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After boarding, Aaron handed the luggage to the attendant and carefully led his wife and child toward the first-class carriage his friend had reserved for them.
There weren't many people in the carriage, and it was very quiet. Every passenger seemed to have something to do, and few were even talking. Aaron passed through two carriages and discovered that there were fewer than fifty passengers on the entire train.
It seems that although the economy has recovered slightly and social tensions have eased, people are still unwilling to leave the places where they've lived for so long before things settle down completely... Aaron breathed a sigh of relief. Now he didn't have to worry about noise on the train waking his younger son.
His wife had already sat down. The seats were very spacious, and now that Will was asleep, he looked like the adorable little angel he usually was at home.
After sitting down, Aaron bought a newspaper from a newsboy outside the window as though nothing were out of the ordinary, then leisurely unfolded it to read.
Whooo!
Soon, the whistle sounded, and the steam train began to rattle along, the scenery outside flashing past faster and faster.
Aaron and Velma talked quietly about the coastal city's scenery and its delicious local grilled fish, looking forward together to the leisurely holiday they would spend at Desi Bay over the next few days.
Leonard rested in his cabin for a few hours before leaving his room again and going up on deck, where he casually watched the scenery along the riverbanks from the railing.
"It's a little colder here than in Loen."
Leonard cupped his hands around his mouth and exhaled as he spoke to himself, watching the white mist disperse in the wind.
He had changed