Chapter 3: Chapter 3: The Skinny Dipper

We climbed aboard the engine and I set it moving forward with the flick of a few levers. I point to a long rope hanging from the ceiling. "You know what that does?" "No, what?" "Pull it." She pulls the rope and the whistle lets loose a loud, low call. "Ohohohoho, that's cool." "Thought you might find that entertaining." I stop. We both hear buzzing coming from… Angela. She turns to me, tears in her eyes and a horrified look on her face. "I-I have to go" She tries to jump off the train but I shut and lock the doors. "What do you mean, you have to go? What's wrong? What was that buzzing?" "That buzzing was the tracker planted in my right thigh. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you sooner." She turns away, sobbing hysterically. I come over and wrap her in a tight hug. "That you didn't tell me what? And why do you have a tracker in you?" "Sigh, remember when I told you that my parents called me a mistake? Well, they thought I was enough of a mistake to auction me off as a sex slave on the black market. That buzzing means that I was just sold, and the tracker is now active. I'm so, so sorry, but it's over." "OH TO HELL WITH THIS BEING OVER!!!!!!!! IT'S NOT OVER TILL I SAY IT IS. In fact, I've got a secret to tell you too. I'm not an automotive designer. I'm a bounty hunter for Interpol. My job is to track down traffickers, drug merchants, and the like, and kill them. In return, the government grants me large sums of money." I bend down and examine her leg for the tracker. "Found it. Sorry honey, but this might hurt a bit." I bite down into her leg and clamp my jaws around the small tracker, ripping it out with a bit of skin. I take the small device and chuck it out the window of the train, smashing it under the weight of the mighty engine. "There, that's taken care of. Now, for these pursuers." I pull a remote off of the engine cabin wall and press a few buttons. "Ok, now the perimeter and house are under lockdown." I make a quick call on the phone in the cabin before hanging up. "And your pursuers have been killed. Also, thank you. You just earned me about 5.3 million dollars." "Richard, I-I… Thank you. But I'm still all over the black web." I pick up the phone and make a few more calls. "There. All evidence of you has been expunged from the internet." "You can do that?" "When you work with interpol, you can do lots of things." She jumps up and hugs me. "Look, I don't know how you manage to keep surprising me, but please, keep going." "Aye, aye captain. Hey, have you ever done it in the cabin of a steam train?" She looks at me with a knowing smile. "Nope, but I would love to try." She walks closer to me. Much closer. A leads to B and we find ourselves rolling on the coal dust covered floor as the engine slows to a stop next to the house. I get up and leave the cabin with Angela right behind me. I turn to her. "I hope you don't mind that my clothes got burned by the fire box." "Fine by me. I love the feeling of the wind in my fur." "If you like that, then we should take a ride on the Skinny Dipper while we discuss our now upcoming wedding." "The Skinny Dipper? I don't know what the hell that could be, but I'm in." "Good." I take her hand and lead her through the house and down to the harbor. As the elevator doors open, we see the magnificence of the harbor. Off to the left the walls are lined with kayaks and tied up to the docks are multiple different party barges. In front of us are several racing and speed boats, and to the right is a changing station and smaller watercraft, including jet skis and hovercrafts. I see Angela's jaw drop. "Wow." "I know right? Now pick your jaw up and come on!" I lead her over to the left and onto a two story barge with "Skinny Dipper" written on the sides. I fire up the engine and pull out of the harbor. "Aren't you going to put on a swimsuit or something?" I look over at her. "It's called the Skinny Dipper for a reason." "Aye aye then captain." She sits down on one of the couches and looks like she is trying to get comfortable. "Hey, how would you like to drive this beauty?" "Wait, really?" "Yea," I pat my thigh and wink, "Come over here sit down. I'll show you the controls." She walks over and sits down on my lap, taking the helm from my hands. "You got it?" "HELL YEA" "I'll take that as a yes. Now hit the hyperdrive Chewie!" I slam the throttle all the way open and the engine roars to life, speeding up the barge across the massive lake. After a fair bit of distance has passed, I take the controls back over and slow the boat, navigating it back into a cove with shallow water. I cut the engine and weigh anchor. "Here we are. One of the lake's many hot springs." I jump out of the boat and sink into the warm, bubbling sand. "C'mon! The water's great!" Angela runs up to the second floor and swings off the rope swing, landing next to me. "Ahhhhh, that feels really nice." "I know right?! Now, let's talk about this wedding. I have a few ideas in mind, but I'm also open to suggestions." "Keep it small. I don't want some massive fancy wedding." "Phew, I'm so glad you feel that way because neither did I. In fact, the wedding I had planned on presenting to you was a small gathering on a cliff overlooking Mt. Fuji in Japan in the spring when everything is in bloom." "Oh, that sounds perfect!" "Anything you want to add at all?" "Nope" "Alright then, consider the wedding planned. That was a lot easier than I thought. Have a specific date in mind?" "How about May the 10th?" "Perfect." I glance over to the setting sun before turning back to Angela. "Ya know, the sunsets around here are one on a kind." I scoot closer to her and wrap my arm around her shoulder. "Yea, they really are. They really are."