Under his breath, Toby swore, but even as he registered the distant slam of a carriage door, presumably behind Heinrik and Eva, his gaze alighted on two black-coated figures striding up to where the stationmaster was resecuring the passenger gate.
The harried stationmaster tried to deny them, but Jager didn’t pause. He pushed past the man, swung open the gate, and with long strides, crossed the platform to the train. Koch trotted after Jager.
Horrified, Toby strained his ears and, sure enough, heard another carriage door shut. In virtually the same instant, the train jerked into motion, swaying as it rapidly gathered speed.
Toby swore even more virulently.
Grim-faced, he continued to their compartment, opened the door, and stepped inside, then shut the door and dropped onto the seat.
For a long moment, he stared at nothing as increasingly scarifying scenarios scrolled through his mind.
Luckily, the children had started another game, and Helga was knitting; none of them noticed the change in his demeanor.
Diana did. After confirming that the children were absorbed, she looked at Toby and, in a very quiet voice, asked, “Who has turned up?”
That was the only reason he would look so worried.
He met her gaze, hesitated, then murmured back, “All four. Heinrik and Eva, and Jager and Koch.” His eyes narrowed, and he added, “I’m not sure that Heinrik and Eva know the Prussians are on board.”
After a moment of frowning at nothing, he shook his head. “I don’t know what’s going on, but neither group could have been following us. No one in Torino could have known we’re on this train.” He paused, then continued, “The only explanation is that Heinrik and Eva are still casting about, trying to pick up our trail, and the Prussians are still following Heinrik and Eva.”
Diana grimaced. “So it’s pure bad luck they’ve crossed our path again.”
“Regardless, they’re here on the train.” Toby looked along the corridor toward the middle of the train. “We’ll have maybe half an hour before Heinrik and Eva decide they should check on the other passengers, just in case.”
“You said it’s a nonstop run to Cuneo,” Diana said. “So there’s no chance of us getting off the train, even if we could slip out without anyone noticing, as we did at Bergamo.”
“Getting off before Cuneo isn’t an option.”
She glanced at the children and discovered that, at some point, they’d become aware of the change in the atmosphere. Of the scent of impending danger. Eyes wide, they were staring at her and Toby as if waiting for them to come up with a plan to save them all.
The absolute trust and unwavering confidence in their expressions was touching, humbling, and also scarifying.
Toby had followed her gaze and was noting that, too.
“Well.” She slapped her hands on her knees and sat straighter. “We can’t simply sit here, waiting to be discovered.” When Toby glanced at her, puzzled but also hopeful, she asked, “Just how deeply antagonistic toward goats are you?”
He blinked at her, then frowned. “What about the goats?”
She explained her idea, and predictably, the children eagerly seconded the notion. And while Toby was much less enthusiastic, as he had no alternative plan to offer, they collected their luggage and, with Helga carrying an interested Bruno firmly under one arm, walked down the corridor, opened the connecting door, and filed into the livestock carriage.
Diana ushered the boys and Helga ahead of her, then, holding Evelyn’s hand, followed.
Toby, bringing up the rear, closed the connecting door behind their little band and, beneath his breath, muttered, “I suppose it’s better than waiting like birds in a cage to be found.”
If Diana heard, she gave no sign, apparently absorbed in greeting and charming the farmers and their wives. In that, she was greatly assisted by the children, all of whom now had sufficient command of Italian to engage at a superficial level.
Resigned to his fate, Toby stepped in to give a more detailed explanation for their unexpected appearance among the livestock. His concocted tale of them having boarded the train at the last minute and finding their compartment already taken by another family wouldn’t stand up to investigation, but it gained them ready sympathy, and they were welcomed without reservation.
He was grateful that, between the boys and Helga, they managed to dissuade Bruno from investigating the livestock, which gained them extra approval from the farmers.
The children’s transparent interest in the animals only further bolstered their standing, and between Diana and several helpful farmwives, space was found for them on the wooden benches in a far corner of the carriage.
As they settled on the benches and found places to stow their bags and cases, Toby noted that, once they sat, they wouldn’t be visible from the other end of the carriage. Even if someone opened the connecting door and came in—and he judged the likelihood of that as low; although not overpowering, the smell rising from the animals was pervasive—he and his little company were screened by the other occupants and also by the partitions that separated the various groups of animals.
All in all, Diana’s idea had gained them a reasonable temporary refuge.
When she glanced at him, her brows rising as if to ask if he was satisfied, he tipped his head her way. “This will do.”
