Tommy adjusted his conductor’s cap and checked that his little sisters were keeping up. At ten, he took his role as big brother seriously, especially on their first Halloween in Evanston. The old western town looked different in the dark, with carved pumpkins casting flickering shadows on wooden porches and fake cobwebs stretching between hitching posts.
“Tommy, my boots are blinking!” eight-year-old Sarah announced, stomping her light-up cowgirl boots on the wooden sidewalk. She twirled, making her leather vest and denim skirt spin.
“Shh!” five-year-old Emma whispered dramatically, her western princess crown tilting. “You’ll scare the ghost trains!” She’d been fascinated by stories of the old roundhouse since they’d moved here, especially after their neighbor told them about phantom train whistles on Halloween night.
Little Amy, just three and adorable in her black cat costume, clutched Tommy’s hand. “Train?” she asked, pointing toward the looming shape of the roundhouse in the distance.
“Not yet, Amy,” Tommy said. “We need to get candy first.” He consulted the trick-or-treat map Dad had drawn. They had permission to do the historic district near their house, as long as they stayed together and were home by eight.
The first few houses were everything they’d hoped for. One old lady gave out full-size candy bars from her wraparound porch. A man dressed as a prospector had decorated his yard like an old mine shaft. Even the local bookstore was open, offering spooky stories along with treats.
But as they turned onto Railroad Street, Emma tugged Tommy’s sleeve. “Look!” she whispered.
Through the evening fog, they could see lights moving around the roundhouse. Not the usual security lights, but softer, lantern-like glows that seemed to drift between the old train bays.
“It’s probably just the security guard,” Tommy said, though he wasn’t quite sure.
Sarah’s boots twinkled as she bounced excitedly. “Can we go look? Please?”
“Dad said to stick to the map,” Tommy reminded them, but then they all heard it – a distant train whistle, deep and echoing, even though no trains ran on these tracks anymore.
Amy’s eyes went wide. “Ghost train!”
Tommy looked at his watch. They had forty minutes before they needed to head home. The roundhouse was only a block away, and the street leading to it was well-lit with Halloween decorations.
“Okay,” he decided, “but we stay together. And at the first sign of anything scary, we leave.”
They walked toward the roundhouse, their treat bags rustling. As they got closer, they could see the moving lights more clearly. They looked like old-fashioned railroad lanterns, swaying gently in the fog.
Suddenly, Sarah grabbed Tommy’s arm. “There’s someone there!”
A figure emerged from the fog – an elderly man in an old-fashioned railroad uniform. He smiled warmly at them.
“Well, if it isn’t a junior conductor and his crew!” he called out. “Here for the Halloween tour?”
Tommy hesitated. “Our dad says we shouldn’t talk to strangers.”
The man nodded approvingly. “Smart rule. I’m Mr. Johnson, the roundhouse museum caretaker. We’re doing special Halloween tours tonight. Your parents can come check it out first if you’d like.”
Before Tommy could respond, they heard familiar footsteps behind them.
“There you are!” It was Dad, slightly out of breath. “I thought I might find you here. The neighbors said you’d want to see this.” He turned to Mr. Johnson. “Evening, Bill. I see my crew found your Halloween display.”
“Just in time,” Mr. Johnson smiled. “We’re about to light up the old steam engine.”
They followed Mr. Johnson and Dad into the roundhouse, where volunteers in period costumes were leading tours. The centerpiece was a restored steam engine, decorated with pumpkins and twinkling lights. The mysterious lanterns they’d seen were being carried by tour guides, sharing stories of the railroad’s history.
Emma was delighted to learn that her “ghost trains” were actually recordings played through hidden speakers, part of the museum’s Halloween atmosphere. Sarah’s boots twinkled as she danced around the turntable, and even little Amy got to sit in the engineer’s seat, her cat ears peeking out the window.
As they walked home later, treat bags full and hearts content, Tommy smiled at his sisters. Their new town might be old, but it had its own kind of magic. Emma was already planning next year’s costume – a ghost conductor, of course.
“Ghost train?” Amy asked sleepily from Dad’s arms.
“Not ghost trains,” Tommy corrected gently. “Just history coming alive for Halloween.”
But as they turned onto their street, a distant train whistle echoed through the fog. Tommy looked back at the roundhouse, its windows now dark. Just for a moment, he thought he saw a lantern light swaying in one of the empty bays.
Some mysteries, he decided, were better left for next Halloween.
