The girl did not have the look of the various and sundry crazies that frequented the nation’s train stations. She was well-dressed—in fact, overdressed in a emerald-green satin gown. True, her red hair looked a bit disheveled, but she was neither talking to herself or engaging in questionable activities—although sitting for hours in a train station was, in and of itself, questionable.

She was hard not to notice. What with that shimmering gown, she was the only bright spot in the dreary station, and it drew the younger guard’s attention all morning long, until he finally approached her. She was as beautiful up close as she was from a distance, although some discoloration around one eye attested to some sort of trouble.

“Are you all right, Miss?” he asked. “Can I help you with anything?”

“No,” she said cheerily. “I’m just waiting for a friend.”

“The train isn’t due to arrive for another six hours— and with that bridge down in Memphis, everything’s been rerouted, so it’s bound to be late. Wouldn’t you rather come back later?”

“My friend is not necessarily arriving by train,” she informed him.

“Oh.” Since he didn’t quite know how to respond to that, he just let her be, convincing the other guard not to evict her for loitering. It occurred to him that this girl fit the description of a woman wanted for questioning in the bridge disaster, but there was no way it could have been her. This girl was far too young and innocent to be involved in that kind of thing.

She was still there at noon, and was beginning to get fidgety. The young guard had realized she had not eaten—in fact, she didn’t even have a purse or wallet of any kind, so he bought her a bagel at the station café, and gave it to her.

“On the house,” he said.

“Why, thank you!”

“Are you sure I can’t help you?” he asked. “Maybe we could call your friend.”

“I’m afraid he has no telephone.” And clearly neither did she.

She ate her bagel slowly, with a grace rarely seen in these days of fast food and stuffed faces. If she was still here when his shift ended, he thought he might offer to buy her dinner—if only to watch the graceful way she dined.

As the day wore on, she became more and more unsettled, and her behavior became such that the older guard crossed his arms and said, “See, I told you so!” But again, the younger guard convinced him to leave the poor girl alone. “She’s all yours,” the older man said as he left at the end of his shift.

At about four in the afternoon, the girl began to walk around the station with increasing impatience, zeroing in on anyone who lingered alone for too long, and the guard began to truly feel for her.