Aubrey Little stared dejectedly at the Kepler Limited. The imposing train seemed to be a picture from the 1800s brought to life: it was one of the only still-operating steam locomotives in the United States, complete with characteristic billows of smoke, the industrial exterior, and the deafening rumble of its power. And while any other day Aubrey would’ve appreciated the novelty of riding on this positively ancient train, today she could not muster up her usual enthusiasm for life; today she was returning home to a boring life with boring neighbors and boring parents after spending two weeks at summer camp, where she had gotten to practice magic tricks. The real world really was cruel.
“Hey, train. Sorry for the attitude—it’s not your fault. You haven’t done anything wrong—well, actually… the pollution you contribute to the atmosphere via your coal burning is a little bit unforgivable given our current environmental status, but… I guess that’s not really your fault either.” Aubrey sighed to herself and shared a knowing look with the train. “I bet you get bored traveling the same tracks all the time. Maybe I can keep you company and we can be bored together?”
“Miss? Are you alright?” a tall man with a stitched name tag spelling out Jenkins and an expression of concern approached Aubrey as she quietly mumbled to the train.
“Hi! I’m Aubrey! Yes, I’m great today; how are you, sir?”
“Uh… I’m good. Is there a reason you’re talking to the train?”
“Just having an enriching conversation with a kindred soul, is all!”
He nodded slowly, his eyebrows raised in polite confusion. “Uh okay…”
“Are you going on the train, too?”
“I’m the engineer, actually.”
Aubrey’s eyes widened. “Ooh! That sounds cool! What do you do?”
“Well, I… run the engine…?”
“Oh. Can I see?”
“No… I stay in the engine room and no one is allowed in or out while the train is running.” Jenkins was visibly uncomfortable now. “Sorry, kid. Have a nice ride.” The engineer backed away with a forced smile and boarded the train.
“Oh okay. Bye Jenkins! And here I thought we were about to have an adventure, Train Friend.” Aubrey sighed glumly.
Aubrey looked out the window and watched the blur of the mountains move past her. The train suddenly stopped at a station, and a boy stepped on. He was around Aubrey’s age and tall with brown hair and glasses. They both sat without in silence for a few minutes until the boy pulled out a book called Mindless Magic.
“That’s a really interesting book,” Aubrey said. “I’ve read it before and it’s one of my favorites!”
“Really? Do you also like magic?” asked the boy.
“I love it! I just came back from a summer camp where I practiced magic!”
“Wow! That’s pretty cool,” the boy said excitedly. “I’ve never met anyone else that’s interested in magic.”
“Yeah. I’m obsessed with it.” Aubrey finally had someone that she could talk to. “I’m Aubrey.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Newton,” the boy said as they shook hands. “So where are you headed to?”
“I’m heading back home and returning to my old, boring life. You?”
“I’m going to—”
The train suddenly stopped and two kids got on board. One a girl, and the other a boy. The girl was pretty and petite with long blond hair. The boy wore glasses and also had blond hair.
“Oh, more people…” the boy said.
“Hi! I’m Aubrey and that’s Newton.”
“I’m Dani and this is my sister Angus,” The boy said as they sat down next to Aubrey and Newton.
Dani noticed the book that Newton was holding. “What’s that book about?”
“It’s about magic.”
“That’s cool…” Dani looked at his sister.
“Don’t say it,” Angus said, annoyed.
“Say what?” asked Aubrey.
“Well,” Dani began, “I heard that this train is magical.”
No one believed him.
“I’m serious.” He said insistently. “Years ago there were children that were the same age as us who were on this train. They were just talking, like how we are right now, and the train crashed—everyone remembers it crashing—but then, there was this bright flash of light, and—”
“Okay, you can stop your little story now,” Angus said, even more annoyed.
“What do you mean? It was just getting good,” Dani said grumpily.
“It’s not real. He just likes to make up stories,” Angus sneered.
“Too bad it’s not real. I was looking forward to something cool,” Newton said with disappointment.
“Well, at least we can practice magic!” Aubrey said, trying to make things better. She was also hoping that something exciting would happen.
While the gang was practicing magic it got a little loud in the train car they were occupying. Other passengers started to flood to more quiet train cars. After about an hour, it was just the four of them.
“Wow, that was a cool trick! Can you teach me?” Aubrey asked Newton.
“Of course, you start by shuffling the cards,” Newton replied.
“Where did everyone go?” Angus blurted.
“I don’t know,” Dani replied.
Jenkins entered the train car, his eyes scanning nervously for someone.
“Hey, Jenkins!” Aubrey said. “He’s the engineer, I met him earlier,” Aubrey whispered to the others. She eyed him with curiosity.
“Hi…” Jenkins awkwardly waved at the kids.
Dani and Angus jumped up. “We’re going to go to the bathroom. We’ll be right back.”
Aubrey replied, “I’ll come too.”
They walked away, leaving Jenkins and Newton alone. When they arrived at the one-stalled bathroom Dani decided to go in first while Angus and Aubrey waited. All of a sudden, the train shook violently. A few tense moments after, a scream echoed through the train car.
Aubrey woke up to the sight of baggage and belongings scattered about an otherwise empty room. She also became aware of an excruciating pain immobilizing her body. She tried to stand up, but couldn’t get her legs to move. With dawning horror, she realized she couldn’t feel anything below her waist.
Suddenly, Jenkins quickly entered the cabin where Aubrey was slumped against the wall. Immediately after him, Newton stumbled in after saying, “I know what you did. I know what you…”
Newton collapsed to the ground. Jenkins hurriedly propped Newton’s unconscious body on a large duffel bag and turned to close the heavy metal door behind him. Jenkins turned to Aubrey with a panicked expression on his face.
“Are you okay, Aubrey?” Jenkins asked, concerned.
“What happened?” Aubrey muttered.
“Don’t worry. I can help!”
“Yeah, that checks out, Adult-Man-I-Don’t-Know. I can definitely trust you, the engineer who’s supposed to be shoveling coal or whatever, and instead is holding me captive in a private room,” Aubrey said hysterically.
Jenkins sighed in frustration.
“That’s—that’s not it. Okay look, I get that I’m a stranger and that given the timing of my visit and the situation we are currently in, I don’t seem trustworthy, but I swear—I have an explanation.”
Aubrey raised her eyebrows in disbelief. “You’re really gonna try to get me to back your villainous plans? Okay go for it, dude. Try explaining why Newton came in here saying, ‘I know what you did, ’ which is generally not a good thing, by the way, and why he’s currently passed out on the floor!”
“Okay, first of all, your friends? They’re fine. And that kid—Newton—he did see me do something, but it’s all a big misunderstanding. I’m not actually an engineer—”
“Oh, that’s just GREAT! Just great that the adult stranger who’s been stalking me, a child, isn’t who he says he is!”
“Okay, it does sound bad when you say it that way, but just let me finish! Please.”
Aubrey motioned for him to continue, and winced when a sharp pain coursed through her upper body.
“Okay. I’m not an engineer. I’m a detective from the Bureau of Balance—we deal with abuse of magical power. I’m investigating the Kepler Limited and the conductor of this journey. You and your friends were talking about how the train is magic, right? It sounds dumb, but it’s extremely real.” Jenkins paused, looking around nervously. “Back in the 1800s, the train did crash, but it wasn’t destroyed. Witnesses said it emitted this—bright light— and then somehow the train was back on the tracks, totally unharmed.”
“This magic train story is really compelling, my guy, and as much as I love magic, I know that stuff isn’t real. Tell me where I am, what happened, and why you’ve been following me. Now.”
Jenkins was getting more and more agitated as he scanned the dim cabin. “We’re in the engine room. The train crashed and something very, very bad is about to happen. I thought—I thought maybe you knew, since you have that badge from the Pine Camp, but I miscalculated. Although, I don’t know how you don’t know…”
“Are you being intentionally cryptic for dramatic effect? Just tell me what I don’t know!”
Jenkins hesitated, before his resolve seemed to set. “Aubrey, are you good at magic?”
“Just gonna keep being cryptic then, huh? I mean… yeah? I guess? Not the fantasy magic you’re talking about, though! I’m good at pyrotechnic magician tricks and sleight-of-hand…”
“And you learned all this stuff at the Pine Camp?”
“Well, I’m mostly self-taught, but yeah, I learned a lot there.”
“Aubrey, did you notice that the kids at the Pine Camp are all very good at magic? It’s not like some kind of amateur magician camp—the Pine Camp is as prestigious a magician camp as you can get into. Did you know that?”
“No… but that’s ridiculous! It’s a summer camp for magic tricks! It’s not like they’re honing our natural magic abilities under the guise of magician tricks!” Aubrey laughed.
Jenkins stared intently at Aubrey, completely silent.
“No. No, Don’t give me that look, dude. I know it’s not a Real Magic Camp for Real Magic People.”
Jenkins pursed his lips. “Aubrey, do magic.”
“Dude! This really isn’t the time! You’re very suspicious, you know, and I’m not so dumb that you can distract me with fantasy stories or magic tricks!”
“Aubrey, just do it. Do it, and I’ll tell you what it means and what I know and I’ll let you leave with your friends if you want to, but just—do it. Make a flame.”
Shaking her head slowly, Aubrey slowly pulled a pair of gloves out of her pocket.
“Oh, none of that. I need you to make a flame without your fire gloves.”
“Okay, a few things. One: really creepy that you know about my fire gloves. Two: how do you think I make flames? I snap my fingers and the friction on the gloves makes a flame, bud. It’s not like I can just make flames!”
“Try.”
Aubrey stared blankly at her hands. How was she supposed to know how to make actual fire with her actual hands? As the anxiety of the situation crept up on her, Aubrey dwelled on what Jenkins had told her about the Pine Camp. It was true that all the magicians-in-training there had been exceptionally good at their respective tricks, but that didn’t mean magic was real. Except…
There had been an instance—a small one—that Aubrey couldn’t quite rationalize.
She had fallen into a fitful, nightmare-ridden sleep in the grassy clearing behind the cabins at the Pine Camp and when she woke up, the patch of flowers her hand had been resting in was on fire.
While her gloves were in her cabin.
But she had written that off as a strange, insignificant coincidence. It didn’t mean anything. Right?
Panic rushed through Aubrey’s aching body and her throat closed up, making her breath labored and her fingers tingle. And then—a burst of flame illuminated on the tips of her fingers.
“Okay. I believe you.”
Welcome Aboard the Kepler Limited 