Side tracked

It happened high up in the Cascade Mountains. The train had spent most of the evening struggling up the pass and was now gliding slowly through pine forests wearing a glittering white coat of snow. Now, shortly after 10pm, all the passengers of Amtrak’s Empire Builder had departed the dining and observation cars and were settling into seats and cabins with curtains drawn. Those in carriage F felt a slight jolt as the train slowed down. Minutes later, the few passengers still awake thought that they felt the train reverse direction, but it was such a gentle movement that they dismissed it as their imagination and promptly fell asleep.

Outside, the temperature dropped to below zero. In the distance a pack of wolves hunted prey. Such an inhospitable environment contrasted with the warm and cosy interior of the carriages. That inhospitable environment would soon become much more apparent to the passengers of carriage F.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

‘We’ve stopped.’

‘I expected us to be out of the mountains by now.’

Benji and Katya peered through the window of their cabin. They’d woken shortly after dawn, excited to have been spirited to somewhere new during the night. But the other side of the glass looked exactly like the snowy forest they’d gawped at during their dinner.

‘Feels a bit colder in here this morning.’

‘Let’s get up and see if anyone at breakfast can tell us what’s happening.’

The dining car was adjacent to theirs and so, after hurriedly dressing in the cool air, they walked along the quiet corridor and up to the second level where the entrance to the other car was usually left open all day and night. Now, though, it was shut, and a group of five people were gathered outside.

‘What’s going on?’ Katya asked.

‘Door’s locked. I got here ten minutes ago and haven’t seen anyone despite knocking.’

‘No sign of the conductor either, plus it looks as though we’ve been disconnected from the rest of the train.’

‘What?!’

‘Yeah, go look out the other end of the carriage.’

Benji and Katya did just that. Sure enough, at the other end of the corridor, the door which had led to carriage F was now closed, and through its window they saw nothing but the snow-strewn track stretching off into the forest.

‘Well that explains the lack of electricity,’ Benji said when they returned to the group.

‘Yep, and I imagine it’s only going to get colder,’ said the man who had suggested they check out the other end of the carriage. A huge bear of a man, he wore a lumberjack shirt and combat trousers, and looked as though he belonged on the other side of the glass hacking away at pine trees.

A couple more passengers appeared. None of the group knew what to do. They checked their cell phones and saw that there wasn’t any signal out here.

‘Someone will probably have realised by now that we’ve detached,’ said an elderly lady.

‘Probably, but they may struggle to find us,’ her husband replied. ‘When you looked out the window at the front, did you not notice that the tracks here have broken sleepers, and that the sign in the distance was outdated? I think we’re in sidings, some way off the main route.’

A woman dressed in a grey tracksuit and with a look of thunder upon her face began hammering on the door to the restaurant car. She kept this up for a couple of minutes until more passengers appeared.

‘What’s going on?’ asked a dishevelled man, who appeared to have put his sweater on backwards.

The remaining passengers were appraised of the situation, then grey tracksuit lady resumed her drumming on the door. Just when everyone was beginning to think that the other car was empty, a conductor appeared and marched towards them.

‘Restaurant’s closed!’ she yelled.

‘Why?’ tracksuit lady replied angrily.

In response, the conductor peered through the glass at the passengers then retreated to the room she’d emerged from. This enraged not only tracksuit lady, but a fair few of the other passengers too. Eventually they realised that the conductor wasn’t going to come back.

‘What now?’

‘I think we should get off the train and see if we can find out more about what’s going on.’

The group murmured agreement and began filing down the corridor towards the stairs and the exit door. From the other direction came Benji, who had disappeared during the clamour. He held a hand up to the approaching passengers.

‘Erm, if you’re thinking of going outside, you may want to re-think,’ he said. ‘I took a look through the door and saw what I’m pretty sure is blood. Lots of blood.’

In response most of the group either gasped or swore. A few went to check for themselves, then returned with grim faces. Everyone returned to the vestibule in front of the restaurant car door. All the passengers had now gathered together, Katya counted 15 in total.

‘Wait, didn’t the conductor say that this carriage was full tonight?’ she asked.

‘Yeah, she did. There’re 12 cabins in this carriage, most of us are in couples, there should be at least a few more here.’

‘Do we know for sure that all passengers are here?’

No-one answered. Instead, the group went door-to-door, each person or couple pointing out their cabin. Two cabins had open doors, but, even though none of the group claimed the rooms were theirs, the beds looked slept in. One cabin — the executive suite and the most expensive accommodation on the train — remained closed.

‘Hello?’ said tracksuit lady, using her usual hammering technique as she knocked on the door.

No matter how hard she knocked nor how loudly she shouted, the cabin door remained closed. Some of the other passengers tried to tempt whoever was inside — if there was anyone — with news of the fate of carriage F and the restaurant car. No response.

Someone suggested that the inhabitant of the cabin may be injured and that they should force their way in. The giant with the lumberjack shirt tried the handle, then thudded against the door with his immense shoulder. There was a slight crack, the door remained locked, but there was, at last, a voice from the other side.

‘Go away!’ came a shrill shout.

‘OK, OK, just wanted to check you’re alright,’ lumberjack man said while backing away.

‘I’m fine, just leave me alone!’

The other passengers looked at each other then retreated to the vestibule. No-one had reappeared on the other side of the restaurant car door, and the temperature had dropped slightly more.

‘Does anyone know who it is that’s in that cabin?’ asked Katya.

‘Young lady, can’t be any older than 30. Dressed all glamorous. She came onboard with a few men, who were staying in other cabins,’ said the elderly man.

‘Sounds like some sorta celebrity.’

‘Maybe, but I’m too old to keep up with that sort of thing. I don’t remember seeing her at dinner, she must’ve had room service.’

‘The train doesn’t offer room service.’

‘I’m sure they do if you pay enough.’

‘She sounded terrified. Where’d the people she boarded with go?’

No-one dared speculate. The blood on the snow outside suggested the possibility that the recluse’s friends had met a violent end, which perhaps explained her reluctance to come out of her cabin.

‘In case she’s in any kind trouble, would someone mind keeping a watch on her door?’ Katya asked.

The elderly couple volunteered and said that they would holler should they see or hear anything suspicious. Tracksuit lady gave the door to the restaurant another couple of thumps. The continuing drop in temperature was making everyone feel increasingly desperate.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Benji said. He grabbed a fire extinguisher which was secured against the wall, then jabbed it at the window between the two carriages.

After the first blow the glass was turned into a spiderweb of cracks. On the second blow the fire extinguisher went all the way through. Benji stabbed at the remaining glass until there was a clean hole. On the other side the conductor they had seen previously returned.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ she yelled.

‘You abandoned us!’

‘You can’t just let us freeze in here lady!’

‘Tell us what’s goin’ on!’

The passengers responded in unison, returning the conductor’s ire. She held her hands up and took a deep breath. In a somewhat brave move, she approached the door, her feet crunching over the crumbs of safety glass.

‘OK, OK,’ she said placatingly, ‘I understand that…wow, is that cold air?’

‘Yes! It’s freezing in here!’

‘Oh shit. Oh man, I’m sorry, we had no idea. Damn.’ The conductor paused to think, then turned. ‘Abe, you better get out here,’ she called out to the rear of her carriage.

Abe slunk out from one of the rooms in the restaurant car. He wore the pristine white of a chef’s uniform. Reluctantly he came over to where the conductor stood.

‘The heating ain’t on in their carriage Abe, we can’t leave them there.’

‘Can’t you tell them where to find the switch?’

‘I could, but it’ll be outside. I can’t ask ’em to go out there.’

‘Alright Gina, I agree, it ain’t right to leave ’em in the cold.’

Gina, the conductor, faced the passengers through the window again. She knew that she could hold them off by pulling across a metal gate that closed off one carriage from the other, but she was also a decent human being and couldn’t allow those people to freeze.

‘So, you probably wonderin’ what’s goin’ on,’ she began explaining. ‘Well, me too. Truth is, I’ve no idea. I woke up at 5am, same as usual, and came through to the restaurant car for breakfast before startin’ work.

‘Soon as I was up, though, I noticed we weren’t movin’. I came up to see Abe anyway and find him barricaded in here. Eventually I persuaded him to let me in, an’ he tells me what he saw. What time were you awake Abe?’

‘’Bout 4. I ain’t even notice we went back’ards ’til I woke. It was dark so I ain’t see much, an’ I dint turn my room light on before openin’ my curtains, which is jus’ as well, ‘cos out there I saw some man murderin’ another. Real quiet like, with a knife.’

The passengers either swore or gasped. Katya took hold of Benji’s arm. She quickly studied those around her and concluded that they did all look genuinely shocked. Hopefully they weren’t in any immediate danger. Gina took over from Abe again.

‘I hope you’ll forgive us, but that’s why I locked the door between the two carriages. The murderer must’ve come from either your carriage or the one behind. Course, I wouldn’a done so if I realised the heating had switched off.’

‘You left us locked in with a murderer.’

‘I was just figurin’ out the situation. Abe also tol’ me that the murderer didn’t return to your carriage. I was workin’ out which cabin he was stayin’ in when that man in the lumber jack shirt — what’s your name honey?’

‘Hank.’

‘When Hank started poundin’ on this window.’

‘And? Do you know who the murderer is?’

‘Nope. All’s I know is that he was with that young lady in the executive suite. Where is she by the way? And where’re Mr an’ Mrs Makris?’

‘They’re keeping and eye on that lady’s cabin. We tried to get in there to see if she’s OK, but she’s refusing to come out.’

‘Huh. Well, OK, I guess I’d better go ask her some questions. In the meantime I’ll let you folk through. Abe, could ya rustle up some food?’

Gina stepped aside to let the passengers in to the warm restaurant car. She then headed into the other carriage, and down the steps to seek out Mr and Mrs Makris.

‘So, folks, here’s the thing,’ Abe said quietly, ‘we got enough food to last us ’til Chicago, but that’s assumin’ we reach Chicago tomorrow night. Which obviously we now prob’ly won’t. An’ I don’t know when we gonna be found.

‘Yeah, it could be a while,’ said Hank, unbuttoning his warm lumberjack shirt. ‘Mr, er, what’s his name? Mr Makris, he said we’re down some unused side track.’

‘Yep, ‘fraid so,’ confirmed Abe. ‘Which means it could be days before we’s found. So, we gotta be sparin’ with the food. Now don’t be too concerned — this here kitchen was gonna be feedin’ three carriages of people, so we got plenty of food for, oh, at least a week. But maybe let’s not pretend we’s on some all-you-can eat train journey no more. OK?’

The passengers murmured agreement. Abe put out some milk, yoghurt and cereal then started frying eggs and bacon.

‘Abe,’ Benji asked, ‘did Gina mention that there’s a carriage behind this one.’

‘Yeah, a boxcar. Real secure one too. We picked it up just after Seattle. In fact, that’s when that lady in the executive suite boarded, along with two other men.’

‘He’s gotta be the murderer,’ said tracksuit lady.

‘Who?’

‘One of the guys who came on with Miss Executive Suite.’

‘Seeing as neither of them are on the train any more, that seems likely.’

‘Unless there are other folk out there.’

No one said anything. They ate and stared out the windows, noticing every little movement in the wintry forest. It was only when they finished their meals that they noticed Gina hadn’t yet returned.

‘Shit, what should we do?’ tracksuit lady — who had eventually introduced herself as Carla — said.

‘I think we should sticl together and go down to find out.’

‘What if someone locks as out of this carriage again?’

‘Benji and I’ll go,’ said Katya. ‘Abe, could we borrow a knife?’

Abe smiled, went to his kitchen and returned with his longest, most lethal-looking knife. He carefully handed it to Katya, who then led Benji out of the restaurant, along the corridor of the sleeper carriage, and then very cautiously down the steps. They heard people talking.

‘OK honey, but we don’t know if whoever’s out there is your man. It just ain’t safe to leave you alone down here in this room.’

‘But I’ll lock the door again.’

‘And how you gonna secure the window? It’s only glass honey.’

By now Benji and Katya had reached the executive suite. They stood in the open doorway and Katya hid the knife. The couple instantly recognised the person who Gina was talking to.

Rita Moretti had managed to remain out of the spotlight until last year, when her billionaire father passed away suddenly, leaving both her and her brothers as heirs to his fortune. She became a tabloid sensation overnight, having been thrust from the life of suburban mudanity that her father had kept her in, to one of America’s wealthiest women.

‘Everything OK?’ Benji asked, quickly recovering from his shock.

‘We’re good thanks folks.’

‘Great. Erm. Where’re Mr and Mrs Makris?’

‘I thought they was goin’ back to the restaurant. They ain’t there?’

‘No.’

Tension immediately filled the compartment. Katya and Benji spun around to check the corridor, but it remained empty.

‘We didn’t pass them on our way down here. Maybe we should go back upstairs.’

‘I agree,’ said Gina. ‘Come on honey, let’s go join the others.’

At last Rita seemed persuaded. She thought it better to deal with the usual looks of awe she endued whenever she was in public, than to remain in this cabin alone with a killer on the loose. Gina locked Rita’s cabin after ushering the young lady out. Katya then led the way back up, with Benji taking up the rear.

Back in the restaurant everyone tried their best not to stare at Rita. Introductions were made, Rita politely joining in even though no-one was in any doubt as to who she was.

‘So that wagon at the back is yours huh?’ Carla said tactlessly, while wiping croissant crumbs off of her tracksuit.

‘Erm…yeah. Yes.’

‘So what’s in it?’ Carla continued, without any awareness of how rude she was being.

‘You don’t have to answer that,’ Gina said. She’d taken on a protective role for Rita, even though the wealthy lady was in her mid-twenties.

‘No, it’s OK. I’m guessing that this is all my fault anyway. The boxcar is full of my dad’s antiques. He kept them in his Seattle office, I’m taking them over to Chicago and on to New York. One of those men who’s with me is employed to protect the carriage until we arrive.’

‘And you wanted to keep an eye on it too?’

‘No, I just hate flying.’

‘Is that seriously all the protection you have? One bodyguard and a guy to keep an eye on all those antiques?’

‘They’re really well secured back there. They aren’t just lying around — they’re being transported in massive safes.’

‘Plus, I guess we aren’t exactly travelling through highly populated areas,’ Benji added.

‘Exactly.’

Just then the elderly couple entered the restaurant. They explained that they went back to their cabin after Gina was able to talk her way into Rita’s cabin. Because they had no idea that the restaurant was now open, they figured that they may as well wait it out in their own cabin, under as many warm layers as they could find.

‘But then we heard other voices from Rita’s cabin and we thought that we should see what’s goin’ on,’ concluded Mrs Makris.

‘Sorry, I should’ve come an’ fetched you,’ Gina said.

‘Don’t worry about it dear, we needed a nap. We guessed that man outside had gone to switch the heating on anyways.’

‘What man?’

‘What did he look like?’ asked Rita.

‘Tall guy, couldn’t really make out his face ‘cos he was wearin’ some kinda snowsuit. All white,’ Mr Makris replied.

‘Doesn’t sound like Jamshid, my guy,’ Rita confirmed.

‘What about your other guy, who’s looking after the antiques?’ asked Carla.

Rita didn’t answer and Mr and Mrs Makris went quiet. Everyone turned to look at Abe.

‘Yeah, the guy I saw doin’ the murderin’, he was wearing a white snowsuit.’

‘Oh god, that must mean that either Jamshid or the guy hired to guard the antiques must’ve been killed.’

Rita started crying and a couple of the passengers consoled her while the others peered out the windows. Still no movement. None of them had yet noticed how the temperature had dropped a degree.

‘Look, we aren’t in any danger in here. There’s nine of us, we can lock the doors, we’ve got food and warmth. We can just wait this out.’

‘While someone just steals those antiques,’ Rita added, having replaced her sorrow with anger.

‘If that’s what’s going on here.’

‘Well what else could it be?’

‘I dunno, but I haven’t noticed any noises coming from back there and there doesn’t seem to be anyone out there now. I’d have expected at least a few people for a theft such as that.’

Everyone digested what Katya had said. It made sense. If someone had gone so carefully planned to isolate these three carriages, then surely they’d have carefully planned the extraction of the antiques too, rather than just let everyone sit here. Something wasn’t right.

Abe headed off to his kitchen to start preparing lunch. Hank was keen to get outside and ascertain their location in relation to the main tracks, but the others managed to dissuade him — there was still a killer out there, possibly several.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

It was only when the sky darkened at the approach of night that the passengers noticed how much colder it had become in the restaurant. They sealed the door to the other carriage in case that made a difference. But no, the temperature continued to drop. It was fully dusk when they realised that something would have to be done about this. Someone would have to go outside.

‘I’ll go,’ Hank immediately offered.

‘And me,’ Benji added.

‘You’re not going without me,’ said Katya.

‘Well none of you know where the switches are, so I better go too,’ Gina reluctantly added.

Abe equipped the four of them with knives and they went to their cabins to put on as many clothes as they could. They agreed that this should be a covert operation, so no lights, and only talking in whispers. The other passengers would keep an eye on the forest and knock on the windows if they spotted any trouble.

Although it was cold inside the train, it was truly freezing outside. Benji had to stop himself coughing as the cold air hit the back of his throat. The snow which had built up around the carriages impeded their progress, but eventually they made it to the front. Gina climbed onto the end of the carriage and used a set of keys to open a yellow box. Inside were numerous switches — she flicked one on then re-locked the box. Something inside the carriage clicked and whirred.

‘That’s one, now let’s look at the dining car.’

Again, Gina took the lead, Katya walked beside the carriage, Benji took the rear, and Hank walked on the outside of the group. Night had rapidly arrived, the moon hidden behind mountains, but its light diffused in heavy clouds. It was therefore possible to make out the route ahead. It was also possible to notice the flash of movement in the forest.

There came an immediate knock on the window above. Someone inside had also spotted movement and those outside immediately tensed. They noted the nearest door and began heading swiftly towards it.

‘Quick! They’re coming!’ Hank said urgently, no longer feeling the need to whisper.

Gina stumbled but Katya caught her arm in time. Within seconds they stood by the carriage door. Adrenaline thumped through them as Gina fumbled for the correct key. Unable to see them clearly, she had to try each in the lock. Not that one, not that one, not that one. Another movement in the forest, and another. Whoever it was out there moved fast, and they were now beginning to move towards the group.

Amid a frantic knocking on the window above, Gina finally located the correct key and leapt up into the carriage. She was immediately followed by Katya, Benji and, finally, Hank, who had just stepped in when something jumped up at him and grabbed his leg.

‘What the fuck is that?!’ he howled.

Benji was momentarily frozen in disbelief, but quickly gathered himself. He booted the massive wolf in its face, hard enough to dislodge it from Hank’s leg. Gina leaned over and slammed the door shut before more of the animal’s pack could attack.

‘Wolves?! Jesus!’ Katya exclaimed.

‘My leg! Shit!’ Hank yelped.

‘Lemme take a look,’ Gina said, remaining calm. ‘OK, let’s get you up to the restaurant.’

The passengers who had remained inside described what they’d seen. A pack of wolves, at least seven. They must have been stalking Gina and the others as soon as they’d stepped outside.

‘Maybe that explains why this heist went wrong,’ Mr Makris noted. ‘Gang of guys waitin’ out there, gettin’ eaten by wolves.’

‘Good,’ said Rita. ‘I hope they’ll get whoever murdered Jamshid.’

‘This’ll need stitches,’ Abe said to Hank. He had made a slit in Hank’s trousers to get to the perforated skin beneath. Using a cloth, he wiped away blood and cleaned the wound as best he could. Gina had fetched a first aid kit, and Abe now wrapped a bandage around the bite, putting as much pressure as possible on it to stop the bleeding.

‘Is it getting’ warmer in here?’ Gina asked.

‘Not yet,’ Carla replied, ‘but I went to the other carriage and could feel that starting to warm up.’

‘Good. The heating runs off batteries, which are kept charged by the engine. Obviously we don’t now have an engine, and so I don’t know how long the heat will last. I’m gonna turn the temperature down low so that we don’t run out of charge anytime soon. The good news is that, up until now, we’ve only been using the restaurant car battery, so we should have at least a day of heat.’

‘Can we rely on anyone finding us within a day?’

‘Rely? No, I doubt it.’

‘By now the snow must’ve covered the marks in the snow made by the carriages as we came down this track,’ Mr Makris said.

‘So, we need a plan.’

Abe served dinner while the passengers discussed their options. Their situation was bleak; face hypothermia by waiting in the carriages, or face wolves who now had a taste for human blood.

‘Mr Makris, have you thought any more about how far we may be from the main track?’

‘I have. These carriages have emergency brakes, which is why we slid gently down this track rather than hurtled along it out of control. If, say, they slowed our progress to 10 miles per hour (which, if I remember correctly, they’re designed to do), and assuming that we disconnected straight after the last person went to bed — which I think was you, Rita, just after midnight, then we could’ve travelled 40 miles between that time and when Abe woke at 4am.’

’40 miles? Damn.’

‘Absolute worst-case scenario, remember? Plus I don’t know why anyone would construct such a long side track.’

‘Logging?’

‘Perhaps.’

’40 miles, in snow this thick, would take almost 20 hours of constant walking.’

‘So we dig a snow hole and rest halfway through,’ Hank said.

‘Pretty sure those wolves want another taste of you,’ Carla replied.

‘They’re nocturnal. We move during the day, we hunker down at night. Maybe find a tree to climb so that they can’t get us.’

‘Plus we now know they’re there. We can be better prepared — take knives, leave food to distract them, light a fire.’

‘Seriously Benji, you think this is a good idea too?’

‘No, but I also don’t see that we have much choice.’

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Hours away from the relative safety of the carriages, that choice no longer seemed such a good one. Katya had to remind herself that, if they’d simply relied on hope and waited in the train, they would be only a day away from hypothermia.

The side track was angled very gently upwards, and so didn’t provide much of a challenge for either Hank, Benji or Katya. They could also be almost certain that there would be no holes to fall into beneath the snow, because the track was sturdy enough to have allowed the three carriages to pass over it. Those carriages had knocked off the top foot of snow, but there was still enough to come up to Katya’s knees. Being shorter than Benji and Hank, she struggled the most, but she also had more stamina and so powered on through the day.

They had no idea if the wolves were tracking them, and if they would therefore make an appearance tonight. Abe had given them several long knives, a gas canister, lighters, and even a blowtorch. He’d packed plenty of food and drink, and Gina had donated spare blankets. She also sent Hank away with spare bandages plus instructions on how to dress his wound. Fortunately it didn’t seem to be getting worse or holding him back.

Katya estimated that they were making good progress. By early evening she thought that they were at least 20 miles into their journey. All they needed to do now was survive the night.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

The atmosphere in the restaurant carriage was morose. Abe tried to cheer everyone up by producing the finest food that the Empire Builder had to offer, and this seemed to work at least for the duration of lunch. But when darkness began to fall, and the offcuts of meat he’d thrown onto the ground outside remained untouched, the passengers resumed their quiet despair. The wolves had obviously gone off in search of Hank, Katya and Benji.

‘I want to go and check my boxcar,’ Rita said. ‘We still don’t know if anyone managed to successfully break in.

‘There’s still enough light out there, and it’s obvious the wolves have gone. But how do you know the murderer isn’t out there?’ Mrs Makris challenged.

‘Well…I don’t.’

‘One thing I didn’t try was the door at the back of this carriage,’ said Gina. ‘I can’t guarantee you can get into the boxcar from there, but it’ll be a shorter route.’

‘Let’s do it! Wait, I gotta go check something.’

Rita left the restaurant and returned minutes later carrying a gun. She held it awkwardly and it was clear to everyone that she’d never handled one before.

‘I really should’ve thought of this earlier,’ she said. ‘I went into Jamshid’s room and searched his things. This must be a back-up gun. If I’d done this earlier I could’ve given it to the others.’

‘Don’t worry about that, it’s good you found it. But have you ever used a gun?’

‘Oh no, I’m really not into that sort of thing.’

‘May I?’ Carla asked.

Rita gave her the gun. Carla immediately set about checking it for bullets and feeling its weight. Just as everyone had been sure about Rita’s lack of gun experience, they were certain that Carla had plenty. She looked up with a wry smile on her face.

‘To be honest, I hate guns too. But I sometimes go down the range because I found out I have an excellent aim and, well, it’s really satisfying.’

‘Please, keep it,’ Rita said when Carla tried to hand the weapon back.

‘Would you come with us to the boxcar?’ Gina asked.

‘Who, me?’ Carla replied. ‘Sure.’

‘We should go now, before it gets any darker.’

As Gina expected, one of her keys opened the door at the back of the dining car. This carriage wasn’t connected to the boxcar and so the cold immediately hit them. Gina led Rita and Carla out, then took a large step onto the small platform by the boxcar door. She began to try her keys in the lock, while Rita and Carla closely scanned the forest.

None of the keys opened the other door. This wasn’t a surprise. But Rita wanted to know if the boxcar had been breached, and so, reluctantly, all three of them stepped into the snow and began walking around the carriage, checking for any holes. They were now at the very rear and could see why the three runaway carriages had stopped. A large bank of snow had piled up against buffers, which had been exposed when the carriages had gently ploughed through.

The door here, was also locked, and again Gina was unable to open it. Returning on the other side of the boxcar they stopped by a line scorched into the metal. On closer inspection the line was in fact a hole. Someone had used a blowtorch to cut through. However, whoever was hadn’t succeeded. The cut wasn’t in any way large enough to get through, and Rita suspected that something had prevented them from completing their task.

Safely back in the restaurant, Rita felt considerably more at ease. She had survived being outside, and her precious cargo was untouched. Gina had even managed to check the external switches for the dining car and saw that the heater had been turned off. Whoever was — or had been — out there had obviously intended to freeze the passengers either into submission or death.

Abe served dinner and everyone’s thoughts returned to the intrepid three who were somewhere out there in the cold, facing a night of wolf attacks. It became clear that they needed a plan B, should the worst happen.

Only Rita and Carla seemed to be in good enough shape to attempt following Katya, Benji and Hank. Where it seemed likely that those three would become the prey of the wolves, Rita and Carla had the advantage of being armed. Plus, presumable, the wolves would be too busy tormenting the others to notice two more people slipping out into their territory.

It seemed an easy enough decision that night. The following morning it felt foolhardy. Rita had convinced herself that it was safer to stay and wait, but a thought struck her just after she woke. She dressed, then hurried outside. Finding the slit which had been cut into the boxcar, she looked more carefully through it, using the light on her phone to see into the interior.

Just as she had feared. Whoever it was that had cut through the boxcar hadn’t been chased away before they could finish their work. Having cut through the outside of the carriage, they had used their powerful acetylene torch to cut through the safe that stood several inches beyond. It must have taken hours.

‘What was in there?’ Gina asked, when Rita had returned.

‘Maps. Dad had been collecting them for years. They’re antique, rare, and could no doubt fetch an extremely high price. I was taking them to the New York Historical Society so that they could be put on display.’

‘Easy to carry, extremely valuable. Smart.’

‘I’m guessing that, because whoever it was got what they want, we aren’t in danger from them any more.’

‘Yep. Just hypothermia and wolves to worry about now.’

‘Speaking of which, each cabin should have spare blankets. We can also use the mattresses to line the walls — should keep us a little warmer for a little longer,’ Gina said.

After breakfast the passengers went cabin to cabin, taking blankets and mattresses and hauling them back to the restaurant, which was, marginally, the warmest place on the train. Gina had to unlock the cabin of the person who had been out in charge of guarding Rita’s antiques. She was half expecting to find weapons, or even a body, in the there. But he had left the space tidy, before disappearing somewhere out there in the cold.

Next to this cabin was Hanks. His, too, was locked, and so Gina was tasked with fetching his mattress and blankets. Something was blocking the door on the other side, and Gina had to shove it hard to get in. Amidst a pile of discarded clothes she saw what had caused the obstruction — an acetylene torch.

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