the only one who needs to learn how to use a knife, Chorizo thought. Then, Chorizo looked down at the carpeted ground. Sure enough, there were little drops of blood all around his dusty black boots.
Chorizo's eyes looked back to the blood trial, then back to the front. When he did, he blinked in surprise. The blood trail continued down the car train asile. Chorizo stared at the blood trail that wasn't his. That can't be my blood, I didn't go this way...who's blood is it? he thought.
Just then, the train car door behind him opened and Edwardo appeared.
"Chorizo!" Edwardo called as he came running down the narrow hallway of seats to the young shrew. Chorizo turned his head and looked up at his panicked brother. "Edwardo? What's wr-" "Where's Tia? Have you seen her? I can't find her anywhere!" Edwardo said in a fast pace as he continued to turn his head around, breathing heavily.
Chorizo's eyes widen. Tia is gone? Wasn't she with him the whole time? he thought. Chorizo touched his brother's shoulder. "I'll help you find her. Where did you see her last?" he asked. Edwardo stopped looking around and looked down at his brother. "I told her to wait where we were sitting, but when I came back from el bano, she was gone!" Edwardo said.
Chorizo blinked. "Did you check to see if she might have gone to el bano too?" he asked. Edwardo nodded. "I asked one of the ninas who came out if she saw a blue, female frog with dark dredlocks and she said no," he said. Chorizo thought for a minute, then looked back up at Edwardo. "Why do you suspect that she is really gone?" he finally asked.
Edwardo stared down at Chorizo with worried eyes before silently pulling out something from his back pocket and holding out in front of him. "Because...I found this," he said. It was a piece of Tia's clothing, and it had little red droplets on it. Chorizo's eyes widened.
Edwardo held it out for Chorizo to take. "That's not the scary part. Sniff it," Edwardo told Chorizo. Chorizo blinked at Edwardo. "Sniff it?" he asked. Edwardo nodded. Chorizo stared down at the bloody cloth before lifting it up to his nose and taking a couple sniffs. At first he didnt know what he was supposed to find with smelling the piece of cloth. He definately smelled blood, and a tint of Tia's scent- Chorizo blinked when he smelled something else. The smell was familiar...
Chorizo's eyes widened. He lowered the scrap of cloth and stared back up at Edwardo. "C-Calderone," he said. Edwardo nodded. Chorizo's jaw dropped, but no sound came out. Calderone was alive. He did crawl back up the cliff. Now he was on the train and had Tia as his hostage."B-but...th-that cant b-be..." Chorizo stuttered.
Edwardo sadly shook his head. "Calderone is alive...and he want's to kill us," he said. Chorizo gulped nervously. Edwardo nodded, his eyes were wide with fear and worry.
"And I don't know where they could be. For all I know, Calderone could have had runners by the train and they could have jumped to them and rode off," he said. Chorizo thought for a minute, fumbling with his fingers, then he gradually shook his head. "I doubt it. They have to be still on the train," he said.
"Where, then?" asked Edwardo, breathing heavily. Chorizo wished he never spoke. Of course he didnt know where to find them, the train was huge, and had many train cars. It would take them a while to look for Calderone and Tia...he just wanted his older brother to stop panicking and to calm down.
Chorizo looked down, trying to figure out what to say. Before he was about to shrug, he looked down at the blood trail behind him. "...I think...I think I have a good idea where they could be," he said.
...
Calderone gripped Tia tightly so she wouldnt escape. He had her flung over one shoulder as he went down along the empty car trains. His other shoulder was bleeding and was leaving a small trail behind him. He had some difficulty when he climbed up the cliff and down the steeper part of the mountain. Also, the desert was a pain becuse he had no food or water.
Tia's arms were tied down to her sides and a dirty red bandana was tied around her mouth to muffle her screams. Tia jerked her head side to side, making her dreds sway violently and smack against Calderone's face. Calderone tightened his grip on the frog lady.
"Stop moving, witch! or I'll cut all your hair off!" he spat bitterly. Tia ignored him as she screamed muffled screams and continued to kick and struggle. Calderone continued down through the empty train cars to the caboose. When he got to the caboose, he tossed her down against some bags of potatoes and closed the door shut.
He slowly turned his head to Tia, who was still struggling with the tight ropes and shaking her head. The huge lizard glared down at her. "Now. Tell me, witch. Where are the Carniceros?" he asked. Tia said something muffled, and continued to struggle. Calderone sighed and removed the bandana. Tia spat in his face.
"Go to hell, Calderone!" she shouted. Calderone narrowed his eyes as he silently wiped Tia's saliva from his face with his fingertips. Then, he bared his teeth at Tia as he flicked out a knife. Tia flinched at the sight of the blade. Calderone kneeled down and raised the knife up to her chest.
"Let me repeat myself...Where are the Carniceros?" Calderone asked in a deep, dark tone. Tia's eyes were wide with horror and held her breath. Calderone slowly moved the knife till the flat tip touched underneath her chin, forcing her to look into his cold, dark eyes.
"If you tell me where they are...I promise to spare your life," he said. Tia stared back at Calderone. She began to tremble. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Calderone narrowed his eyes a bit and moved the knife closer to her throat. "I am not a patient man. You have five seconds to tell me, or you'll be drowning in your own blood!" he said in a louder tone.
Tears came trickling down Tia's pale blue cheeks as she tried to keep the knife from piercing her skin. Calderone gripped a fistful of her dreds to keep her from moving away from him. "Uno...Dos..." Calderone began to count. Tia's heart thumped loudly inside her. "Please, Calderone! Don't do th-this!" she cried, but Calderone ignored her.
"Tres..." Calderone snarled.
Tia silently prayed for a miracle. She wished she could tell Edwardo and Chorizo that Calderone was on board the train. Just then, right when she looked away from Calderone's eyes, she saw movement. She looked up again. Her watery eyes scanned around. Then, she saw two familiar faces. Chorizo and Edwardo!
Calderone saw her eyes flicker away from him and stare behind him. Calderone stopped counting and turned his head around. Edwardo socked the huge lizard in the jaw with his good arm. Calderone screamed in pain as he fell sideways and landed near Tia. "Edwardo!" Tia said as Edwardo knelt down and used his knife to cut the ropes. Chorizo came up to them, but then stopped when he saw Calderone getting up. "Edwardo!" Chorizo called, but it was too late. Just as the ropes loosened around Tia, Calderone got up with the knife at ready.
Edwardo turned around at lightning speed and bit down hard into Calderone's arm, causing him to scream out in pain and drop the knife. Chorizo swerved out of the way as he reached down to pick up the knife, but Calderone's foot kicked it away. Chorizo cursed and ran after it, but Calderone's tail lashed out and smacked the boy away, causing him to almost fall out of the moving train.
Calderone grabbed Edwardo by his neck and chucked him across the car train.
"No!" Tia cried and tried to run to Edwardo, but felt Calderone grab a fistful of her dreds again and pull her back to him. "You ain't goin' nowhere," he snarled to Tia, but Tia managed to kick him in the shin. Calderone shouted a string of curses as he faltered, loosening his grip on her hair. Tia ran to Edwardo to see if he was ok. Edwardo's bad arm that was still in a sling was covered in fresh blood. Edwardo winched in pain as Tia tried to help him up.
Calderone shoved Chorizo out of his way and grabbed his knife before he did. Chorizo came up to confront him, but Calderone grabbed him by his serape and wrapped it around him, then shoved him aside. Chorizo faltered and crashed into the bags of potatoes.
Tia screamed when Calderone wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed the knife against her side. Edwardo pulled out his knife and came up to them, but Calderone continued to move back. "Don't try anythin' Carnicero, or yer girlfriend will be slashed to ribbons."
Tia stopped struggling when the knife pressed deeper in her side. "G-go, Edwardo! I'll be fine," she said in a scared whisper. Tears spilled down her face. Edwardo stopped, making Calderone stop, near the door.
Chorizo managed to get up and pulled out his slingshot. His eyes were red with anger, but he stopped when he saw Edwardo throw his knife down in front of him.
"Don't hurt her Calderone. You don't want her, you want me and Chorizo...well, here we are," Edwardo said as he held his good arm out from his side. Calderone stared at Edwardo, trying to see if the older shrew was trying to trick him. After seeing that there was no trick, he released Tia. Tia ran to Edwardo and wrapped her arms around him. Edwardo hugged her back, but then gently moved her away from him.
"Go to Chorizo, then I want both of you to leave," he whispered to her. Tia stared up at Edwardo, but then looked down and nodded her head. When she knelt down next to Chorizo to help him up. Edwardo turned back to Calderone. Calderone flexed his arms and cracked his neck as he grinned and raised his knife.
Calderone charged Edwardo. Edwardo quickly stooped down to retrieve the knife he dropped, then moved out of the way from the huge lizard. Calderone slashed his knife around wildly, trying to slice the shrew. Edwardo jumped away from the swing, nearly falling off the train.
His head turned and he noticed the ladder that led up to the top of the train cars. He quickly grabbed one of the rungs with his good arm, and scurried up the ladder before Calderone could grab him. Calderone slashed his knife again, hitting the metal. It rang loudly with a sharp piercing sound. He growled angrily as he turned his head upward and watched Edwardo scurry up to the top. Then he placed the knife in his teeth and climbed up the ladder after him.
"No!" Chorizo cried and ran out of Tia's arms. "Chorizo! Stop! Don't go up there! Edwardo told us to leave!" Tia said as she tried to grab Chorizo from the ladder but he had already made it to the top.
Chorizo felt the cold wind smack against his face as he sat there, crouched on all fours on the top of the caboose. The train was moving fast, and the desert was a blur of gold and brown. The train whistled loudly and the smoke caused Chorizo to look away and cover his eyes.
He ducked his head and forced his eyes to open and to look for Edwardo. He spotted Edwardo facing him, and Calderone facing Edwardo on the other side of the cupola in the middle of the caboose's top. They each had a knife in their hands as they stood there, balancing on the rickety end of the train. Calderone yelled something to Edwardo, but Chorizo couldnt hear him as Calderone approched his older brother.
Calderone slashed the air with his knife multiple times as he tried to hit Edwardo. Edwardo continued to jump away. Suddenly, he lost his footing and fell. Edwardo grabbed the side of the train with his good arm and held on. Edwardo's knife balanced on the top of the train. He tried getting back up on the train, but it was no use.
The train was heading into a forest, toward a tunnel that was in the mountain. A blur of green passed them rapidly and continued. The smell of pine was in the air. Calderone went down on his knees and grinned down to Edwardo who was hugging to the side of the caboose for dear life. Calderone snickered as he lowered the knife down to Edwardo's fingers.
They entered into the pitch black tunnel. The thundering sound of the train echoed in their ears and the sparks flew around the wheels as it chugged on through. Calderone cursed and kept his head low from the tunnel ceiling from knocking his head off. He couldnt see where Edwardo's fingers were, so he had to wait till the train got out of the darkness. The huge lizard strained his eyes to find the light to indicate the end of the tunnel.
When the train came out from the tunnel, Calderone turned back to Edwardo. He gasped when he saw that the shrew wasnt holding on to dear life on the side of the train anymore.
Chorizo shook out of his fears from the tunnel and got himself up. He held on to the side of the cupola for support as he pulled out his slingshot and placed a rock in it. He aimed the slingshot at Calderone, who was looking around the sides of the caboose for Edwardo It was difficult to aim, because the train was moving. He released the rock. It smacked against Calderone's head.
"Ow! Son of a bitch!" Calderone screamed. He turned his head and saw Chorizo on the top of the train. Chorizo gasped and hid behind the stout "watchtower" on the caboose. Calderone growled as he got up and began to walk toward him. Chorizo began to walk backwards, but ended up falling on his back.
He scooted away as Calderone appeared on top of the cupola, then jumped down in front of him with a loud thud. Calderone loomed over the young shrew with a look of rage on his face. Calderone was just leaning down to grab Chorizo by the front of his shirt, when Edwardo appeared behind the huge lizard and stabbed Calderone in the back. Calderone screamed and elbowed Edwardo as he tried reaching for the knife in his back.
Tia got up onto the top of the train and wrapped her arms around Chorizo. Her dreds whipped around her blue face. "Chorizo! We need to get down from here!" she screamed as the train whistled again and the thick, black smoke was coughed into their faces. Tia forced Chorizo to go back to the ladder, but Chorizo resisted. "I want to help Edwardo!" he screamed.
Just then, they saw Edwardo wave to them from the other side. They barely could make out the gestures he was making through all the black smoke and Calderone. Edwardo disappeared on the other side. Tia and Chorizo headed down the metal ladder and walked into the caboose, where they saw Edwardo open the door on the other side of the caboose. He stood on top of the coupling that had a metal spike in it to keep the caboose and the house car linked together.
They got closer to the door and stared at Edwardo. His legs were spread out a bit, and his good arm was angled down close to the spike in the middle of the metal coupling. His wirey hair whipped in his face as he stared at them with his red eyes
"When I tell you to jump, you jump, ok?" he shouted to them over the howling winds as they whipped around him. Tia and Chorizo shuffled closer to the door and nodded. Edwardo nodded back before looking down, then pulled up the spike. Instantly, the caboose jolted. Chorizo looked out the window closest to him and saw that the train was going across a bridge, which was causing the train to jolt violently. The train was two hundred feet over a huge gapping cliff.
Edwardo stood on the other doorway on the house car. "Jump!" he yelled. Tia gently pushed for Chorizo to go first. Chorizo stepped out and jumped. Edwardo caught him and made him go into the car before reaching his good arm out to Tia. "Come on, Tia. I'll catch you," he said to her. Tia nodded as she stared down at the separating cars. She hesitated at first because of the fact that they were going over a bridge, over a cliff. She took a deep breath, then-
Crash!
Suddenly, Calderone broke through the top of the caboose. He landed on all fours before getting up through the shards of glass and metal toward Tia. He was gushing blood from his mouth and wounds. "Carnicero!" he screamed as blood spewed out of his mouth. He staggered toward Tia to get to the Carniceros. Edwardo called for Tia to jump. "Jump! Tia, jump now!" he screamed. Tia turned back around and was about to jump, but Calderone grabbed her.
Tia screamed as she reached her arm out to Edwardo, but the caboose continued to roll the opposite direction from the train. Calderone screamed in rage, then the car door slammed and the caboose rolled backwards, farther and farther away from the train.
"Tia!" Edwardo screamed as he watched the caboose roll away at a fast speed. Suddenly, the caboose went over the uneven tracks, causing it to derail. The caboose began to decline, then the front part began to raise up and fall back down. Gravity took over the caboose, and pulled it toward the cliff, over the bridge. The caboose fell off the side of the tracks and began to roll down the side and into the huge canyon. It burst into flames and exploded, crashing into rocks and trees down the steep cliff.
Finally it crashed to the bottom in a huge heap of burning, destroyed metal. Edwardo felt his insides all mixed up and a huge rip right through his heart. Tears brimmed his red eyes as he stared down at the damage before the train left the bridge and went around the mountain. Chorizo stared at his older brother, then hugged his brother tightly. Tears rolled down his face, but Chorizo didnt care. He just lost another friend.