A bitter wind howled through the sky as goose-feather snowflakes tumbled down from lead-gray clouds, draping the earth and mountains in silver.
You Province lay in the north of Great Xia. In winter, there were days when all means of air travel became useless—the fierce, biting northwesterly winds could leave airships unable to advance an inch in the sky, while the cold currents and low temperatures at high altitude could freeze an aircraft's wings and engines. At such times, ground transportation became all the more precious.
"Wooo..."
A plume of white vapor burst from the locomotive's whistle. Amid the mist, its long, resonant cry rang through the mountains. As the rails shuddered with a "chug... chug... chug...," the snow piled on the pine trees nearest the tracks came fluttering down. For a train stubbornly forging through the mountains, it was as though someone were scattering snowflakes along both sides of the railway to welcome its arrival.
At that moment, in the dining car near the front of the train, an eleven- or twelve-year-old boy and an eight- or nine-year-old girl lay sprawled across two seats, their azure eyes wide. Pressed tightly against the carriage's double-paned window, they watched excitedly as snow kept showering down from the pines outside.
To children, it was endlessly fascinating. And this sight of great swathes of snow falling from the pine trees could only be seen from the cars near the locomotive. Further back, all one could see along the way were pines that had already shaken off their snow; this delightful scene would be gone.
It was three in the afternoon, well past lunchtime, so there were relatively few people in the dining car. Aside from the two children lying by the window, there were not many passengers. Only seven or eight adults had