Katja and Sapphire on the Polar Express

by Sapphire Jacqueline Stone

Not your ordinary Polar Express story, I can tell you. Anyway, two good friends, Kat and Sapphire, are reunited just before the NZ Christmas holidays. On Christmas Eve, they go to bed, not expecting to have noticed much until the next day. However, they both receive genuine tickets to ride on the Polar Express. Reason as to why I'm putting this up now is found in the story.

9. Chapter 9

Caribou Crossing

AN: Yes, the second chapter today :) Enjoy, as there will probably be more.

Previously:

With precise control of their skis, the ghosts jumped over the tops of carriages, until they had reached the engine, telling them to jump inside at the right time. They vanished and the other three leapt right on top of a bunch of coal.

All three of them slid down the bunch of coal, and once they were standing, Sapphire attacked the soot that had clung to her pajamas. Then they headed towards the engine itself, and much to Chris's surprise, but the girls knew who'd be there, was Sophie, driving the train.

"I thought you were thrown off, and you're driving the train!?" Chris said, incredulously.

"They put me in charge." She said cheerfully, and then added, "The engineer had to check the light."

A faint wail from far away reached Sapphire's ears, and she chuckled, knowing that one of the engineers was about to fall off, and had grabbed the other guys long hair.

"How do you know what to do?" Chris asked her, and she smiled again.

"It's quite easy, I'll show you." She pointed to a big lever and said, "That's the throttle." She then pointed to a small one, and said, "That's the brakes." She then pointed to the pressure gauges, and then said, with another smile, "That rope is the whistle."

"The whistle?" Chris repeated, and she nodded. "Wanna try it out?"

He didn't need to answer as the big grin on his face said , "Yes, I will." With that, he yanked on it, and said, "I've wanted to do that my whole life."

Outside, at the front, the engineers had managed to fix the light, and then noticed that there was something odd about the tracks. Realizing the predicament they were in, the engineer yelled towards the engine, "STOP THE TRAIN!" As loudly as possible.

The three girls and Chris glanced towards the man, and his instructions became clear.

"We have to stop the train." Sapphire said, and asked Sophie "Which one did you say was the brake?"

Sophie pointed, and Sapphire slammed it backwards. Fortunately, it was the right one. However, their celebration was short-lived as the conductor yelled out, "There can be no Christmas without the Polar Express arriving on time. Am I the only one who understands that?"

He was half way through telling Chris off, having once already stopped the train, when Sophie pointed, and said, "But look!"

He hurried over to the window, and then shouted, "Caribou Crossing?!"

Sapphire and Katja also headed to the window, and spotted several reindeer-like animals on the tracks.

"It's going to take some time before they clear this." Muttered one of the engineers.

Just then, Katja slid over, and instinctively grabbed the nearest thing, which was the very long red hair of the other engineer. He yelled in a way that was remarkably similar to the way Caribou sound.

As though he had been speaking to them, the Caribou responded with their own noise, and slowly moved back. Getting the gist of it, the Conductor pulled the man's hair, and each time the poor guy yelled, the Caribou moved back.

As they moved away, the Conductor said, "Well, problem solved. All ahead, slowly." The engineers listened, and within moments, the Caribou had vanished.

AN: Hope you enjoyed that :)