Chapter 58: New beginning
The train chartered by the mayor was equipped with all the amenities needed to make a long journey feel like the comfort of home.
Sirius, Lucy, as well as Iris and Carla, had been brought in advance, transported by secure vans.
The four of them now found themselves in the lounge car, each in their own corner.
An hour had passed, and not a single word had been spoken.
Sirius didn’t know how to break the news. He was waiting for the atmosphere to become more favorable.
Between Iris, sulking under a blanket, Lucy staring pensively into space, and Carla feeling out of place, unsure of whether she was even supposed to be there... She had hoped Iris would make the introductions, but the latter was too devastated by the loss of her hair to even poke her head out.
When one of the two enforcers returned with an update, he thought for a second he’d stepped into winter — the atmosphere was that cold.
"The two teenagers you asked me about — what were their names again?"
Sirius remembered that before being brought here, he had looked into the children from Astoria. After learning they were in a foster facility in a northern city, he had asked about Bell and Brad, wondering if they could be brought here.
"Brad and Bell. The boy should be 14, the girl 13. Did you find them?"
Upon hearing those names, Iris jumped and let her blanket fall, revealing for the first time her shaved head. To her surprise, no one said a word.
"Yes, they match your description, but they’re refusing to speak to anyone," the enforcer said, holding out his phone.