Done with her morning tasks around the house, Sarah headed down the dusty street from her aunt and uncle's square and plain frame house to the town depot, her daily routine to make an attempt to break the sleepy everday routine of her existence. As she frequently did, she stood on the platform and stared down the railroad tracks that led to the horizon, always promising something more exciting and exotic over the horizon. Sarah sighed, wishing she could be on one of the trains that stopped, taking her away from the dull, oppressive mid-day heat and never-ending boredom of this small farm town in the midst of miles of never-ending corn and wheat...
Sarah mused over her impending fate, feeling doomed to end up like her aunt, her life consisting of little other than raising children and cooking and cleaning, aged far too quickly. She wished there were more options for girls like her, ambitious, adventurous, and far too intelligent for her surroundings. She knew some managed to escape long enough to get a brief education at a normal school, but ending up as the spinster schoolmarm really didn't have much more appeal. She still held the last letter from her cousin Nathan...she envied him being a male, able to escape at the age of sixteen to take on a career with the railroad. He wrote of the hardships and long hours, but reading through his sparse lines, she could tell he would never trade his job for anything. Starting off as a telegrapher's assistant at a tiny station in the Montana mountains, only two years later he was now a brakeman, writing of his upcoming conductor's examination. How she wished she could be like him..she had never even been out of the county, but already he had experienced the deserts, mountains and forests, and ocean coasts she had only been able to read about. She had perked up a little when reading this last letter, when he mentioned in passing how one of the larger railroads had been hiring young women for internship positions at their larger terminals and main offices. She hoped these rumors to be true, the thought of getting as far away as possible from her stifling existence here her main stimulant. Living in Chicago, St. Louis, Denver, San Francisco, anywhere...even manning a station in the rugged mountains, no one there to take care of her but herself....
Adding to Sarah's turmoil was the powerful sexual feelings that had been boiling over as of late. Her aunt's sparse information on womanhood had been grim and reminded her of her religious obligations....how proper girls stay chaste until their wedding night. That did Sarah little good, however, when her mind drifted along with her fingers, under her sheets late on a cold night. Sarah had little use for the boys around her own age...they all seemed simple-minded bumpkins, only angling to make her their wife and wail out new farmhands for. She hated how it seemed she could so easily wrap any male around her fingers, her straight and fair looks and long, strawberry blonde hair seeming to captivate any male passing her way. She had savored a book she had run across at the library, reading her only window on the outside world. It was a medieval adventure tale, of a princess captured and held for ransom by a dark and cruel knight...it had little basis in reality, but the thought of being controlled by a strong and dominating man started her thighs stroking together gently every time she read her favorite passages...her eager mind filling in the unmentioned sexual angles...
"Good morning Miss Sarah, telegram for you" the station agent greeted her with as she absent-mindedly strolled into the depot office, her mind still wandering over thoughts of what it would be like to be shackled and chained in the depths of some ancient castle's dungeons...rescue doubtful, her captor's lustful gaze more inviting then threatening.... Sarah snapped back to reality as the crusty but friendly agent handed the telegram over to her. She assumed it was a friendly informational greeting from her cousin, due to his former position as an agent and telegrapher, no doubt still with many connections, but as she read it over, it's formality made her jaw drop.....
"To Miss Sarah Johnson...stop. Your cousin, Mr. Nathan Johnson of the Northern Pacific Railroad has informed our personnel department you are interested in a position as an intern administrative assistant..stop. We curently are interviewing females for positions at our Chicago and San Francisco offices...stop. Arrangements have been made for your passage on our business train which will be arriving on the rear of our train No. 2 tonight..stop. Be on platform promptly at 21:00 hours, an official will meet you at the rear platform...stop. Sincerely, Chicago personnel office.
"Sounds like you're joining your cousins in the railroad life, ehh?" the agent asked Sarah...her mind racing too fast to comprehend things.."Mmm, yes, I guess I'm heading to Chicago tonight for an interview" Sarah stammered, already thinking carefully about what to pack and what she should wear...
The conversation with her aunt afterwards had been tense and short...the subject of how proper young women hardly headed off unescorted to large cities...a single woman in her circumstances little better than a common harlot, in her aunt's eyes. The end effect, however, was to make up Sarah's mind even firmer. She packed her small case and then set about bathing herself and making herself presentable for the long trip and her interview....
As instructed, Sarah was at the depot an hour early, the agent making small talk as he prepared the depot for the arrival of the railroad's premier train, one that rarely stopped in her tiny farm town. Finally a headlight on the horizon grew slowly larger, and as the locomotive's bell swung slowly, Sarah gripped her case's handle tight and headed towards the rear of the train. Looking up, she took in the dark black gloss of the high-drivered locomotive, it's brass trim gleaming in the depot's lanterns. To Sarah, the handsome passenger locomotives always seemed like thoroughbreds resting after a hard run, ready to take on the next assignment. The air pumps wheezed and panted, the injectors and the numerous steam-filled valves and lines hissed softly...she kept walking towards the shining dark olive green cars at the end, their goldleaf filigree trim and lettering glimmering in the platform's flickering lights.
Taking a deep breath, Sarah approached the well-polished brass of the back car's rear platform...a well-dressed portly middle-aged man with huge mutton-chop sideburns and a walrus-like moustache greeted her nonchalantly..."Miss Johnson I presume?" he calmly inquired, taking her case and escorting her up the stairs as the conductor feverishly waved a highball signal to his engineer, eager to not lose any more time at this nowhere town.
Sarah's eyes grew wide as she enterd the car's lounge section. She had only seen sketches of such luxurious surroundings in "Harper's" and other magazines...which did little to justify Pullman's finest works. The flawless mahogany paneling was polished and intricately inlaid, the curtains and fabrics a deep red plush velvet, the carpet seemingly endlessly deep under her feet. The gas lamps softly glowed, and she noticed a tall, gaunt man seated in a corner, puffing on a cigar and holding a snifter of expensive cognac. He nodded an acknowledgement as the other man escorted her towards the front of the car..."Evening 'mamm, Mr. Thomson, president and owner of this fine railroad at your service...my secretary Mr. Wilkins will take you to our interview area....we'll talk some more on our way to Chicago tomorrow" he calmly says, with the air of a once rough character now trying his best to act the part of a refined gentleman...
