Lonerider

Tales

Sweet JosieThe Night Train

Story by Sumit Vohra.

She wanted to remember. She had buried those memories deep, but they had made her who she was, so tonight she let them ride along. The train rocked through the dark, and Josie watched the black glass of her first-class window until she caught herself doing it.
A steam train crossing the desert at night, one first-class car glowing
"That won't do," she said to nobody. Her mark would be along soon, and she was never unprepared.
She took out a compact and set the shoulders of her dress just so. Tonight she was a lady, a lady with a little adventure in her. Her brown eyes looked back from the mirror, and she gave them a wink just as the cabin door slid open.
Josie checks her reflection in a compact mirror and gives it a wink
"Pardon me, ma'am. I didn't realize this cabin was taken." He said it with confidence and no intention of leaving. His knuckles stayed white on the handle of his briefcase.
The courier in the doorway, knuckles white on his briefcase
Josie smiled, and the blood came back into his hand.
"The others were full," she said. "I hope you don't mind the company."
"Not at all. I'm Douglas." He took off his hat, set it on the seat, and bent over the hand she offered.
"Josie."
She took him in. Medium height, lean the way a rope is lean, round spectacles over gray eyes that said he could look after himself. A courier, she guessed, before he told her. She also knew he had been hers the moment he opened the door.
She turned back to the window and let the quiet do her work. He would talk first. They always did.
"Where are you headed, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Eagle Pass. Family, and a dull job that will hopefully pay well. I'm from Salt Flats, and I couldn't leave it fast enough." She let a beat pass. "And you, mister?"
"I'm a courier. I carry what needs carrying to where it needs to go. Mostly it's lonely work." He smiled. "Some nights I get lucky."
She laughed at that, and leaned across to look at the hat beside him. "That's a fine hat for a lonely man."
He told her where he bought it. She asked about the band. He told her about the band. She turned it in her hands while he talked, admired the stitching, set it back on the seat, and the small brass key that had been tucked under the band was in her glove.
Gloved hands turning the courier's hat; a small brass key glints under the band
By the time the brakes began to hiss, Douglas had told her his whole life and asked her to dinner in Eagle Pass. Josie said she would think about it. She asked if he would fetch her bag from the rack, and while he reached up, she swapped his briefcase for the twin she had carried aboard.
While he reaches for the rack, Josie sets down an identical briefcase
On the platform she pressed her lips to his handkerchief, a perfect red kiss, and folded it into his breast pocket. "So you remember me."
He would.
A handkerchief with a red lipstick kiss folded into his breast pocket
She bought a one-way ticket back the way she came and sat on the station bench, watching the train hiss back into motion and slide into the ink of the night. She would open the case on the ride home. She already knew the count of her cons had gone up by one.
Josie on the station bench with the briefcase as the train slides away

Tonight she was a lady, a ladywith a little adventure in her.

Meet Sweet Josie. See the beer

Moretales