"Don't worry," Fran assured her. "He was very loyal. We ended up having this preposterous argument Connie was talking about, but she's wrong. This isn...t the same. I was already affected by the serum and I wanted and needed James more than anything, and there was no way he could persuade me otherwise. And believe me, he tried. But Laura's different. She's not under the influence yet. You're free to go, Laura. But," she added, "you're a fool if you do."This final comment so appalled Laura that. They hadn't washed him or even oiled his wheels for a very long time. He remembered when the yardmen Oscar and Pete would always start the day with giving him a nice wash with the long green water hoses that washed away all the dirt from a hard day's work.He liked it a lot better when he was bringing up the rear to a passenger train instead of one of those really dirty freight trains that left him covered with soot and dust after a long trip.Lately, it seemed like the passenger trains were. She even peeked into the kitchen and out to the reception desk, but she wasn’t there either. She deliberately slowed up her breakfast hoping to give Landra more time to show up, but it was in vain. Just when she decided that 90 minutes was enough for breakfast and was ready to leave with resignation, she heard the innkeeper talking to his wife: “By the way, I sent Landra to town to get the radio repaired ...” Kea felt relieved and went up to her room. When she opened the door, there was a hand. Most people would, but let me tell you I’ve seen the damage that women can do. Even when they are smaller, they can still wreck havoc if they get riled up enough. Seen some pretty big guys wearing black eyes or worse.’ The way that he looked when he said that sent those bells tingling once more in her gut, but with Chloe and Dwayne around she checked her tongue. ‘Yes, well, she repeatedly said he and him. So I think we can safely assume it is a man this time.’ ‘Yes, Ma’am and that is a help..