Free The Spellbinder (Tom & Laura Series) by John Booth Page A

the holders the right to travel anywhere by rail at any time in any class of seat they chose. There was also a letter signed by Trelawney setting out where they must change trains. There were to be four changes in all.
    The journey was wonderful at the start. The train they were in used wide gauge rails, Brunel’s personnel choice of seven feet, which was twice as wide as the trains run by his competitor, George Stephenson. This meant that the carriages were impressively wide. Monster steam engines pulled them and the extra width gave Tom the impression he was travelling in a house rather than a carriage.
    Parliament had recently ruled against this gauge of track and eventually these trains would become a legend, but for now they were the kings of the railroad.
    Tom and Laura had a glorious breakfast as the country rushed by them, but it was not long before they had to change trains, and with the change went the space and the luxury.
    On their second change and very much later in the day, they found themselves in the company of another. The dirty little compartment they occupied had benches stretched across its width with doors on each side of the carriage. Laura began to wish she had used the toilet earlier as it looked as though the method here involved lowering a door window and hanging her posterior out of it. It was as undignified as it was dangerous and not something she wanted to do, let alone in the presence of the man they shared the carriage with. She crossed her legs and prayed that the journey would end soon.
    Their companion was a handsome man in his early twenties who introduced himself to them as Bruno Schubert. Rather against the fashions of the time, he was clean-shaven. He put on a pair of elegant ‘pins nez’ to read his copy of ‘ The London Times’ as soon as the train left the station.
    It was getting dark outside and Bruno switched on the compartment lights. The lighting changed in intensity as the train speeded up and slowed down, which made Tom feel uncomfortable. He wondered again what was wrong with gas and oil.
    Tom could not help but notice that Bruno had no middle or third fingers on his right hand. He sat next the man while facing Laura. Tom and Bruno occasionally bumped together as the train moved and he felt a strong urge to re-grow the man’s fingers, which was a ridiculous thought as no Healer could do such a thing.
    Bruno put his paper on his lap and looked at Laura. Laura felt uncomfortable as his gaze lingered a little too long on the region of her breasts before returning to her face.
    “So, young lady, how does it feel to be travelling alone?” Bruno asked.
    “I am not travelling alone. Tom is with me.”
    “So, you are a girl travelling with a male child, whatever are you British thinking of?”
    “You are not British, sir?” Laura asked. The man’s accent was flawless. She would have thought him to be from one of the better families of London or Oxford . He sneered in his reply, “No I am not British. I am your enemy.”
    Time seemed to stand still. It was such a ridiculous thing for someone to say while travelling through the peaceful backwaters of rural England .
    Bruno put his hand into his jacket and took out a revolving pistol, which he pointed at Laura. He stood up, putting his back against the compartment door, a sneer despoiling his handsome face.
    Laura had never seen such a pistol before. The cold-blued steel of the barrel caught her eyes in its mesmeric movements, the dark hole in its center seemed to pull at her and she could almost feel the concussion of the bullet that would end her life. She knew she had to think, but the gun sucked the thoughts out of her brain before she could think them
    Tom got to his feet at the same time as Bruno and stood in the space between the seats, waiting for a suitable moment to jump at the man. He knew he would have to prevent Bruno shooting Laura even if the cost was to be his own life. He had no idea what to say.
    “Why