ملاقات‌کننده شبانه

CHAPTER TEN

A Visitor in the Night

The train travelled on through the bright afternoon. They left Pennsylvania behind, and Maryland. They stopped at Washington, then went on into Virginia. Bond woke up at seven o’clock. They had dinner, and at nine o’clock Baldwin came to take the dishes away.

‘What time do we get into Jacksonville,’ Bond asked him.

‘About five o’clock in the morning, Sir,’ said Baldwin.

‘Is there a subway at the station,’ asked Bond.

‘Yes, Sir, this carriage stops next to it,’ replied Baldwin.

‘Can you have the door open and the steps down quickly,’ said Bond.

Baldwin smiled. ‘Yes, Sir, I can do that,’ he said.

Bond gave him ten dollars.

After the attendant had left, Bond put the pieces of wood back under the doors. He told Solitaire of the warning Baldwin had given him earlier.

‘I’m not surprised,’ she said. ‘They probably saw you coming into the station. Mr Big’s got a team of spies everywhere. There will be one of them on the train. An attendant or a waiter, or someone else in the dining car. He can make these people do anything he wants them to do.’

‘Is it true that he’s a member of SMERSH, the Russian spy organization,’ asked Bond.

‘I don’t know what SMERSH is,’ said Solitaire, ‘but I know he works for Russia. I’ve heard him talking to Russian visitors. And if Moscow is using him, they are using one of the most powerful men in America. He can find out anything. And if he doesn’t get what he wants, somebody is usually killed.’

‘So I’ve heard,’ said Bond. He looked at his watch. It was ten o’clock. ‘We need to get as much sleep as we can,’ he said. ‘We’ll get off the train at Jacksonville and find another way down to the coast. Maybe his spies won’t see us.’

Suddenly, Solitaire put her arms around his neck and kissed him. ‘I always hoped that I would meet someone like you,’ she said quietly.

Bond smiled at her. ‘I think we need to get some sleep. We’ll have to wake up at four o’clock,’ he said. Then he quietly pulled the piece of wood away from under the door that opened into the next compartment. He turned the lock. He took the Beretta out of its holster, then looked at Solitaire and nodded his head towards the door. She understood and opened it quickly. The next compartment was empty.

‘Call me when you’re ready for bed,’ he said, and he went in and closed the door behind him.

The door to the corridor was locked. The compartment was the same as theirs, but Bond checked it carefully. If anyone came in, it would be through the doors. He would just have to stay awake.

Solitaire called for him. When he went back into their compartment, she was already lying down in the top bed.

‘Try and get some sleep,’ said Bond. He checked the pieces of wood under the doors, then took off his tie and lay down on the bottom bed. He lay thinking about Solitaire and listening to the sound of the train. Soon it was eleven o’clock, and they were travelling between Columbia and Savannah, Georgia. It would be another six hours before they were in Jacksonville. Mr Big had probably told his man on the train to try to kill Bond during the night, while everyone was asleep and the corridors were empty.

Bond read for a while, then turned off his light and thought about Solitaire and the future. He was half asleep when he heard someone trying to unlock the door of their compartment. It was one o’clock. Moving silently, he went to the inside door and pulled the piece of wood from under it. He opened the door and went into the next compartment. There was a loud ‘click,’ as he unlocked the door to the corridor. He quickly pulled it open and jumped into the corridor.

Bond saw a man running fast towards the end of the carriage, but he could not get his gun out quickly enough to shoot. Because of his painful hand, he had had to push his Beretta into his belt to open the compartment door.

The man had gone and Bond did not chase him. There were too many empty compartments for the man to hide in. He went back into the room, carefully closing and locking the doors. He lay down again and waited for the night to end.