Annabel gripped the woman by the front of her gown. “I’ve got you!” A few stitches ripped, but Annabel succeeded in holding the young mother upright until she had recovered her footing and could hold the baby securely to her breast.
Vaguely, Annabel noticed the train was slowing for a stop. The woman, a blonde with arched eyebrows, glowered at her rescuer. “Young man, unhand me this very instant.”
Startled, Annabel released her grip. “I was only trying to—”
“Conductor!” the woman shouted. “Conductor!”
The conductor, a burly man with a moustache, sweat shining on his face, hurried over to them. By now, the woman had regained her composure and was using one hand to cover herself with the shawl she wore draped around her shoulders.
She gestured at Annabel with her chin. “This young man, this...urchin...forced the door on the convenience while I was inside, tending to my baby. He stared at my breasts and laid his hands on me, tearing my gown.” The woman lowered her voice. “Pervert, and just a boy. What’s the world coming to?”
Annabel shrank back a step. “I was only—”
“Is it true, young man?” the conductor boomed.
“I’m not...” Annabel glanced down at her clothing. I’m not a boy.
“Are you questioning me?” The woman’s voice grew shrill. She glowered at the pair of them. “Are you suggesting that I invited this perverted young man to ogle at me and damage my gown?”
Annabel fisted her hands at her sides. Her eyes stung with the threat of tears. She’d been so proud of how well the journey was going...she’d only been trying to help...but how could she explain without giving her disguise away?
“I’m sorry,” she muttered, only now remembering to lower the pitch of her voice. “I thought the convenience was vacant.”
“Sorry is not good enough.” The woman lifted her nose in the air and addressed the conductor. “I demand that you remove this young man from the train. He is a menace to the female passengers.”
Not bothering to investigate the accusation, nor giving Annabel a chance to defend her actions, the conductor merely caught her by the scruff of her neck and shoved her along. “Let’s be off with you, then.”
Stiffening her legs, Annabel braced her boots against the floor to halt their progress. The conductor swore and jerked her up in the air. Annabel kicked with her feet and flailed with her fists, but the burly man dangled her at a distance and her blows failed to connect.
By now, the train had rolled to a stop. Behind them, passengers were crowding to the end of the car, waiting to alight. A man carrying a suitcase pushed past them and swung the door open. The conductor stepped forward and without ceremony flung Annabel down to the station platform.
She landed on all fours. The impact jarred her bones, nearly tearing her shoulders from their sockets. The skin on her palms scraped raw against the rough concrete surface. Gritting her teeth, blinking back tears, Annabel fought the pain. Only vaguely was she aware of the stream of passengers filing past her.
Behind her, the train doors slammed shut. Her knees and hands throbbed, but the shock of the impact was slowly fading away. Annabel lifted her head. At least her flat cap remained securely in place, protecting her disguise.
Carefully, she rolled over to a sitting position and inspected the abrasions on her palms. Through the holes in her ripped trousers, she could see her skinned knees. Around her, people bustled about, boots thudding, skirts swishing, voices calling out greetings.
As her senses sharpened, Annabel could feel the hot afternoon sun baking down on her, could smell the scents of smoke and steam from the train. Gradually it dawned on her that something was missing...the weight that should be dangling from her shoulder. Her haversack, with all her possessions! With her money!
Panic seized her, making her forget the aches and pains. Frantic, Annabel scrambled to her feet and rushed over to the train and climbed up the iron steps and jerked the door open. The burly conductor stood waiting inside. Annabel tried to dart past him, but he lifted one booted foot and placed it against her chest and pushed, sending her toppling back down to the platform.
“Didn’t I tell you to get off?” he roared.
Sprawled on her rump, ignoring another wave of throbbing from the hard slam against the concrete platform, Annabel gave him an imploring look. “My bag... I must have dropped it when you threw me out...please...it is all I have...”
The conductor’s angry scowl eased. “What kind of bag?”
“A canvas haversack. Brown. This big.” She spread her hands wide.
“I’ll look.” He turned on his polished boots and strode out of sight into the corridor. Annabel waited. It was only a few steps back to where he had grabbed her. He’d find her haversack...unless one of the alighting passengers had taken it!
Alarmed by the idea, Annabel surveyed the platform. The crowd had thinned. She could see three disreputable-looking men—probably pickpockets—loitering against the wall of the station building. A shoeshine boy sat on a wooden box, and a woman in a gray dress was tidying up a display of fruit laid out on a trestle table.
The conductor reappeared at the door. “There’s no bag.”
“Please. Look again. Maybe it fell when I tried to help the lady. Maybe it is inside the convenience.”
Once more, the door to the railroad car flung shut. Annabel waited, too petrified to move, too petrified to do anything but stare at the closed door, her mind frozen in denial. The engine blew its whistle. A plume of steam rose in the air. The iron wheels screeched, and the train jerked into motion.
Desperation jolted Annabel back into life. She jumped to her feet and rushed over to the edge of the platform. She tried to grip the handrail by the steps, but the train was accelerating too fast for her to attempt boarding.
“My bag! My bag! Help!” Shouting, she ran alongside the train as it pulled away, leaving the station behind. Something appeared in an open window. A bundle of brown canvas. Her bag! She could see a pair of big hands clutching it in the air, the brass buttons at the end of the conductor’s sleeves glinting in the sun.
Relief poured through Annabel. She halted at the edge of the platform and watched as the conductor tossed her haversack out of the window. The bag fell onto the tracks, but the shoulder strap became tangled in the iron wheels. With each revolution, the bag flung up into the air and smashed down to the rails again.
Aghast, Annabel stared as the sturdy fabric tore into shreds. Clothing spilled out onto the tracks. Her food parcel unraveled, sending a loaf of bread rolling along. And then there was a flash of gold as a coin spun out...and another...and another...
Behind her, Annabel could hear the clatter of running feet. A man hurried past her and jumped down to the tracks. A second man followed, and then a third. The three ruffians who had been loitering by the station wall!
Annabel held her breath, hope and fear fighting within her as she watched the men race along the tracks, jumping from sleeper to sleeper. When they reached the remains of her scattered belongings they halted and began dipping down, in a rootling motion that resembled chickens pecking at the ground.
