Chapter One:

Emily was impatient. The train had been due to leave the station five minutes ago but still had yet to move from the platform. All the passengers were on, sitting in their seats with their luggage stowed away. Families and friends who, a few moments ago, had been waving goodbye now stood beside the train, smiling awkwardly, feeling it rude to leave before the train had departed. But still it did not move.

She was in a compartment by herself, something she was grateful for and she took the opportunity to keep the window closed shut, keeping out the cold wind that was attacking everyone outside. Emily sighed, puffing away a bit of stray hair in the process. Already, it had come loose from its hold.

With practised fingers she undid a few of the clips, keeping them in her mouth before twisting a few strands around and putting them back in place. It wouldn’t stay for long, but it would do for now. When she was a child, the housekeeper, Sarah, would always do it for her. Her hair would stay perfect for hours, lasting all through the night. But no matter what Emily did now, no matter how much she copied what Sarah had done, her hair would come undone within the blink of an eye and she would have to redo it all over again. Sliding the final clip in, Emily settled into her seat, her fingers gently moving over the book she held closed on her lap. She was looking forward to reading it and had saved it especially for the journey. If the journey was ever going to start, that was.

The book was her favourite, “Peter Pan and Wendy.” She must have seen the play a dozen times when she was in London. She had read the book even more.

There were shouts outside and a whistle blew, shrill and loud from the platform. Emily could feel the movement underneath her long before the wheels started to turn and soon enough the world outside began to go backwards. The waving began again, though this time not as enthusiastically and she finally relaxed as fields started to speed past. She undid her travelling coat, fumbling with the sleeves before folding it over her bag. She looked longingly at the seat opposite her, the idea of putting her legs up suddenly springing to mind but she ignored it and kept her feet firmly on the ground. No matter how stiff it felt.

Slowly her mind began to drift to the reception that surely awaited her at home. Having been away at her final year at school for the past few months, Emily expected some kind of celebration of her return. No doubt the family would be there. Her mother, father, grandfather. Simon would be there too. Three years older than her, he had gone to work in Manchester as a lawyer. Though not having seen her brother in the past two years they had kept in touch with letters and he had hinted in recent ones of seeing her soon. She was sure that he would be there to greet her and this brightened her mind considerably. They were very close as children-much to the surprise of the adults-and it was hard on both of them to be separated for so long. The letters helped, but it wasn’t the same. She would have a lot to tell him when she saw him next.

Sarah would probably be there too. Sarah was the family housekeeper and had also been a nanny to both Emily and Simon when they were growing up. As far back as she remembered Sarah had always been ageless to Emily. The same hair, the same wrinkles, the same attitude to everything around her. Sarah was strict and could be harsh at times but was an amazing housekeeper who put the most into everything she did, whether it was sowing a button onto Emily’s blouse or cooking a five course meal, everything was done to perfection and Emily couldn’t imagine what her family would be like without her.

Of course if Sarah was there, Grace would be as well. Emily groaned at the thought. Grace, Sarah’s niece had joined the household as a maid and a planned friend when Emily had been thirteen. She was one year older than Emily and had an air about her that repelled the younger girl instantly. Pretty and chatty, Grace was a natural flirt who instantly developed an attraction to Simon and had followed him around like a love sick puppy until Sarah had had strong words with her. She was only there because her parents felt that Emily didn’t have any close friends and was too young to be going out into the social circles. They must have assumed that since they were both around the same age that they would get along instantly and Grace would do for her until Emily would be able to go to parties and meet new people. She had tried, lord how she had tried to get along with Grace but they were just too opposite. Grace was loud, unpredictable and detested work. Numerous occasions she had been caught with boys in the house and she got away with it every time. Emily couldn’t understand why Grace hadn’t been sent back to her family after the first month let alone last six years. To be fair, as annoying as Grace was to Emily, she was always friendly and never had done anything wrong to her personally. If Grace was there when Emily returned, well, she would just have to grit her teeth and get on with it like she had always done.

She was so absorbed in ways to avoid conversation with the maid that she didn’t notice the man standing by the door to the compartment until he coughed loudly, causing Emily to jump in her seat. Of course since she was sitting down it became like more of strange jerking motion which ended in her hitting her elbow of the wall beside her.

Biting back a profanity, she winced at the pain before looking up at the man, a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance in her expression.

The stranger looked on amused at the sight before him before he nodded his head, touching the rim of his hat in a greeting.

“Sorry to disturb you,” he said apologetically, “Is this seat taken? There’s no more room on the train.”

Now this Emily found hard to believe but she smiled anyway, inclining her head towards the space opposite her. She turned her face back to the window-now covered in raindrops- and watched the man step into the compartment from the corner of her eye. He was tall and had to dip his head slightly so as not to hit it on the door. He took off his hat, producing a mess of blonde hair that looked like it hadn’t been combed through in years. Emily tugged subconsciously at one of her own brown curls as the man glanced at her with polite interest.

“Jonathon West,” he announced and Emily cursed him silently for forcing them into small talk when all she wanted to do was sleep. But on the thought that she might as well practice for tonight she forced a smile and turned her face towards his.

“Emily Dixon,” she replied, using the voice she had heard her mother put on when she was meeting new people.

There was a pause and the man looked at her thoughtfully, smiling slightly while Emily, nervous from the sudden attention fiddled with the book on her lap. Should she have said her name? Was she supposed to say something else? Why was he-

“On your way to London, I presume,” he asked, easing her worries of social interaction. Years cooped up at a girls boarding school had done nothing for her talking skills and she still was unused to strangers. This was one of the reasons she dreaded going home as her mother had wrote to tell her of the parties and gatherings she would be attending as soon as she was able to. Intent on finding her a husband, her parents were getting ready to push Emily out into the world of dresses, dancing and awkward conversation just like every other girl her age. Although they seemed to have a lot more fun doing it than she did.

“Yes, I’m on my way to see my family.”

“Finished school have you?”

Emily paused in her response, “How…”

“The pin on your coat,” The man explained, nodding to Emily’s folded travel coat where an unmistakable gold pin was attached to one of the pockets. On it was the school crest, showing where she belonged. Or had belonged.

Emily fumbled with the badge, taking it off and tucking it away into the pocket that it had been pinned upon.

“I won’t be needing that anymore.”

“I remember when I finished school…well I say ‘remember’; it was only two years ago.”

“And what do you do now, Mr West?” She asked politely.

He made a face, “Nothing.”

Emily was confused, “Nothing?”

“At the moment, no. Hence the train trip to London. I’m going to make my fortune.”

“But you don’t know in what yet?” She was surprised; her brother’s future had been planned out since he was old enough to walk. What else was there for him to do but follow in his father’s footsteps? He was perfectly happy to do so as well.

The man shrugged, “I’ll know when I see it.”

“But you must have some sort of inkling,” Emily persisted, “Some idea of what you want to do.”

The man tried not to smile at Emily’s refusal to accept his unknown future, instead he put on a thoughtful face and stayed silent for a few seconds before saying, “I like magic tricks.”

Emily stared at the man, “Magic tricks?” she asked flatly.

“Who doesn’t like magic tricks?”

“How will you make a fortune out of magic tricks?”

“Houdini did it,” he pointed out.

“Yes, well that was different.”

He looked at her in disbelief, “How?”

“Well…” Emily struggled for words, “For one, he had talent.”

“And who’s to say I don’t?”

She raised her eyebrows, her stubbornness taking over “Do a trick then.”

The man looked at her solemnly, “I’m afraid I can’t.”

“You can’t?”

“I don’t have any cards on me.”

Emily looked at him for a second, out the window, then back at him again, indecision on her face. “Mr West, I fear you are playing a joke on me,” she said finally.

He grinned at her, the smile lighting his face, “I wouldn’t dream of it, Miss Dixon.”

She opened her mouth to say something more but was interrupted by a knock on the compartment door. It was slid open a second later and a skinny man with a thick moustache entered his cap slightly askew on his head.

“Tickets?” He asked cheerfully, holding up a hole puncher and clicking it for emphasis.

Both passengers took out their tickets and gave them to the inspector who checked them before handing them back.

“Have a pleasant ride,” he said, nodding at both of them before leaving closing the door behind him.

A silence fell over the carriage and Emily, finding no need to start up a conversation again, opened up her book and began to read. She could feel the man’s eyes on her but she forced herself not to look up and instead concentrated on the page before her. Not realising that all she was doing was reading the same line over and over again, understandably her mind was elsewhere.

Emily didn’t need to keep up her distraction for long as soon enough the train began to make stops and passengers got on and off. They were joined by two elderly ladies who kept up a string of conversations about the latest fashion for evening wear. How they managed to talk about it for two hours Emily did not know but the noise of their voices made it impossible for conversation to be made with Mr. West and that Emily was grateful for. He had unnerved her. Oh, he had been perfectly pleasant, but the way he didn’t seem to have a care in the world about where he was headed made Emily feel unsettled and she still wasn’t sure whether he was playing a joke on her or not.

She lifted her eyes up for a second and risked a glance at the man opposite her. He wasn’t that much older than her, younger than Simon, she thought. He would have been good looking if he would just brush his hair, the dishevelled look made him look scruffy.

He was dressed smart, she admitted to herself. Suit, tie, hat, nice suitcase all pointing to a wealthy background. Which was why she didn’t understand how he wasn’t working or studying in college. Maybe he was just playing a joke on her like she suspected. Fresh-faced, innocent girl straight out of boarding school. The kind of girl who’d believe anything. A magician! Emily smiled to herself as she flicked a page absently. He probably thought she was the most gullible thing in the world.

Embarrassed but relieved at realising he couldn’t possibly be serious she was able to concentrate on her book and was soon oblivious to the world around her as she soaked up the words. The journey seemed quicker than usual and it was with surprise when she realised they had come to the end of the line. The train halted to a stop and the two women, still chattering, got up and made their way out to the platform. Emily got up as well, putting on her coat and picking up the small suitcase that held her few possessions. When she straightened up she came face to face with Mr. West, who had also stood up.

He looked at her seriously for a second before smiling and tipping his hat.

“It’s been a pleasure meeting you Mr. West,” she said politely.

“The pleasure’s been all mine, have a nice journey home.”

She smiled and stepped out onto the corridor.

“Oh, Miss Dixon?”

Emily turned, sighing at the voice behind her. He was still smiling.

“I believe you wanted a trick?” he asked and without waiting for a response reached out an empty hand and made a quick motion behind her ear causing Emily to shiver.

He brought his palm in front of her face where she could see, lying in the middle, her gold pin, the one she had put in her pocket at the start of the journey.

Wide eyed, she placed a hand on top of her pocket but sure enough it was empty. The content of it now nestled in the palm if the man’s hand.

Glaring at him, for no reason other than her utter annoyance she snatched the pin from him.

“Thank you,” she said stiffly, putting it back into her pocket.

“Your welcome,” he answered sincerely before stepping around her and exiting the train. She watched as he put on his hat and disappeared through the throng of people crowding the platform. She watched until he had fully gone from her sight and even then she did not move.

“Getting off Miss?” A man behind her asked, snapping her back to reality.

“Yes, sorry,” she apologised and quickly stepped onto the platform before making her way to meet her family.

(A/N Well I've had an idea of this story floating around in my head for a while now so I've finally decided to write it down. Please review on any thoughts or criticisms (the constructive ones) you have, they help loads. Thanks for reading! Mileana x)