Asyra paused on the path to let Uncle Will catch up.
“You’re always running ahead, just like Sara,” Uncle Will smiled, as he always does when comparing Asyra to her mom. “We’ve got plenty of time to get there before the train comes in.”
“I know, I know. But I’m excited to see Syllan. She should be graduated, now. A real mage. And I need to be there at the train station when she arrives.”
“I know. And we will be. You made us leave an hour early.”
Asyra grinned at him, then ran off ahead again. Uncle Will sighed and shook his head.
Asyra crested the hill and saw the train station, and her magic jumped out and disturbed the ground, as if some one had just planted a seed. She knew Uncle Will didn’t like it when her magic escaped and she didn’t want another lecture today, and so she ran ahead even if she felt a little guilty when she looked back and saw him walking by himself, further and further away.
Asyra arrived at the train station, empty except for Raina in the ticketing window.
“Oh, is your sister coming back today?” Raina asked. “It’ll be nice to have a mage in town, even if she only stays for a few weeks. Let her know I’ve got some jobs I’d pay her for, not as much as she can get in Thyrel, surely, but a fair rate.”
Asyra nodded and found an empty bench. She practiced the magic control exercises Syllan taught her until Uncle Will got to the train station and sits down next to her.
“See? We got here with plenty of time to spare. The train still isn’t scheduled for an hour.”
“I know. I can read a clock. Syllan says they use more clocks in Thyrel, it gets too loud to hear the bells. She says a lot of people at her academy have their own clocks in their room.”
A few people came to the station, bringing their early harvest of peas or raddishes, or waiting for something. Only one person bought a ticket.
The train arrived precisely on schedule. As the whistle blows, a spark of Asyra’s magic jumps out and burns a hole in her skirt. Asyra glances over to see if Uncle Will noticed, but he’s waving at the train as it enters the station. Asyra adjusts her skirt and waves at the train as it screeches stopped.
As soon as the train stopped, Raina traded mail bags and the train workers unloaded deliveries, most of which their waiting recipientsm picked up. The farmers haggled with the conductor over the price of their produce.
No passengers got off the train. After Rayna finished unloading all the deliviries, Asyra went over to her.
“Syllan didn’t get off. Do you think I could go on and look for her, if she fell asleep or something?”
Raina nodded. “Sure, Asyra. I’ll go talk to the ticket checker and make sure he knows about it okay?”
Raina talked to the train worker in a suit, and he let Asyra onto the train. It was her first time on a train since she was young, so Asyra looked around in amazement at the rows of seats, at all the travelers. She walked down the row, checking everyone for her sister’s face. She went through all four passenger cars, but couldn’t find her.
Asyra got off the train and looked around to see if Syllan had got off the train while she was checking. While she was looking around the train whistled and it began rolling away.
“No, wait–” Asyra yelled and her magic jumped out and one of the wooden beams of the train track caught on fire. The train rolled over the small fire, undamaged.
“Fire!” someone called, pointing at the tracks. One of the pea farmers ran over and stomped the fire out.
“Asyra, you know I’ve told you to use discretion in when you use magic, and not to use it at all if you can’t keep it under control. Now go over to that farmer and apologize, and see if he needs any help, and then apologize to Raina.”
Asyra nodded, and walked over to the farmer who stomped out the fire. “Did that burn your feet?”
He shook his head. “Nope. My boots are thick, but they didn’t even get damaged. Guess that’s the advantage of having mud on them. You don’t need to worry about it.”
“It was my fault, the fire,” Asyra said.
“What do you mean? You’d need magi– Oh. You’re Sara’s kid, right? It’s no worry, just don’t shoot fire randomly again. If a fire gets going, it can really cause some problems.”
“Is there anything you need help with? You cleaned up my mess, so I should–”
The farmer patted Asyra on the head. “Well, I can always use an extra hand around harvest time. My farm’s by where the creek enters the forest, the south bank. Come by any time this week or the next.”
“Alright. I will,” Asyra said, then went over to Raina.
Raina handed a paper to Asyra. “Looks like Syllan sent you a letter. It probably says why she wasn’t on that train, and when she’ll be here.”
Asyra ripped open the letter.
“Dear Asyra,
I’m sorry, I can’t make it back this week, there’s a few things I need to get arranged here before I come back. I’ll be on the train next week. Keep up your studies, I have a surprise for you.
Love, your dearest sister, Syllan”
Reading the letter calmed the sinking feeling in Asyra’s stomach and the buzz in her magic circuits.
“She’s coming next week,” Asyra said. “And I should tell you sorry about the fire on the track.”
“Just owe me a favor once you become a mage, okay?”
Asyra nodded and went back to where Uncle Will was waiting.
“Syllan’s coming next week,” she said. “She sent a letter.”
Uncle Will nodded. “Well, she’s a mage now. Mages are busy.”
Asyra matched Uncle Will’s pace when walking back home.