The puppy still didn’t stir. It was alive. The station master had seen its paw move, but it hadn’t run. It hadn’t even tried. Something was wrong. He turned to Ethan. “Stay here,” he said, already moving toward the trackside steps. “I’m going down there.”
Ethan followed without thinking. The rails were still humming faintly as they climbed down onto the gravel, the vast shadow of the halted train looming over them. Ahead, the little bundle of fur lay between the rails, motionless but breathing.