Page 44 of Buck Baxter and the Mysteries of Love

As the last of them dropped from the locomotive, I raced across the roof of the train to Stella. “Are you okay?”

“I think so,” she nodded. “But you can bet your bottom dollar I won’t be booking a train trip anytime soon.”

Together we turned the wheel lock on the hatch before I helped her down the first steps of the ladder. “Get below. Hang on to something tight.”

“What for?”

I glanced at the cliff getting closer and closer. “We’re headed for a fall.”

I turned to Harry who was now running across the roof of the carriages toward me.

We charged into each other’s arms, his lips meeting mine, his hands holding my face close. “I was scared to death I’d never see you again,” he breathed.

I looked into his eyes. “You and me both.”

From the car speeding alongside us, Bugsy began blasting the horn.

Harry and I looked to see my father pointing to the cliff ahead. “Son! The train’s gonna crash! It’s headed straight for the sea! You need to jump!”

I looked to Harry then over the edge of the fast-moving locomotive. “We’ll never survive.”

Harry took my face firmly in his hand and locked eyes on me. “Buck, listen to me. This train isn’ta train at all.”

“Then what the hell is it?”

Harry gulped. “It’s a weapon.”

Bugsy kept blasting his horn. “Jump! Jump now!”

Up ahead I heard the hatch through which Hammer had disappeared slam shut, the wheel screwing tight.

From the cargo car, someone slammed that hatch tight as well.

I glanced at the track ahead, the end of the line rushing up to meet us, and beyond that the cliff overlooking the sea.

“We have to get inside now,” Harry said. “We have to get inside or we’re going to die.”

He squeezed my hand so tight there was no escaping his grip.

He pulled me down the last open hatch, into the train.

I lost my grip on the shotgun.

It clattered across the roof.

I tried to grab it, but I couldn’t reach.

“Buck! We have to get inside! Now!”

As I lowered myself hurriedly onto the ladder, I glanced one last time at my parents.

Bugsy slammed his foot on the brake before they reached the cliff, the car sliding to a halt.

I pulled the hatch shut.

I turned the wheel lock and sealed it tight.

With a violent shudder that shook the entire train, I realized the locomotive had just smashed through the barrier at the end of the line…

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