“I know that was a terrible scare,” Uncle Herbert said. “And I’m sorry. But you’ve done well, Kate. I’m proud of you.”
She stared dully into the fire, still shaking. She wasn’t proud of herself. She was just relieved and tired and sorry.
“I lost the train,” she said. “All the cars. Everything. And I let the fire go out.”
“You did your job. Your job wasn’t to bring the train home, it was to try your hardest and never give up, and you did it. That’s all that matters.”
“Adults always say that.”
“Every once in a while we say something that’s true. We say a lot of things that aren’t, so it’s hard to tell which are which, but that one is true. It is literally all that matters. There are always more train cars. It’s a lot harder to find good conductors.”
“But the fire went out.” She felt hot tears of shame on her face again. “I wasn’t supposed to let it go out!”
“It’s going to be all right, Kate. Look.”
He turned her around to look at the Silver Arrow. A crowd of workers had appeared from somewhere, and they were climbing all over it. They were spraying off the mud and muck with hoses and wiping its windows and its brass bell and its great black boiler with cloths and sponges and towels. There was even a pit underneath the train where workers were cleaning its undercarriage.
“Will it be okay?”
“It’ll be good as new.”
She supposed she would take his word for it.
“Where are we?”
“This is the Roundhouse.” He gestured grandly at the circular room. “This is where trains come to get fixed up when something goes wrong.”
She saw now that the fireplace wasn’t just a fireplace, it was actually a huge forge, like a blacksmith would have.
“We’re going to take care of you, too.” He put one arm around Kate and the other around Tom. “If you go through there”—he indicated a door with his chin—“there’s a hot shower and fresh clothes and something to eat. Off you go. We’ll talk when you’re feeling better.”
26
The Beginning
IN A KIND OF PRIVATE UNDERGROUND LOCKER ROOM, Kate took the longest and hottest shower of her life. She steamed herself for what felt like hours, till the last frozen cell in her body was thawed out and pink and she was completely warm to the core again. Then she dried herself off and got dressed.
She didn’t even know what time it was anymore, but somebody had laid out a big breakfast of pancakes and French toast with maple syrup and melted butter on the side, and it was the most comforting thing she could imagine. She ate till she was stuffed.