The inside of the train was lavishly decorated, with ornate carpets and draperies. A luxury train indeed.
The conductor yelled at a man in a red and gold uniform standing at a corner.
"Hey, you! Get this girl over to the compartments!"
The attendant led me over to a section where compartment coaches lined the walls along a narrow corridor.
Most of them were occupied, but I found an empty compartment and sat down. A few minutes later, we stopped. Apparently the conductor was cooking up a fiasco in whichever town we were in now.
Later, when I was dozing off by the window, I heard a small voice ask, "Excuse me, can I come in?"
I lifted my head away. "Yeah, sure."
The little girl who entered looked no older than nine or ten years old. She was small, with lank reddish blond hair that looked like it hadn't been washed in a week. Her clothes didn't look any better. Her shirt was frayed at the collar, her skirt was ragged at the hem, and her shoes were heavily scuffed. She looked seriously underfed. The only thing that seemed well-to-do about her appearance was a slightly worn brown coat a few sizes too big. I did not dare to think how she would survive the cold winter months.
She sat across from me, scrutinising me with her big brown eyes.
"What's your name?" She asked in a Scottish accent.
"Alexis."
"That's an interesting name."
"I guess so. What's your's?"
"Stella Scott."
"Okay."
We sat for a while in silence until the train stopped again. I looked out of the window. We were in some sort of city, with tall buildings and blinking lights, which I couldn't see properly because of the fog the glass collected from Scotland.
The compartment slid open and a girl entered, her boots making a slapping sort of sound when they hit the floor.
She looked disdainfully around the compartment. "Seriously? How lame is this?"
Other than her leather jacket, everything else about her seemed to be ripped, from her jeans to her T-shirt. She plopped down next to me and stretched out her legs.
"Dude, what's with the faces?"
American, apparently. I would know, my dad is American.
After a few minutes of silence, in which the girl's legs took turns crossing each other, the train stopped. Again. This time we stopped at another city with blinking lights. The girl got up and looked out the window.
"Looks like we're in Washington D.C. I guess that geography lesson wasn't so pointless after all."
To me, it was just another high-rising city with blinking lights and that was it. The Americans surely place a lot of importance on geography if she could tell one city with blinking lights from another.
We were interrupted by a knock on the compartment door. We turned around and saw a boy with curly dark hair, olive skin and an aviator jacket knocking on the glass.
"You can quit knocking and get your butt in here." The girl said loudly.
The boy came in and had a seat next to Stella. He looked at each of us carefully.
"So, hi. My name's Alexander di Niro, from Washington D.C. Anyone here care to introduce themselves?" He looked at us like a farmer would look at his chickens about to hatch. Stella went first.
"I-I'm Stella, from Edinburgh."
He looked encouragingly at the girl and I. Seeing as he was nice enough, I decided to enlighten him.
"Alexis Furhman, Greenwood Village, a few miles from Kendal."
"In the Lake District? Cool."
"So you can talk?" The girl asked.
"Of course I can talk. I just didn't because you didn't seem like an interesting person at the time." I said. "By the way, it's your turn to introduce yourself.
"Okay. My name? Selene Parker, from Seattle."
Apparently, Washington D.C. was the Train of Hope's last stop, because the train didn't stop after that, and the conductor made it very obvious.
"And now, finally, I get to have my nap before the feast!" His voice had announced over the train's speakers.
For a while, Stella, Selene, Alexander and I talked about the Train of Hope. Then Selene cracked a bunch of horrible jokes and looked genuinely surprised that we didn't laugh, then Alexander got us to talk about ourselves.
"My mom named me Selene because that was her favourite Greek goddess." Selene said.
"You don't look like one, though. Far from it." Alexander said and burst out laughing.
Selene glared and Alexander faltered.
"Not that you don't look fine."
I snorted. In my opinion, Selene's ripped clothing would always be rags to me, no matter how many times Selene said they were 'fashionably ripped'. I didn't know much about fashion, and I couldn't afford to care.
Stella seemed to be perfectly content. Poor girl probably didn't have much company back in Edinburgh.
"So Alexis, how's life in the village?" Alexander asked.
"It's not that interesting, just running the shop and a few errands here and there."
"Wow, I thought you'd be herding sheep or something." Selene said.
"That's on a farm. I don't live on a farm."
There was a knock on the compartment door.
"Excuse me, Mister and Misses, we are approaching the mansion. All of you are to prepare for the Welcoming
feast."
Stella frowned. "Welcoming feast?"
"Look now, lady, welcome feast or not, I'm not going in some stupid-looking dress and high heels, so you'd better shove off!" Selene said.
"It is standard protocol, Miss, all of you must come with me to get dressed." The woman said firmly.
"Yeah, I don't see why we gotta dress all fancy just because we're going to some stupid dinner party!" Selene snapped.
"Enough already. Let's just go." Stella pleaded.
Selene rolled her eyes and shoved us all out. The woman handed Alexander over to a male attendant and took us to a carriage where rack after rack of dresses, shoes, jewellery and other accessories hung. Other girls were getting prepped up in front of mirrors. Stella eyed the dresses several girls her age were wearing wistfully.
"You'll get one too." I reassured her. The woman steered us over to a plump woman with sleek blond curls.
"Well now, well now, what do we have here?" She trilled.
"This is Penny, our assistant stylist. She will be in charge of you today." The woman said.
Penny nodded enthusiastically.
"Well, you all sure are in need of a fixer-upper, but once I'm done with you all, you'll be astonished."
Selene scowled. She definitely did not appreciate being regarded as 'in need of a fixer-upper'.
Penny gestured me over to a dressing table with huge light bulbs like those you see in movies.
"Sit down." Penny said. I sat, shielding my eyes. Seriously, how does anyone sit here without getting blinded? Penny ran her fingers through my hair.
"Not bad. Not bad. A wash and it's all ready for styling!"
I forced a smile. "That's... nice."
"Well, you do have a lot of tangles and split ends, though. That will need to be taken care of." Penny mused.
I reckon an hour was spent washing, oiling, trimming and who-knows-what-else to my hair. Throughout the entire process, Penny lectured me about taking care of my hair (which made the whole thing seem even longer). God, lumping hair care, of all things, into my everyday life is going to be a pain. Like keeping the head lice and dandruff out isn't hard enough already. Sheesh. Seriously, nobody's going to care how much my hair shines.
When Penny's assistants were done with me, she held up a mirror. I had quite a shock. The ends of my hair had definitely been through a pair of scissors, and it was all thick and solid-looking, like chocolate fondue. My hair was gathered into a bunch over my right shoulder.
"Wow." I was absolutely amazed.
"Yes, yes. It is amazing. My assistants have done an excellent job, as usual." Penny said absent-mindedly.
"Now, the real work begins. What should I do with your hair? I need it to be elegant, but at the same time, suiting your personality and age. Hmm..."
She put my hair into a variety of styles. Finally, she settled for what she called a braided crown, not unlike the one I usually wore back at home.
Then, I had to pick a dress.
Alright, I take whatever I said about hair back. This was absolutely the worst part of getting prepped up for the feast. Penny steered me over to a rack of dresses.
"Let's see... aha!"
She pulled out a bright blue dress dotted with small white flowers. In a flash, I was pushed into the changing room and told to change. When I came out, Penny shook her head and held out another dress (orange with a beaded collar).
Before long, I had tried on a ton of dresses, and was ready to pass out. Penny, on the other hand, was ecstatic. She held out a navy dress for me to try. When I came out of the changing room, Penny squealed and clapped her hands.
"Yes! This fits you perfectly!"
And she ran off to find a pair of shoes and jewellery.
The only time I've ever worn a dress was during a Christmas party when I was nine. I'd never really liked them, since wearing one while cycling is a major inconvenience. I've never worn dresses, not even during festivals.
"Alexis? You're done."
I heard Stella say behind me. She looked so different I nearly yelled "Who are you?" Her hair was no longer a rat's nest, instead, it was wavy and shiny. Apparently, she'd taken a bath, since all traces of grime was gone off her. Rather than the scruffy girl I met on the train, she looked like she was going to someone's birthday party. Stella looked down on the lilac dress she was wearing. "How do I look?" I grinned and ruffled her hair. "Great."
Selene stormed in, rolling her eyes. "God, like getting my hair flattened, wearing a dress, and all the other mumbo-jumbo wasn't enough, they actually wanted to make me wear heels about this high!" She held her thumb and index finger about four inches apart. "How does anyone even walk in those things, anyway? Total crazies, the lot of 'em!"
I rolled my eyes. "Right, and the world's about to end. Why are you even telling us this?"
"Dude, do you have any idea what kind of harm high heels can do to your feet?"
"Don't know, don't care. Not even the fussiest women in the village would bother to own a pair. I don't recommend wearing or bringing any when visiting. It can cause quite a few problems."
"Mind your own business. And shut up." Selene fumed, turning red.
"I am minding my own business, how about you mind yours for a change? Seriously, do Americans run around making a big deal out of everything?" I retorted.
Stella was watching us, like a tennis match.
"It's called venting, OK? Oh please, everybody does that." Selene grumbled. I wanted to smack my forehead.
"If I vent, I do it in private. Not announce it to everybody within a fifteen meter radius."
"Excuse me?" Our argument was cut off by a voice at the entrance to the girl's dressing room.
"Dude, this is the ladies' room!"
Alexander clenched his jaw. "I know, and if you're done, please gather in the main compartment of the train, we're about to get off."
"Come on, you two. We've wasted enough time." Selene said as she dragged us out. But not before she shot a dirty look at Alexander. He rolled his eyes and followed us to the main compartment.
The station was no more than a small stone building in a pine forest, with a path out of the forest. The air was cool and crisp. Above us, the night sky was dotted with stars. An aurora waved like a curtain amongst them. "Are we walking, or what?" Selene demanded. Alexander di Niro exhaled a gust of air through his nose. "No, look." He pointed in the direction of the path. I looked. One by one, small, elegant coaches rolled in, single file. Each were drawn by two horses, but no driver. Figures that they were so well trained they didn't even need one. I climbed into a coach and found it only had enough seats for four people.
"Come on." I beckoned at the others. I looked through the window by my seat. Outside, some kids were bickering over who got which carriage, and others sneaked inside when they thought no one was looking. Minutes later, the horses whinnied and took off, with our carriage in the lead.
The forest path went on and on for miles before we came out in front of a vast mansion at the banks of a lake. The coaches rolled to a stop in front of a huge staircase covered in a red carpet. The horses whinnied again, as if to say Get off. This is the furthest we'll take you. The carriage door opened automatically. I got off, followed by Stella, Selene, and Alexander. As soon as Stella slid off her seat and onto the ground, the coach rolled away, making way for the other coaches. It took forever, as the kids got off from their coaches. For a while, we just stood there, staring at the manor in awe.
A young man in a ruffled shirt and a waistcoat pushed open one of the heavy oak doors and hurried down the staircase, followed by several others: two women, one short and plump, the other taller and thinner and lastly a man who looked like the butler. They came down, had a brief discussion and began to sheep-herd us towards the doors, which the plump woman and the older man were standing by.
The four servants led us to a great room lit with floating candles. The ceiling was painted with scenes of hunting and gathering. Clustered amongst each other were round tables set with sparkling silver utensils and porcelain plates edged with gold. On each table, was a different flower arrangement. One table had white lilies, another had big, bright sunflowers. The servants bustled off, and the kids went about the tables, looking for a place to sit. Stella spotted a table with an arrangement of hyacinths. "Over there!" She darted past several teenagers and sat herself down on one of the draped chairs. Alexander shrugged, and went over to join her. Selene rolled her eyes and slouched herself on a chair. I'm pretty sure she was sulking because she would rather be napping or doing something else just as productive. I settled myself on a chair. Another few people joined us, including a teenage boy from Belgium and a young girl from Russia.
Up on a raised platform were several musical instruments and more flowers. Seriously, what's up with all the flower obsession? Although they make good decor, they're boring as heck.
Out of the blue, somebody yelled.
"Here comes the Ambassador and his Lady!"
I looked up at the platform, and saw a distinguished man and an elegantly dressed woman on the stage. With them was a thin man with a moustache who obviously made the announcement.
The Ambassador smiled genially and began to tell us how happy he was to see "all the children of the world, freed from their sorrows, and gathered here for this magnificent feast!" Selene rolled her eyes and stuck her head under the table. I grabbed the collar of her jacket to haul her back up, which caused her to hit her head and shoot a glare at me (that which I pretended not to notice). The Ambassador finished his speech, and everyone clapped.
"Now, let the feast begin!"
The announcer cheered. Everyone clapped louder. Selene rubbed her head, still scowling. The servants sidled forward, balancing huge trays of food. Come to think of it, I wonder how they pulled that off? What if one suddenly slipped and fell? That'd be messy. Selene looked pretty tempted to trip the servant coming towards our table, but she didn't.
Balancing the tray precariously on his hand (which other than providing a platform for the tray, did not seem to be doing anything else to support it), he put down bowls of steaming mushroom soup. Stella picked up her spoon, unsure of what to do.
"Here, watch me." Alexander said.
He scooped up some soup and blew on it several times before drinking it. Stella eagerly copied his example.
For a while, Alexander guided her on eating properly. By the time dessert was served, Stella had mastered the art of fine eating.
After the feast, the servants led us to what they called 'suites'. Stella was so exhausted that she plopped down on a large, overstuffed armchair in the drawing room, looking like a life-size doll in the process. Selene ruffled her hair, making it stand up all over the place.
"Come on, you." She grumbled, poking Stella in the belly. "You've gotta change, y'know. That dress can get pretty uncomfortable."
Stella slid off the chair, and plodded upstairs. Selene followed after, coaxing her up, bit by bit. I watched them, somewhat amused.
"Well, I guess I'm stuck with you three." Alexander said.
I raised an eyebrow. "Is that a bad thing?"
"Not necessarily. I used to share a room with my sister. It'll be like that, just with two more sisters."
"Well, we'd better get up to bed. I really need my rest."
"Same here."
I went into the first bedroom I came across. I wanted so badly to crash into the big, comfy bed, but I couldn't sleep in my dress. With all the willpower I could muster, I staggered over to a nearby dressing table and undid my braids. That took a while, because Penny just had to make the braids so darn complicated.
I slipped out of the dress and changed into pyjamas (which, strangely, fit me perfectly) before slumping down into the pillows.