Penelope Mellors-"Pell Mell"-never expected a midnight knock to upend her quiet life. But when her panicked, hunted nephew-and exiled CEO-arrives with proof of corporate theft and a signed transfer of his stake in the North-South Pulp and Paper Railroad, Pell is pulled onto a track she can't abandon.
The once-proud line, stretching from Maine's paper mills to Carolina's printing presses, is being bled dry by its own board. Armed only with a battered executive railcar, a clock ticking down on her health, and the sharp-witted railman David "Dead Head" Hadley, Pell sets out to see the line for herself.
Mile by mile, town by town, their restoration of the elegant Pullman railcar sparks more than nostalgia-it sparks
a fight against corruption, a rallying of allies, and the vision of a railroad reborn as an employee-owned enterprise.
But the journey is about more than corporate battles: it's a fight for legacy, for community, and for a second chance at life.
For DH, it's a chance to prove he's more than his mistakes. For Pell, it's the final act of a life well-lived. Together, they learn that saving the railroad might just mean saving each other.
A picaresque adventure filled with humor, heart, and the hum of steel on steel, Pell Mell explores what it means to seek purpose, connection, and justice long after you thought the story had reached the end of the line.