‘Oh my God, let her go,’ Ember mumbles behind me.
‘No! What?’ I say, then shout back out to Joss. ‘Oi, come back here this instant!’
The train conductor man is approaching our door.
‘Bye, everyone, have a great life,’ Joss calls back, and you know what, I don’t think she means that.
‘Joe, get her!’ I cry as he pushes past me onto the train.
The train conductor man appears in front of me. ‘Excuse me, miss, we need to close this door.’
‘But our friend, she’s not back on board yet.’
‘The one leaving the station?’
‘She’s coming back, just one second, Joss!’
Joss doesn’t turn, but down on the far end of the carriage, Luke jumps down the steps, jogging over to her.
Oh, bloody hell, now that’s two of them we’ve lost.
In this momentary distraction, the conductor has closed my door, and now me, Ember and Joe are squeezed in the window frame, the cold air on our faces.
‘Luke, leave her, mate, get back on board,’ Joe shouts.
‘I’m not leaving her,’ Luke calls back.
‘She’s not going anywhere, she’s just being dramatic, as usual.’
‘You don’t think she wants to leave?’ I ask Joe.
‘No, of course not, that case felt pretty empty to me.’
The train blows what I can only assume is a final whistle, because the train chap is now shaking his head and closing the door Luke leapt out of.
Oh my God, Luke. My heart speeds up, my lips dry. Don’t go without Luke. Joss . . . well, if she really wants to go . . . ‘Luke, hurry!’ Then I shake my head. ‘And you, Joss, come on.’
Luke’s reached her and they’re talking intensely. She’s looking into his eyes, her forehead in a frown, and for a moment the anger seems to be replaced with sadness, and I see the old Joss again, the one who just wanted to be involved, who was a bit socially awkward but always made the effort.
Train man is at the final carriage now, with one door to close.
Come on, come on, come on.
‘Hurry up!’ Ember shouts in my ear, an unexpected note of genuine concern. My eyebrows dart upwards.
I know this is selfish, don’t judge me, but I’m not ready for Luke to be left behind. I want to talk to him. I want to get back . . . something . . . of what we used to have. Even just as a friend. He has to make it back to the train.
‘Joss, for crying out loud, that’s enough,’ Joe shouts.
‘Don’t talk to me like I’m a child,’ she shoots, but in the same moment she angles her body back towards the train, and Luke takes her case, picking it up and then darting an amused look directly at me that makes my heart burst into a little flame (in a good way), and the two of them begin walking to the train.
Luke’s walk swiftly becomes a jog and Joss tries her hardest to appear nonchalant but also speeds up a little bit. The train man throws his hands in the air, having closed the final door, as Luke pulls open the one he jumped out of again and ushers Joss inside before climbing in himself.
Seconds later, the vista begins to move, and the train drifts out of the station.
Joe and I bump our way down the carriage, meeting Luke and Joss outside Joss’s compartment. She sticks her chin in the air, cheeks flushed. Her lips twitch for a moment, and then she flicks her hair back and strides to her seat, sitting down with a humph. ‘We’re switching up the sleeping arrangements,’ she declares, her voice quieter, her eyes on the retreating Sioux Lookout landscape.
‘Fine.’ I let out a satisfied exhale, and catch Luke’s eye. He grins at me, a shared humour that sparkles between us, unspoken, unmistakable. It only lasts a moment, then he remembers himself and nods at me, just a hint of a smile remaining on his lips, and turns away. But it’s enough to remind me that there he is.
