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As if to steady her, he put his hands up and grasped her shoulders.
“Thank you, I’m fine. Just…the darkness.”
His hands tightened a little. He was middle-aged, overweight. His face was too close to hers. She tried to pull away, but it was impossible. With a wave of fear, she realized his intention. Her eyes were becoming used to the dim light now and she could see the smirk on his face, on his lips.
“You’re very pretty, fräulein. You must be used to this. You want it? Yes? That is why you wear such a dress. It is an invitation. I accept!” He pulled her closer.
What could she say? She did not dare earn his enmity, and yet the thought was revolting! There were empty compartments. He would know which ones they were. At least in the corridor there was the possibility of someone else coming along to use the toilets. She must stay outside, at all costs.
“The second compartment,” he said.
Her mind raced. “Don’t be so predictable,” she said. This was absurd. She was repulsed by the idea, and yet she managed to make her voice seductive. “A little danger…adds spice.”
“A little danger, hey? And do you like to be hurt, just a little, perhaps?” He gripped her arms so tightly it hurt.
She refused to cry out. It might be just what he wanted. “Only if it goes both ways,” she said, looking straight at him. Was there enough fabric in her skirt to allow her to lift her knee and catch him where he was most vulnerable? Maybe not. She would have to lift the dress, so as not to tear the silk and expose herself, or worse, find she could not complete the action.
“Both ways?” he repeated, as if the idea puzzled and intrigued him.
“Yes.” She put her hands to her sides, lifted the skirt, then swung her right knee forward as hard as she could.
He doubled forward, almost knocking her off her feet. She lost her balance and fell against the wall of the compartment, but she was free. She must escape before he could get hold of her again. There was no one to turn to, and she could scream her heart out in the roar and clatter of the train, but no one would hear. It would be just one more sound in the whine of the wind and metal on metal.
At first, she stumbled, losing her balance as the train lurched, but she regained it quickly and ran in the opposite direction, away from where the guard was blocking her way to her own compartment, not caring if she bruised herself against either wall. She reached the end of the carriage and fumbled with the doorway to the next one. She could hear the guard cursing behind her. She dreaded the touch of his hand on her shoulder any second.
Nothing moved! She was pulling the handle the wrong way. She pushed it the other way and heaved the door open. It was the guard’s van! Full of luggage, but it was the last one on the train. There were no passenger carriages beyond this. No one she could ask for help. No one to even see what happened to her! He could say she jumped, and no one would contradict him.
It could not all end like this! She must hide if she could. There were piles of luggage in here. He could not spend all the rest of the journey looking for her. He must have some kind of duties. And if he found her, she would have to fight! He was coarse, brutish, but he wouldn’t kill her…would he?
She searched for the easiest place to hide and still have a way of escape. She looked at the piles of luggage and boxes. There were several piled high. Behind one of those. Not the nearest. But be quick. There was no lock on the door. Why would there be? It would be on the outside, if there was one at all.
She heard the handle turn and a strip of light appeared on the ceiling as the door opened. He was less than three yards away from her. She could hear him breathing heavily, like an animal panting.
He moved one of the boxes, then another. “I’ll find you,” he said quietly. ?
?This is the last car. There’s nothing beyond here but the night…and the empty track! You’ve nowhere to go, proud lady in the red dress. Think yourself so good? Take that red dress off, and you’re just like anybody else.”
And without his uniform, he’d be just like any ordinary fat man! But he would not trick her into saying so.
He was closer now, maybe two yards away, and still moving luggage. He was wheezing and grunting from the effort. Once he got hold of her, she would be lost. And in the guard’s van, he could do anything he wanted. She looked around for something small enough to use as a weapon. But people kept their small pieces of luggage with them. Only boxes and valises too big to put in the overhead rack were loaded here.
Where was the tallest pile? Could she knock it over to land on him? She dared not move much, though a sound would hardly matter. She could drop a lead weight and no one would hear it above the roar of the train.
She saw the right pile. He would sense her movement, but she could stand on the first box, if she was quick, and push the top one over onto him. That might give her enough time to run for the door. She had nothing to lose; he would find her in moments. She climbed onto the nearest box.
He saw the movement. “Ah! Got you!” He lunged forward.
She waited until he was close enough, then pushed the top box over onto him. It crashed down, catching him on one side and sending him sprawling.
She did not wait to see how badly he was hurt. She bolted for the door and was almost through it when she heard his scream of outrage. At least he was not dead. She certainly did not want to kill him! But she did not want him merely enraged, either. No time to look. She got through the door and slammed it shut, and ran as fast as she dared up the corridor, thrown from side to side by the train careening through the night.
She was almost at the door at the far end, when she felt his hand like a claw on her shoulder. It spun her around, slamming her back against the wall, knocking the breath out of her. His face was less than a foot from hers. She could smell his breath, and the sweat on his body. This time, he pressed his belly on hers, and his legs made it impossible for her to kick him. Could she butt him with her head? Bite? She stared into his eyes with all the hatred she felt, for everything vile and tragic that had happened since she left Naples. Even before that…since the body of the man had tumbled out of the hotel linen cupboard.
He hesitated, as if startled by the passion in her.
Next to him, the connecting door to the adjoining carriage burst open, knocking him hard, but only his arm. He swung around, his face surprised and angry.
For two seconds, no one moved. Walter stood frozen, horrified.
