Page 5 of More Than Meets the Eye

“Crawl under the seat, Evie, and hold on to the chair legs.”

She did what he said, hugging the ornate iron leg that connected the bench to the floor with all her might. Then the train slammed into something. Hard. So hard, the force tore Hamilton away from her.

“Ham-ton!”

A loud groan rumbled, and the railcar started to tip. Evie wailed her brother’s name.

“Hold on, Evie! Don’t let go!”

She did. Until the railcar tipped on its side, throwing her against one of the windowpanes. Metal ripped. Glass shattered. The train tore itself apart as it slid sideways down an embankment. Evie cried, trying to find something to hold on to. The train slid over a rock, the jagged surface knocking out the glass of the window next to Evie’s and bouncing her into the air. Something hard stabbed against her side. She whimpered but grabbed for the hat hook, her little fingers clinging desperately to the metal hanger.

It seemed to take days for the train to stop its slide. When it did, Evie called for her brother and waited for him to come for her.

He didn’t come.

“Ham-ton!” Where was he? Was he hurt? Evie started to cry. He couldn’t be hurt. She needed him. “Ham-ton!”

Letting go of the hat hook, she got to her hands and knees, then slowly pushed to her feet. “Ham-ton!” She took one step. Then another. Broken glass crunched beneath her shoes. Her legs shook. Her head ached where she’d banged it against the luggage rack. Her eyes searched through tears that wouldn’t stop flowing.

Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around her.

She turned, ready to hug her brother tight. Only it wasn’t Hamilton. It was Seth. His chest made a funny noise as he breathed, almost like it was squeaking.

“You’re hurt.” Evie touched his head where blood matted his hair.

“It’s all right,” Seth said, holding her close. “Stay here . . . with me . . . Evangeline.” His chest heaved as he gasped between words.

“I have to find Ham-ton.” She tried to pull away. His skinny arms were surprisingly strong, though, and he held her fast.

“Not yet. You . . . need to wait.”

He was scaring her. The way his eyes looked at her. Sad. Sorry. The way people had looked at her after Mama and Papa had gone to heaven.

Evie struggled. “Ham-ton! I want Ham-ton!”

She stomped Seth’s toes and broke free. She stumbled forward, tripping on a window frame, but grabbed the edge of a sideways bench to keep from falling. Everything was sideways. Crumpled. Broken.

She spotted Zach hunched over, a giant plate of glass in his hands that he yanked upward and tossed aside.

“Zach?”

She was going to ask if he knew where Hamilton was, but when he turned to look at her, his face made her forget her words. He didn’t look mean or tough now. He looked . . . lost.

“He saved my life,” he mumbled, his stare blank. “Pushed me out of the way and saved my life.” Zach blinked, then seemed to recognize her. He jumped to his feet and tore at his coat as if it had suddenly caught fire. Finally, he flung it from his back and tossed it on top of a pile of something behind him.

Seth joined them. “We need to get . . . her out. Shouldn’t . . . see this.”

Shouldn’t see what? Evie looked from one boy to the other. What were they hiding from her, and where was her brother?

“She needs to say good-bye,” Zach argued.

Say good-bye? To who?

“Evie?” A weak voice cut through the argument, stilling everyone.

Hamilton!

Evie pushed past Zach and found her brother at last. He lay on his back, not moving. Zach’s coat covered him up. She stumbled up to where his head lay and wrapped her arms around his neck. But he didn’t hug her back. Didn’t rub her hair and tell her everything would be all right. He just lay there. Still. Too still.