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Excerpt from Legacy of Angels:
Bridget figured her chances
for getting away were small at best. If she didn't jump, she hoped to ride the rail passenger car downhill all the way to
Grizzly Flat, then throw herself on the mercy of whomever was at the station. But she wasn't all that sure she could make
it that far. The locomotive would be coming hard after her. If she braked the car too much, she was sure to be caught before
the Grizzly Flat station. If she braked too little, the car might not hold the tracks.
First things first. She needed
to catch her breath. Shakily, she pulled herself up to the door in the end of the car, swung it open, and collapsed on the
floor inside. She laid there for a few minutes, panting. Then she struggled to her feet. This part of her plan was the
least well thought out. She could only hope what she would try worked. Trembling, she leaned over a passenger seat, reached
up, and pulled down hard on the brake cord.
Nothing happened.
Heart pounding, she pulled again. Still nothing. Maybe
it doesn't work without a locomotive coupled to the car, she thought. Or maybe it's been disconnected. She put a hand to
her mouth. I just don't know. I do know I can't slow down the car.
Gripped with anxiety, she looked out the window.
The car was relentlessly gaining speed. Jumping now was out of the question. She would have to try to ride it out.
It
didn't take long to see she wasn't going to be able to. The car continued to gain speed, and she knew that not far downhill
there was a sharp curve. She also knew the car would never hold the tracks there.
She took a look uptrack, but did not
see the pursuing locomotive, then looked around the interior of the old car, fighting tears. She saw nothing that would allow
her to strap herself in. No ropes, no belts, nothing. With no other option, she lay on the floor and wedged herself as tightly
as she could under one of the passenger seats. The roar of the iron wheels on the rails beneath her grew ever louder. Bridget
held her hands tight against her chest and prayed, eyes squeezed shut in agony.
The end was not long in coming. Less than
a minute later, she felt the car lurch sharply to the left and knew wheels were in the air. The slant of the floor increased
steadily. Then the car tilted further, and the tracks were lost.
The car slammed against the ground, and Bridget felt
it rocketing down a steep slope, picking up speed with shocking quickness. The shriek of metal and wood against rock drowned
out her screams. The car hit something big and was spun around, then again, so that the opposite end faced downhill. Battered
by rocks and bruised by trees, it bounced and careened its way ever farther into the valley below. Bridget screamed until
her voice was gone and she could scream no more as she was smashed up and down beneath the seat. Heavy blows shook the sides
of the car. Part of the roof was torn away; the car was coming apart around her. The battering seemed to go on forever.
Then the downhill end struck something large and unyielding with stunning force. Bridget was slung out from under the seat
and thrown through the air. She heard the shriek of twisting metal, a grinding, hard impact, and a searing pain somewhere
in her body. Then there was only a deep blackness.
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