Memory

This is the first chapter and a bit of a scene and character introduction for Cora.

Chapter 1:

Cora hated trains. She hated the way their horns bellowed through the air announcing the presence of a dirty, smelly metal contraption. She hated the way each car was filled so much that bits of coal fell from the mounds within to be strewn across the tracks and forgotten. The passenger trains were even worse though. She hated to watch all the people cluster around them in excitement, eager to, if only for a moment, escape their own lives and travel to some unknown land. She hated the tear-filled goodbyes of loved ones saying farewell to their families. She hated how these people got to say that goodbye. 

She usually avoided passenger trains for exactly that reason. Too many memories  were yanked from the deepest corners of her mind where she had tried to hide them away in boxes covered with locks. But something about watching all those families, and seeing them embrace time after time, broke through all of her walls and unearthed what she longed to keep buried. Freights were safer. Less likely to hurt her with just a glance despite her maintained distaste for them.  But today she decided she was going to rob a passenger train. Afterall, it was summer and all the rich families were heading off to visit distant relatives in far away places. It was much too perfect an opportunity to pass up, even for her. 

The midday sun wraps around her, more than a little suffocating with all the clothes she has on. She wears dark pants, that fit loosely around her legs and a brown vest over a loose white shirt. This combined with her bindings on her chest and the scarf she wrapped around her face to cover it create a stifling environment in the heat. The broad leather hat that holds all of her hair tucked into it does little to keep her cool and simply serves as a slight shade for her face. She pulls at the top of her shirt in distaste temporarily pondering whether or not the disguise is really necessary. 

Peering over the stone outcropping she is hidden behind, Cora can just make out the passenger cars at the station in the distance without her binoculars. She lifts them to her eyes, the metal warming her skin even more. She focuses on the crowd, forcing the pit in her stomach from her mind. She watches as a young girl, maybe fifteen, clutches onto a man, who might be her father, eyes clenched tightly shut. Her long gray skirt brushes his ankles as she leans into him, face contorted in emotion. His face is scrunched similarly and Cora can tell that in that moment, they don't hear any of the chaos going on around them. After a moment, he pulls away from her and smooths down the white collar of her blouse. His mouth opens to say something to her and she nods, eyes still compressed and mouth quivering. A single drop of water drips from her eye, sliding down her cheek and Cora pulls away, unable to watch any further. 

A memory flickers at the edge of her mind but she pushes it out, unwilling to give in to the feelings it would undoubtedly bring about. A whistle blows and echoes across the desert sand. Cora leans back from the rock and turns to her horse. A pitch black Friesian stallion, Ronan is a sight to behold. Pushing to her feet, Cora smiles fondly at her horse, rubbing his nose absently before pulling herself up onto his bare back. He trots in place restlessly, as eager to be moving as the girl on his back. Pulling the scarf closer to her face, Cora gently presses her boot into his flank, signalling her permission for him to begin moving. A final whistle pierces the air and Cora glances over her shoulder to watch the train slowly pull from the station and head in her direction.

Before long, the metal machine reaches her and she leaps into action. With a nudge of her foot, Ronan takes off in a blast after the speeding contraption. Carefully selecting the final car, Cora guides him beside it before carefully standing on his back, balancing precariously above him. Removing her hands from his man she holds them to the side, reaching warily for the edge of the car. One gloved hand grips the edge and soon a second follows. In a blur of motion, she pulls herself from Ronan and latches onto the back of the car. Patting her side holster and leather bag slung on her back habitually, Cora takes a breath and glances at her stallion running beside her, not yet tired from his exertion. 

"I'll try to be quick. I promise," she tells him before gripping the warm metal door handle and pulling herself into the car without another glance. Rows of shocked faces stare at her and she self-consciously checks to make sure her face is covered before swiftly pulling her pearl-handled pistol from her holster at her side and pointing it right at them.

"This is a robbery," she says calmly, lowering her voice ever so slightly. "Give me all your gold and jewelry and maybe I'll let you live."