by her father hadn’t felt too unusual. Well, the time hadn’t felt odd. Being on a train alone for the first time ever kind of did, but she hunkered down in her comfortable seat, squeezed her earbuds in and cranked up her audiobook for the ninety-minute journey north to the big smoke, doing her best not to think about how out of her comfort zone she was. Alone on a train without Wilbur, whose last city-guiding experience had been thirteen years ago. But wasn’t that the point? Parasailing wasn’t exactly in her comfort zone either, but she was super-keen to try that. So why would being on a train freak her out? All around her passengers commuted to the city—some every morning and evening for work—and they managed. So would she. She had her stick. She’d be fine. Yet as she rested her hand lightly on the forearm of the train security guard ninety minutes later, as he led her towards the exit, she was super-glad that Elliott would be meeting her on the platform.
