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The Ghost Train of Hex River · KofiTable - Mystery Box stories

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The black stone shattered, and Lesejo Mocuena fell through a
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: hole in the world. She landed hard on her back,
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: the breath knocked out of her, and lay staring up
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: at a sky the color of old blood. The air
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: smelled of rust and salt. She pushed herself up. Around her,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: the drowned Kalahari caves were gone. No water, no limestone,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: no chao. She was on a gravel embankment, and below her,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: A night train lay on its side like a dying animal,
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: its carriages twisted and smoking. She scrambled down. Nomusa! Tabo!
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: Her voice bounced off the mountains. The Hex River Mountains,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: she realized. She recognized the jagged silhouette from geography lessons.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: But there was no highway, no lights, no sign of civilization.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: Just the wreck and, beyond it, a town that should
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: not have been there. a grid of low houses with
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: corrugated iron roofs, a church spire, a water tower. A
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: sign at the station read, Welcome to Hex Rivier, Population 312.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: The paint was fresh. The town was dead silent. She
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: found Nomusa first, slumped against a boulder, her duque askew,
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: and a gash on her forehead. Le cerro, Nomusa croaked. Where?
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: I don't know. but were not on Mars anymore. Thabo
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: emerged from the wreckage, limping, his spear gone. The train,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: he said. I was on a train. Johannesburg to Cape Town. Then...
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: He stopped, staring at the town. That place isn't on
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: any map. Lesejo felt the spiral brand on her wrist pulse,
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: a dull throb. We need to move. Something's off. They
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: climbed the embankment and walked toward the station. The platform
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: was swept clean. A clock above the ticket window ticked,
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: though the hands were frozen at 11.47. The stationmaster's office,
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: Nomusa said, pointing to a door marked Private. It was
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: sealed with a heavy iron padlock, but the door was
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: warm to the touch. Lesejo pressed her palm against it
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: and heard, faintly, the sound of a telegraph key tapping. Later,
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: she said. First, survivors. They found them in the town hall.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: A huddle of passengers from the night train, maybe thirty
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: in all, their clothes torn and faces pale. A man
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: in a blood-stained suit, Mr. Funfake, a Cape Town banker,
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: demanded to know where they were. Hex Rivier, Lesejo said.
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: It's not on any map. A woman sobbed. Thabo moved
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: among them, checking wounds. Nomusa knelt beside an old man
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: with a broken arm. That was when the lights flickered.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: The town hall's bulbs dimmed, and from the station came
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: the shriek of a whistle. Everyone froze. The train, someone whispered.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: It's moving. But the wreck was outside, twisted and dead.
• 3:16
  Speaker 1: Leseko ran to the window. On the tracks, a locomotive
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: was assembling itself from shadow and rust. its headlamp a
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: single yellow eye. It chuffed once, twice, and then a
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: voice echoed through the town. A woman's voice, old and tired.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: Hexrafir welcomes its passengers. Please proceed to the platform for boarding. No,
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: Leseko said. She turned to the survivors. Nobody goes to
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: that platform. But Van Wyk was already pushing through the crowd.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: We need to get out of here, he shouted. That
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: train can take us home. Laseko grabbed his arm. That
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: train is not going home! Look at it! The locomotive
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: had no windows, no doors, just a smooth black hull
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: that seemed to swallow light. The whistle shrieked again. Nomusa
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: stepped forward, her voice steady despite her injury. I am
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: a Sangoma. I can feel them. The railway spirits. They're angry.
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: They've been trapped here since the line closed in 1978.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: They think we're trespassers. Tabo frowned. Then we negotiate. Laseko nodded.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: We broker a truce. But first, we need to find
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: out who's scheduling these trains. She looked at the stationmaster's office.
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: The padlock was gone. The door stood open, and from
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: inside came the tapping of a telegraph key. Faster now. Urgent.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: Laseko entered alone. The office was small and dusty, but
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: the telegraph machine on the desk was alive, its paper
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: tape curling to the floor. She picked it up and read. Arrival, 2359. Destination,
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: the place you left. Passengers, all. She felt a cold
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: prickle on her neck. The stationmaster's chair was empty, but
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: a shadow sat in it. A tall figure in a
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: railway cap, its face a blur of static. You're the
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: one who opened the door, it said, its voice like
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: grinding wheels. The MEP followed you here. They're coming. But
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: this town is mine. I schedule the trains. And I
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: say you and your people will board the next one.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Laseko's brand flared. Where does it go? The shadow leaned forward.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: To a destination that no longer exists. Just like this town. Outside,
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: the whistle screamed again. And the survivors began to scream
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: with it.