Free The Sphere (The Magi Series #2) by Kevin M. Turner Page B

so he could stick his head out and let
the cold air whip the stench away.  Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to wait long.
    Despite the foul air, their hiding place was perfect.  Elijah
found a corner of the car where two boxes were close together and nestled
himself between them so he was nearly invisible.  Uncle Stan did the same.  If
an inspector came poking around, it would be almost impossible to see them.
    While Elijah waited for the train to start, he practiced
igniting a flame between his palms.  He could start a flame already, and if he
could focus, he was getting quite skilled at controlling it, but he needed to
work on speed.  It took him a while to settle his mind enough to focus on an
emotion.
    Just before sunset, the train slowly began to move.  He
stood up, excited, and watched as the scenery crawled by at a snail’s pace.
    Soon, the train picked up speed, and the trees opened up to
reveal a gorgeous mountain range to the north.  Elijah turned to ask Uncle Stan
what the mountain range was, but he was fast asleep.  The sounds of his snoring
were loud enough to be heard even over the clickity-clack of the train on the
tracks.  Elijah remembered Olivia telling him to get his rest, so after it was
too dark to see, he made a little bed with his blanket and fell asleep to the rocking
of the train.
    When he awoke early the next morning, eager slits of sun
rays beamed through the boxcar.  Elijah poked his head around the corner of his
crate and saw his uncle, still sleeping heavily.  He wondered how Uncle Stan
could sleep so soundly.  There were so many things to think about.
    Elijah couldn’t stand lying down any longer.  He got up and
looked out the small window on the opposite side of the door.  He grabbed an
onion crate so he could have a place to sit and watch the world whir by.  He
was getting used to the smell, so the potent fumes didn’t make his eyes water
as much.
    The forest’s trees didn’t seem as congested here—wherever
they were—as in Savenridge.  He also sensed a temperature change.  Instead of
the crisp chill in the air, it felt warm and muggy.
    It didn’t take long for Elijah to become a prisoner to his
inner thoughts.  From the temperature change, he briefly thought about the
weather in Savenridge.  He began to feel a little homesick and wished for a
glimpse of a river just so he could pretend that it was the Savenridge River
and he was just taking a little ride through the land.  From there, his mind
imagined following the river all the way to the barracks, where he would spend
the next nine months.  He couldn’t wait to get back there to meet up with his
friends again.  He thought about his trainings and wondered if Olivia’s lessons
with him would turn into briefings on finding the sphere instead of training
with the elements.
    The train stopped twice before the sky became dark.  The
first stop came just on the outskirts of a large city.  Elijah noticed towering
oil derricks and what looked like a power plant to the west.  Ahead, he could
see a city on the edge of a river.  Even though he had wanted to see a river
earlier, this one reminded him nothing of the Savenridge River.  There were no
trees around it, and it reflected a murky color instead of the crystal clear
blue from the sky.
    The second stop was out in the middle of nowhere.  The train
was delayed maybe five minutes.  Elijah thought it only stopped to release one
of the cars or hook on another one because he felt a few jolts and hitches
before it quickly started up again.
    The entire ride was so noisy that he and Uncle Stan had to
shout to each other in small commands or requests like “Pass the canteen” or
“Would you like something to eat?”  Still, just getting to spend time with his
uncle, no matter how little he got to talk with him, was satisfying.
    Elijah slept better the second night.  When he woke up, he
noticed the lightened sky through the window, revealing a glow on the horizon
as