Episode #71
Iron Rails & Ruin: CH 14 | Vane Cuts Off Freight to Six Winter Towns — and Governor Blackwood Calls It Practical Necessity | Boys Steampunk Adventure Story
Hands are still up in the back rows when the first telegram arrives. A young clerk in a coat rolled at the cuffs delivers it two-handed to Chairman Wallace, who reads it, sets it face-down on the desk, and brings the gavel down three times — calm, complete. "The chair calls for order." The second envelope comes through seven minutes later. Then the third. Wallace stacks them at the corner of his desk without looking up. Gunnar tracks the couriers' entry angles and puts the towns together in his head before Wallace speaks: Millhaven first — northwest staging depot, serves the Sable River settlements. Then Crestford — higher, colder, one freight line, nothing else in winter. The third he holds without naming. When Wallace finally summarizes from the chair — freight service to six communities along the Syndicate's western and northern routes suspended, citing operational review, duration unspecified — the chamber doesn't go quiet. It goes louder, with sharper edges. Then Governor Blackwood rises from the gallery. Silver at his temples, coat cut precisely, the strain in his voice reading as either distress or careful calibration of distress. He does not deny the documents. "The territory cannot afford a legislative disruption of infrastructure that serves six functioning communities." He lets that land. "The documents raise questions that deserve review. I have said as much. But questions do not fill a grain store or deliver medicine before first frost." Practical necessity, he says, must be weighed. That is not a concession to impropriety. That is governance. And Gunnar watches delegates who had been leaning forward with the evidence go still. Two pens set down. Faces drifting. Not against him. Just away. He does the arithmetic: Millhaven has ten days of warehouse. Crestford five, four if temperatures keep dropping. He rounds down. Seventy-two hours before the Legislature's nerve breaks on its own. Iron Rails & Ruin is a science fiction Wild West adventure for boys 8-18 — a fourteen-year-old engineer in 1882 Montana finds out his father is alive, and the Syndicate has fourteen days to seize every locomotive in the territory. Perfect for kids, tweens, and teens who love trains, invention, and frontier adventure. For fans of Mortal Engines, steampunk machines and mysteries, and Wild West stories with a clever hero at the controls. Grab your copy of Iron Rails & Ruin: Smoke & Suspicion (Book 1) — available now on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ New chapters every Friday. Follow us now! 00:00:00 — The hands are still up when the first telegram arrives 00:02:30 — Wallace reads it and sets it face-down — the gavel three times 00:05:00 — The second envelope, seven minutes later 00:07:00 — The third — stacked at the corner of the Chairman's desk 00:09:30 — Millhaven, Crestford, the Sable River settlements 00:12:00 — Wallace summarizes from the chair — six towns, freight suspended 00:15:00 — The chamber goes louder, sharper — not consensus 00:17:30 — Governor Blackwood rises from the gallery 00:20:00 — "The territory cannot afford a legislative disruption" 00:22:30 — "Questions do not fill a grain store or deliver medicine" 00:25:00 — "Practical necessity must be weighed. That is governance." 00:27:00 — Pens setting down — delegates drifting away from the evidence 00:29:30 — Gunnar runs the numbers — seventy-two hours until nerve breaks 00:31:00 — CH 15 — What Comes Next Send us Fan Mail I am the author of serialized fiction books for kids, teens, tweens and young adults, including: - Brickhaven: A Bricks Fan Fiction Adventure - Colony In Danger: A Fire Ant Adventure - Eagle's Edge: A Story of Rome, Gaul and the Making of a Soldier - Treasure Island: A Classic Adaptation - Iron Rails & Ruin: A Novel of Steam, Sorcery and the Lawless Montana Territory All five books -- are now available on Amazon: https://us.amazon.com/stores/Reed-Sterling/author/B0H2ZM86WQ Wanna check out all five series for yourself? Get all five Chapter 1s free: https://compass-codex.kit.com/middle-school-reader-group Thank you for listening! This is Reed Sterling. Remember: Never stop exploring unknown worlds.
