Yes, ladies and gentlemen! I'm still alive! My personal interest in this one fizzled out a bit after Christmas was over, but I managed to finish this chapter!
Also, the first person to spot a quote from another one of my favorite holiday movies in this chapter will get the next chapter dedicated to them! On with the show!
Disclaimer: No. I don't own the Polar Express or Shining Time Station.
"Alright, Ringo, why are we here again?"
It was about mid-June. The North Pole was far ahead of schedule and Nicolas, as Ringo had persuaded him to call the Big Man, gave everyone a couple of days off. Ringo had decided to use this opportunity to take a trip back home, wherever that was.
"Because you had previously said that you would like to see where I lived before."
James was walking through the town of Strasburg, Pennsylvania with Ringo riding on his shoulder. As expected, they had gotten a few funny looks along the way, but, thankfully, no one asked any questions.
"Well, I didn't exactly mean right now..."
James had never really been a social person, which was odd for being a conductor. Once he had gotten a job on the Polar Express, however, he found solace in being able to stay at home most of the time. Of course, there were a few parties that he attended for a little while, plus the train once a year, but he could deal with those.
As they approached a ice cream shop in the center of town, James reflected on what had happened over the past couple of months. He had gotten much better on traveling with gold dust, now easily able to travel from one end of the Pole to the other, no matter if it was at ground level or not. Ringo was continuing to teach him on the finer points of the Conductor family. Smoky and Steamer visited the Pole a couple of months ago to check up on 1225. Surprisingly, they didn't really have much trouble after they got over the fact that she was alive, almost like it was normal for them...
"Hey, James, let's stop here for a minute. Sun's getting hot."
James only nodded in agreement, feeling like he was being baked.
There weren't many people inside, just an older couple at a small table and a family of three in a booth. James ordered a couple of cups of ice cream, Dutch Chocolate for both of them, and grabbed the booth right beside the family. As they ate, they could hear the two children talking while the mother was using the restroom.
"Sarah, why would you do that?"
"You were really excited to see it, John. I thought you would want to see it closer."
"It was really loud!"
"I didn't know that! How could I have known that?! It's been a very long time since we've seen one of those."
"You still didn't have to drag me up there."
"Again, you wanted to see it. I know you did, and you can't tell me otherwise. Besides, it wasn't as bad when we were in the car, right?"
"...No, but..."
"Exactly." The girl paused to take a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I took you up to see the train as it went through Cherry Crest. I'm sorry that I didn't know it was so loud. I'm sorry that, because of my stupidity, Mom got mad and we had to leave."
"It wasn't all your fault. Mom said she wasn't feeling well."
"I know. I think the heat got to everyone, though."
It wasn't too long until their mother returned and they left.
James glanced over to Ringo, who had paused from eating his ice cream due to a sudden brain freeze.
"Alright, how do we get to your house?"
"Gold dust. There's a little spot right outside of the Railroad Museum, which is just down the road. We stand there and whistle."
James nodded.
"Well, where can I stay while we're there?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe Stacy or someone can lend you a room for a couple of days."
James nodded absentmindedly as silence fell over the two of them.
After the ice cream, they continued down the road. It wasn't too far a walk to the museum, but the heat made it almost unbearable. As they got close, James could see the smoke from the Strasburg Railroad's engine, number 475, as it waited in the station. The summer crowd swarmed the platform and the nearby museum. Even as the sun baked over them, most people were still out. Ringo pointed out the right spot from his place back on James' shoulder.
"There it is."
Positioning himself over the area, James paused, waiting for a clear moment.
At a signal from Ringo, he blew his whistle. However, something was terribly wrong. He felt like he was growing, but his skin was staying the same. His head felt like it was going to burst. Everything felt stretched beyond belief. He yelled in pain before he suddenly blacked out.
The next thing James knew, he was waking up in a bed somewhere. Even though his headache made it impossible to open his eyes at that moment, he could still hear voices in another room.
"So, you're saying that, when he appeared here, he shrunk to our size?"
"Yep. It must have developed more than we thought. He was a normal person's height in Strasburg, but, once we crossed into Shining Time, he was Conductor height."
"Huh. Well, thank goodness for that."
James moaned, stirring slightly when his headache flared. He could hear someone rushing out of the room before four sets of feet came back.
"You alright?"
He could tell that it was Ringo speaking.
"Aside from my head splitting open, mostly."
Someone raced out of the room before coming back with something. Before he knew it, there was a cup being pressed against James' lips.
"Drink it up. It'll help with the headache."
James obeyed, grimacing at the strong lemon taste. But, it did work, allowing him to open his eyes after a couple of minutes.
Standing by his bed were four people. One he recognized as Ringo. One had a white beard and was slightly shorter than Ringo. Two were clean shaven, but one had a bandana around his neck and no cap. Before he could ask, Ringo spoke up.
"It seems we stumbled on a reunion. James, this is George "Carlin" Conductor, Alec "Baldwin" Conductor, and Michael "Rodgers" Conductor Jr. They're your cousins."
As they were introduced, each man nodded. James nodded in return.
"Pleased to meet you."
The bearded one, George, smiled to James.
"Can't believe you actually fit. How long have you been up at the Pole?"
James hesitated.
"I don't know. Years and years. I'm the third conductor for the train, but I heard the first one didn't stay too long."
The one without the bandana, Alec, grinned.
"Do you make any toys?"
The other one, Michael, gently slapped Alec upside the head.
"No, stupid. The elves do!"
James chuckled at seeing this.
"That's true. I'm sometimes asked to help out in the toy shop, but I've rarely made an actual toy."
James swung his legs over the side of the bed and slowly stood up. Ringo came over to him, placing a hand on his arm to make sure his cousin didn't fall over.
"So, you never did say exactly where you lived..."
Alec snickered.
"Withholding information, are we, Ringo?"
Ringo shot his cousin a glare before turning to James.
"This is Shining Time Station. Don't worry, most of the staff here know about the existence of us Conductors. But, you want to keep out of sight of the passengers."
"Good to note."
James paused a moment before truly registering that sentence.
"Wait. How is this house inside the station?"
Ringo smiled and blew his whistle again.
When the gold dust faded, James looked around to see they were standing on the back of a bench facing a signal house in a beautiful mural. Ringo motioned to the signal house.
"That's where we live, mate. But, the real view's behind you."
Turning around, James saw a beautiful old station. Up against one wall was the ticket desk. A woman could be seen busily working at the ticket counter while passengers swarmed the room. Music came from a corner, where there was a small arcade set up. Ringo smiled as he saw the beautiful mural stretching over most of the station. Ringo tapped him on the shoulder.
"Come on. Let's go back before we're seen."
And, with a shower of gold dust, they did just that.
That evening, after the station had closed, James sat at the table eating a wonderful dinner. Of course, Junior, as he had insisted he be called, was the most talkative of the group, spouting off stories from the island, both old and new. Alec cleared his throat before Junior could start another story.
"Have you see Anne and Gerald?"
Those names caught James' attention and he listened as Junior scoffed.
"Why would I want to see them? We all know what they did."
George and Alec nodded, but James turned to Junior, neither seeing Ringo sending the blonde warning signals.
"Who're Anne and Gerald?"
Junior was either ignoring Ringo's warnings or being very stupid.
"Anne and Gerald are disowned members of the Conductor family. A few years ago, they married and had a kid. Of course, it wasn't too long afterwards that it was discovered that Gerald was half-human."
Ringo had given up on warning Junior and was now praying that no one would be killed until explanations could be made.
"Long story short, the family chased them out and their kid, who didn't have Conductor genes and was getting a little too big. Last I heard, they were on Sodor. But, either they're not there or they're really good at hiding, cause we haven't found them yet. All we know is that they sent their kid to an orphanage somewhere in the States."
Suddenly, pieces started to fall into place. James shot to his feet, nearly knocking the table over in the process. He sharply turned to Ringo.
"Anne and Gerald. Who are they?"
Ringo paused for a minute before hanging his head.
"...Your parents..."
There was barely time to say anything else as James turned and stalked outside, slamming the door behind him.
And that's a wrap on Chapter 3! Woah, a lot of stuff is going on for poor James. Any thoughts on what might happen in the next chapter?
Speaking of next chapters, I promise I'm working on "The Island." Chapter 6 was giving me trouble for a long while, but I think I finally figured out how to make it work. This change might also help with future chapters. To thank you for your patience, I'd like to announce that the title for Chapter 6 of "The Island" is...drum roll please... "Avoidance"!
Anyways, please review, follow, or favorite! See you soon!