Kella Mcintyre: Railroad Engineer - Emma M Vardaman (classic romance novels .TXT) 📗

Chapter One

 

 

Kella McIntyre: Railroad Engineer

Copyright © 2017 by Emma M Vardaman

All Rights Reserved.

Vardaman Publishing®

 

 

 

Kella Luanne Mcintyre stretched and yawned in her bed, as she trudged groggily to the bare pads of her red wolf feet and staggered straight into her lavatory. She had just barely finished and passed her first nearly endless battery of exams down at the Wolf Lake Railway operations training center downtown, and was now finally turned lose out onto the road.

 

She had more than loved every second of it. The NORAC, the GCOR, the long hour after hour of simulators; without a single lunch break or two in between. It was just like a holiday at her old home back in Foxton.

 

She adored her job. Ever since the young pup age of five, the brothers of her pack always teased her endlessly about it. Swearing constantly, up and down, that a girl could never be seen holding the throttle of a train or that she should most likely be the good little nurse or fashion designer that her parents had always bragged that she would turn out to be.

 

Thankfully, she rendered them all way beyond the point of none belief. She showered quickly and stepped briskly into her usual work uniform, before padding heavily in her workboots down the stairs, and toward South Rook yard on the west side of town.

 

 

Chapter Two

 

Kella McIntyre: Railroad Engineer #2

Copyright © 2017 by Emma M Vardaman

All Rights Reserved.

Vardaman Publishing®

“You Kella McIntyre?” The mud brown she-wolf piped up, as Kella swaggered meekly into the south end train crew and break office quarters.

“Yeah. Who wants to know?” She answered, as the she-wolf more than jovially held out her hand.

“Isa McClaryn, miss.” She replied, kindly shaking Kella’s own appendage. “I’m your engineer today, for train Q-319.”

“Oh, good to know.” Kella nodded, looking the wolf over thoughtfully as she handed over the daily orders clipboard. She was dressed rather smartly in what looked to be a genuine alligator crafted leather jacket and vest, cargo pants, and the usual company issue footwear of Wolverine brand steel toed boots.

Her eyes were a soft and kind golden yellow and the smile on her muzzle fair and delicate; all as a rose petal. She went over the daily report list thoroughly and nodded understanderably at what she found.

“Mhm...No slow orders, good. No depressed flat loads. Yep we are full speed ahead today, baby.”

“Alright. Let’s go out and hit the road.” Kella smiled back in agreement.

“You bet.” Isa serenely nodded, steadily leading the way out.

 

Chapter Three

 

 

 

Kella McIntryre: Railroad Engineer #3

Copyright © 2017 by Emma M Vardaman

All Rights Reserved.

Vardaman Publishing®

“So, where’d you grow up, Kells?” Isa inquired, carefully coaxing the throttle of their sixteen thousand ton eastbound coal loads; from Bailey mine.

Kella was taken aback slightly by the question. She never at all liked to think back on the hell hole she endured back at her original home in Foxton. Her father was gone, her grandmother and primary caretaker as well, and her crackhead, no good uncle ended up somehow claiming the full benefits of the house and will before he kicked her rudely to the curb; along with the rest of her former so called “pack”.

She shook her head madly of the flashbacks and horrid movie reels, before finally delivering her full reply.

“Foxton. Why?”

“Why?” Isa chuckled, flashing her a wry smiling grin. “Because I used to live there myself, silly. Don’t you remember you and I were neighbors; down by the old Zirkle house?”

“Sonuva bitch, you were the bozo who always went around puttin stinkbombs and shit in my backyard on Halloween and all!” Kella laughed.

“Haha! Damn rootin tootin!” Isa comically nodded. “You shoulda seen how mad that bitch always got everytime I ended up comin through your set, girl.”

“Eh, who? Kevin? He’s always been a crooked bastard since mothafuckin day one. I ain’t never paid him no mind.”

“Holy shit!” Isa suddenly exclaimed at the tank car ahead of them, now spewing flames and hideous black smoke on the mainline’s opposite side track.

She quickly called it in.

“Dispatch, you better get Stanville FD and Company out here ASAP. We’ve definitely got a literal hotrail out here. Over.”

 

Chapter Four

 

 

Kella McIntryre: Railroad Engineer #4

Copyright © 2017 by Emma M Vardaman

All Rights Reserved.

Vardaman Publishing®

“What’ve we got, captain?” Isa asked her old Husky friend, Captain Hunter Stilson, as he and the rest of the firefighters from engine forty two all finally cleared the still smoldering scene.

“Stage two fire. Arson most likely.” He said. “One of your railroad’s customers just recently reported finding an empty gas can not too fire from where the fire most likely spread. Definitely a smart bastard whoever scorched it; way beyond print retrieval.”

“Hmm. If there’s a will, there’s a way.” Kella pondered, thoughtfully in reply. “We better get on down to police headquarters and all after work. There’s gotta be at least one report document with some info leading up to all this.”

“Good point.” The young fire captain nodded. “Got a local buddy down at the crime lab that should also be more than available to help out. See you on the flip side, ladies.”

 

Chapter Five

 

 

 

 

Kella McIntyre: Railroad Engineer #5

Copyright © 2017 by Emma M Vardaman

All Rights Reserved.

Vardaman Publishing®

“Mr. Roy Butterfield?” Isa said to the rather ramshackle looking mole shopkeeper behind the counter of the local mom and pop hardware store.

“Ah. Yes. A few more members of the local railroad from downtown, huh?” He replied, tipping his cowboy hat with a friendly nod. “What all can I do you lovely ladies for?”

Kella cut immediately and straight to the case.

“This lone gas can was found near the scene of a fire that destroyed more than ten million dollars of our property, yesterday. We were wondering if you could possibly give us a name and/or description of who recently bought it from your store records.”

“Well...There was this one fellow.” Butterfield began, steadily with a pondering finger on his chin. “A middle aged jackal. Said he ran a local landscaping company and needed to fuel up his truck and mower fleet.”

Just then it almost instantly hit her.

“Thank you, Mr. Butterfield.” She gracefully nodded. “You’ve been more than a very big help.”

“Wait!” Isa called, as they both left the jingling door of the establishment. “Ain’t you ever gonna ask him for a name?”

“I don’t have to.” Kella replied. “I believe we already have our one and only judice.”

 

Chapter Six

 

 

 

Kella McIntyre: Railroad Engineer #6

Copyright © 2017 by Emma M Vardaman

All Rights Reserved.

Vardaman Publishing®

“Hey, Kevin!” Kella called out, pounding hard on the jackal’s front door of her old family home. “Open up, dude! You can’t bullshit me and say you’re not home cause that bucket ass truck of yours is right in the front lot!”

“Maybe he decided to bounce to the store or something.” Isa suggested. “We should probably go check there.”

Before the mud brown wolf could ever say more, Kella’s foot slammed hard against the Oak wood framed door, knocking it more than clean off it’s golden hinges before the pair both drew their forty five automatics and rushed silently inside.

 

Chapter Seven