Dual Rondo on the Sharne Train: A Drag Shergi Mystery

By Kimberly Vogel

First Age, Year 960: It wasn't quite a vacation, but it wasn't work either. Drag Shergi ended up on a train going south through the country of Sharne. His intention was to try and find someone he might be related to. The west turned quite wild as bandits tried to take over the train. The train only goes one way though, so how do they plan to escape? How will the passengers escape? Drag has to think quickly when he becomes caught in the crossfire.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Dec 16, 2011
• ISBN: 9781105362897

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Dual Rondo on the Sharne Train: A Drag Shergi Mystery

Dual Rondo on the Sharne Train: A Drag Shergi Mystery

Kimberly Vogel

Copyright

Copyright © 2011 by Kimberly Vogel.

ISBN eBook 978-1-105-36289-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

For additional copies refer to:

http://www.lulu.com/shakkathi

Acknowledgements

I want to thank my family and friends for supporting me.

Without you, I don’t know where I would be.

Dual Rondo on the Sharne Train

It was a beautiful day, even though it was in the desert. The heat of the afternoon had passed. Though the sun’s rays had left the land scorching, the shade of the buildings helped alleviate the stress on the people around them. The horizon couldn’t be seen clearly as the waves of heat made the scenery seem to dance. To the west beyond the sands was the sea. The coastline curled along northwest until it disappeared into the distance; to the southwest was more coastline then pure desert, as the land there was a peninsula. To the east was where I’d come from; my hometown was in the meadow-covered landscape further in the continent.

The police were crawling all over the train. I paid only a little attention, though, because they weren’t my police. The country I was in now was called Sharne. They currently had the only transportation system of this kind, a train. The locomotive had been in service well over five hundred years. Although ancient, it was well kept. The line went from town to town along the coast of the continent; it only covered this country though, no others were allowed to have the technology.

I sat on one of the benches that were under the overhang between the train and the train station. My hands folded behind my head while my back rested against the backrest; my legs were stretched out with my ankles crossed. The clothes I had weren’t much different than what I usually wore. I had a bag set between the armrest and my side. At the moment there wasn’t much to do; I’d already gotten my ticket, and was a little too soon to board the train. My eyes shifted from the officials bustling about to scan over the crowd.

There was a mix of people. It seemed anyone from aristocrat to peasant crowded the platform. They couldn’t be blamed; the quickest and safest way to travel was the train. A single train ran over the place between the towns. There was a circular track that ran through the center of each town so that the transport could turn around and head back the way it came. It went one way in the morning and the opposite direction during the night.

The whistle blew. I pulled off the bench; my arms went up while I yawned. With a small smile, I lifted my bag from the bench. My eyes searched over the platform before I started on my walk. The police were done searching the train, so the rest of the passengers could board. I pulled my ticket out of my pocket.

Before the passengers could board, they had to give their ticket to the conductor. The uniform was rather simple. A metal dome with a lantern on the front was on their head. A short cream colored tunic with long bell sleeves was on top. Bindings were around their upper arms as well as around the waist. Baggy brown pants held over the lower body. Dusty brown leather boots covered the feet.

I gave my ticket to the conductor. After it was inspected it was returned to me. With a faint smile and nod, I passed by the conductor. My ticket went into my pocket then my hand clasped the railing along the side of the train car. I braced myself as I stepped up. My eyes glanced around the car while I walked in search of a seat.

The set up of the train was so the cargo was in the furthest car. Just before that was the dining car. The rest of the cars were all divided into compartments: each compartment had benches in them, and a bunk folded out of the wall above the bench for a second level when it was time to sleep.

In my work, I had gone on the train a few times. That was back when I worked for the police force in the country of Everly. Sometimes, we had to chase or investigate in the bordering countries. Since I’d become a private detective away from the police force, I’d not been able to afford to travel very far from my home. The reward from the previous case had left me with a bit extra to indulge myself with. I didn’t ask for it, but it would have been impolite to refuse. I’d put it away to use for a special occasion.

Over the last five years I hadn’t found a use for it, but now I had. I was going there for a purely selfish reason. I never really knew my parents, since I was an orphan very early on in my life. I’d heard a rumor around the circle of people I knew that someone who could be related to me was in the city of Asfar. That city was the second stop on the train, no matter whether you were coming along the east or west railway. My travel took me from the west railway that started in the city of West Millicente. It was a coastal city that rested on the north-westernmost point of the Sharne Peninsula. The rest of the country went north along the coastline of the continent and south over the peninsula on the mid south-western part of the continent. My travel would take me in about a third of the way down the peninsula.

This portion of the travel could be the most dangerous, since there was only one line for the train to run. Sure there was the train that ran north parallel to the train that ran south, but they were both only yards from each other when they passed by. Other than the main cities there were several small towns and villages that would be passed by. We wouldn’t stop there unless it was absolutely necessary however. The trains were nearly entirely self-contained.

I walked through the center aisle of the train while in search of a seat for myself. At the moment, there were many people in a hurry to find their own place to sit. The more expensive tickets had a number on them for a select section of the compartments. I had gotten one of the cheaper of those tickets, just because I wanted to be assured a seat. The other amenities like a separate sleeper car, pre-paid dining, and all of that I didn’t need.

I glanced down at my ticket then looked up at the signs on the doors. From the count, I knew I was getting close. When I came to the fourth car, I found my cabin: letter C. A slightly relieved sigh left my lips while I pulled open the door. At the moment no one else was inside, so I slid in then closed the door behind me. There was a storage partition under the seats which I slid my bag into. I sat so when the train left I’d be moving backwards. There was no more to do so I sat and waited.

It wouldn’t be long, since the train was due to leave within the hour. Sure enough the door opened with a woman about thirty-two years old behind it. She blinked at me then gave a small smile. From behind her, a child a score of years younger looked in. The two were dressed similarly, so I guessed they were mother and daughter.

As I smiled and waved, I hoped I didn’t appear to be a creepy older man. My