They just stood there, as still as commuters waiting for their morning train. Each one had a ticket in its mouth.

6

Click-bing!

THE SILVER ARROW SLOWED, PULLED SMOOTHLY INTO the station, puffed out a huge cloud of white steam, and stopped with a loud hiss. There was an old-fashioned train clock on the platform, the round kind with a light inside that sits on top of a lamppost. It was late, almost ten o’clock at night.

Tom came over to Kate’s side to look at the animals. The animals looked back at them. They didn’t run away the way wild animals usually did. They just stood there.

It was like a dream. The air was so cold now they could see their breath in the lights of the station.

Finally Tom said:

“Hi.”

Kate wasn’t always grateful for Tom’s presence—in fact a lot of the time she preferred his absence—but at that moment she was. She knew she tended to hesitate and overthink things. Tom didn’t have that problem, he would just blurt out anything that came into his head.

A small gray fox bent down and placed its ticket carefully on the platform.

“Hi,” it said.

“Hi,” Kate said.

“Been a long time since a train came through here,” the fox said.

“Very long,” said the badger, transferring its ticket to its paws.

Kate thought of saying Is that so? or How about that! but rejected both ideas as fatally uncool.

“How long?” Tom said.

“About thirty years,” the badger said. “Where have you been? You’re very late.”

“Wait—just—how can you be talking?!” Kate said.

“Oh, I know,” the fox said. “We do talk sometimes, just not around humans. Frankly, we don’t meet a lot of humans who are worth talking to. No offense.”

Kate supposed that was fair.

“But you haven’t been standing here waiting this whole time, have you?” she said. “Like, the whole thirty years?”

“Oh, no. Of course not. We just look in here once in a while to check. I mean, we’re animals, it’s not like we have jobs.”

“I guess not.”

“You need to get over to the rail yard to pick up some cars, and fast,” a hare said. “It’s almost too late.”

“The rail yard,” Kate said. “Okay. Thank you. We’ll do that.”

It sounded like good advice.

“See you soon then.”

The animals all picked up their tickets and went back to waiting. With a jerk and a loud hiss, the Silver Arrow moved off down the track again. Tom pulled the whistle, two quick blasts:

FOOOM! FOOOM!

Kate clanged the bell for good measure. They quickly left the lights of the station behind.

“Did you see that?” Kate said.

“I totally saw that!” Tom said.

“Those animals talked! To us!”