The Last Train Home
UniverseHall Originals · Mystery · 3 bölüm
A late train, a mysterious envelope and a new beginning. An original Orbit mystery in three short chapters.
Bölümler
1. The Envelope
The station clock showed eleven forty. Mia had ten minutes to catch the last train home. Rain ran down her coat as she hurried onto the empty platform.
An old man stood beside a blue suitcase. He held out a small envelope.
"You dropped this," he said.
"It isn't mine."
But her name was on the front: Mia Turner. Inside was a photograph of a yellow house. Her grandmother's house. On the back, someone had written: Come before midnight. Bring the key.
Mia touched the small key around her neck. Her grandmother had given it to her years ago.
She looked up to ask the man a question. He was gone. Across the tracks, a light came on inside the last train.
2. The Box on the Train
Mia sat near the window. The train moved slowly through the rain. At the next station, a woman in a green coat got on. She looked at the photograph in Mia's hand.
"I know that house," she said. "Your grandmother lived there."
"Who are you?"
"I'm Rose. We were friends. She asked me to give you something tonight."
Rose opened a blue bag and took out a wooden box. It had a small lock.
"Why tonight?" Mia asked.
"The house is going to a new family tomorrow. Your grandmother wanted you to have this first."
Mia put her key into the lock. It turned easily. Inside the box was a train ticket, a folded letter and a photograph of two young women on this very platform.
3. A New Journey
One of the women in the old photograph was Rose. The other was Mia's grandmother.
Mia opened the letter.
"Dear Mia, this ticket brought me to this town when I was nineteen. I was frightened and alone. On the train, I met Rose. She helped me find a room, and we became friends. A journey can change your life. Don't be afraid to begin yours."
Mia smiled. She had a ticket for another journey in her bag: a new job in a different city. Until tonight, she had wanted to cancel it.
"Who was the man at the station?" she asked.
"My husband," Rose said. "He always makes a simple plan into a mystery."
They laughed. Outside, the yellow house appeared beyond the trees. For the first time, leaving home did not feel like losing it.