Hey! Here's another chapter! Enjoy!

CHAPTER SEVEN: NO COMMON SENSE

The conductor and the girl soon came back in. Dad couldn't bear to look at them. I put an awkward hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him, but it didn't work.

It only got worse when the conductor asked for the girl's ticket.

"I left my ticket right here on the seat," she insisted, "but it's gone."

"You mean, you have lost your ticket?" the conductor said loudly, as if he wanted the whole world to hear.

Wow…he's being such a jerk about all this! Just get her a new one!

"She didn't lose it," Dad said, getting up out of his seat. "I did."

Everyone turned to look at him. He shyly made his way over to the girl and the conductor.

"I was…trying to return it to you," Dad explained. "But the wind blew it out of my hand."

Goodness, you are so STUPID, Dad! You shouldn't have touched the dang thing in the first place! Why must these people be so…ignorant to common sense? WHY?

"Here," Dad sad, pulling his own ticket out of his pocket. "You can have mine." He started handing it to the girl, who was about to take it gratefully.

I figured this could work. I mean…SOMEONE needed a new ticket in the end.

But I guess the conductor had other plans, because he snatched it out of my dad's hands and gave it back. "These tickets are no transferable!" he said darkly.

My eyes widened. I had never seen him so…scary before. Sure, maybe frustrated…but never scary.

No, not scary. More like…crazy.

Insane.

Belonging in the nuthouse.

"Young lady," the conductor continued. "You will just have to come along with me." He led her to the door of the car and shut it behind him, shaking his head at Dad.

"You know what's gonna happen now?" Eddy said. "He's gonna throw her off the train!"

"WHAT?" I exclaimed.

"Yeah! They do it all the time!"

"No! Not to a kid! That's horrible! Besides, if he does, I'll just kick his butt!"

"He will!" Eddy insisted. "He'll probably throw her right off the rear platform! It's standard procedure! That way, she won't get sucked down under the wheels!"

A very terrible image came into my mind as he said that sentence. And what made it worse was all Dad could do was stare at the door. He had to do something! This was his problem! He had to fix it!

Or…did I have to?

Was that the whole reason I had even got on the train? To help my Dad fix his petty problems and help him gain the common sense he obviously lacked?

I shook my head. I was so gullible.

"They may slow the train down a little bit, but they're never gonna stop it!" Eddy went on.

My dad's face lit up as a light bulb went off in his head. "That's it! I have to stop the train again!" he said, reaching for the handle.

"NOOOO!" we all shouted. "Not again!"

But he never got the chance to.

Because before he did, he saw a flash of gold in the vent that was right above the handle.

He reached in, and out came the ticket.

"Oh, my..." I said, trailing off. How had that thing gotten back?

Well, whatever had happened to it, finding it in the air vent was all that needed to happen, because my dad began to head toward the door.

"No, wait!" I said.

"What?"

"I'm coming with."

"No, you're not! You have to stay here."

"Well, it's pretty obvious you're going to mess something up again-"

Dad's eyebrows knitted together. "Are you saying I mess things up?"

"Well…" I said sheepishly. "Not all the time-"

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better. You know, just for that, I'm making you stay in this car. Whether you like it or not." With that, he turned around, opened the door, and jumped to the next car.

And for some reason…I had the sudden impulse to sit down. I don't know what made me do it. I just…did it.

It was weird.

Very weird.

...

Ten minutes later, my legs were going up and down because I was so nervous. Dad hadn't come back yet.

"That's it," I said, making up my mind and walking toward the door. "I'm going out there."

"No!" Eddy said. "You can't do that! Those other two are in enough trouble as it is! If you go out there, we're all dead meat!"

I turned to face him. "Does it look like I care? My da-my very close friend is out there, risking his life!" I turned around and faced that dreaded door.

"And I have to save him."