When she passed through the car again, someone clapped. Diana touched her cap in thanks and kept walking.
At Milepost 47, near the old trestle bridge, a deer froze on the tracks. Diana felt the lurch before the horn even sounded. She braced herself in the vestibule, radio in hand. “Easy now,” she said quietly, as if the deer could hear. The engineer braked just in time. The deer bolted into the trees. diana rider train conductor
Diana smiled, scanning it with her handheld reader. “You’ve got thirty seconds. Next time, don’t argue with the alarm clock.” When she passed through the car again, someone clapped