Starting Over Stuck in the Tunnel



Christian opened his eyes and groaned slightly. He shifted slightly and looked around. He was lying on the floor of the dining car. Where was Satine? She had been next to him a few moments ago. Frantically, he sat up. She was lying in the doorway to the next carriage, not moving, her eyes closed and blood trickling down her face from her forehead. Unsteadily, Christian rose and made his way over to her. On the way he passed his brothers, sister and best friend. He would deal with them later but at the moment, Satine was his only concern.

'S-Satine?' He said, his voice catching in his throat. He didn't know what he would do if..... Her eyes opened and she looked at him.

'Christian!' She said weakly. A smile spread on her face. 'You were lying there before and I wanted to come to you but I....'

'Ssssh.' He said. 'I'm just glad you're ok.' He sat down next to her and held her.

'Is this your wife, sir?' A voice asked. They looked up. 'I'm Dr Nichols.'

'Yes it is. I'm Christian and this is Satine.'

'Hello, Satine. Why don't I sort you out. Christian, could you go and check on everyone else?' Christian nodded and went off quickly. The sooner he went around, the sooner he could get back to Satine.

***

Forty minutes later everyone had been seen to by the doctor. They were still in the dining car because they didn't know how safe any other part of the train was. Apart from the 6 of them there was the doctor, his wife - Elise, two young American men - Alfie and Felix, and a brother and sister - Herman and Heidi - from the French Alps who spoke no English. Satine had to translate for them. The doctor stood up.

'I've been to check on the guard and driver and I'm afraid to say they are both dead. The cook, I think, was thrown from the train.'

'So we're just by ourselves?' Alfie asked.

'I'm afraid so. I have no idea where we are exactly.'

'Isn't there a map somewhere?' James asked.

'I think I saw one in the guard's van. I'll go and get it!' Felix hurried off and returned with a map. He spread it on an empty table and everyone crowded around. They stared for a few moments.

'And where are we?' Phyl asked.

'We are...'

'You don't know do you?'

'No.'

'I know exactly where we are. We are here.'

'That's South you, muppet! We're going North.'

'Oh, yea!'

Satine held up her hands for silence.

'We left Paris at 11.46 and it is now 1.46. For the past forty minutes the doctor has been treating people and I reckon we were out of it for about ten minutes. That means that the crash occurred at 12.56. I'd say the train was travelling about about 75 kilometres an hour which means we have travelled about 87, 88 kilometres.' She closely studied the map. 'Now, Paris is here. So we must be...' She moved her finger up the map. '....here. How long were we in the tunnel for?'

'Thirty seconds, if that.' James said.

'Then that puts us exactly.....here.' Satine said, marking on the map. Everyone peered closely.

'You know, she could be right.' Felix said. Hector said something in French and Heidi nodded along in agreement.

'What did he say?' The doctor asked, glancing at Satine.

'He said that their father helped to build this tunnel. They came up here one day and their father took them for a walk over the hill that the tunnel runs through. As they walked along Hector says he noticed some holes in the ground at regular intervals but then they suddenly stopped. That's as far as I've got.'

'Asked him what happened next.' Phyl asked excitedly. Satine obeyed and they had a small conversation.

'He asked his father what they were and his father said they were vents to allow the steam out but they hadn't been installed in the part of the tunnel we have been through because the ground was too hard. He says the snow probably came in through the vents, causing a snowdrift probably that stretches all the way up the rest of the tunnel.'

'That's probably why the train came off the track.' Alfie said. Everyone nodded in agreement. The sound of a glass smashing made everyone turn around.

Phyl was gaping at something on the wall. Everyone looked.

'Come and travel on the Paris - Calais Express! The only train to travel at 100 km/h. Leaves every other hour from each station.'

'That means....' Christian looked at his watch.

'Twenty minutes.' Satine said solemnly.

***

Everything was in place. After quickly deciding a plan of action they hurried off. The men hurried off to find any source of light and the women to find red cloth. The plan was to put the lights down the tunnel, aiming at the pieces of red cloth that would be attached together. Red meant danger and hopefully the driver would see it and apply the breaks before there were any more accidents. Fifteen minutes later everything was ready. The lights surrounded the end of the train, which was still on the track and the red cloth was being held up. A rumbling began. It started quietly but then got louder and louder. Soon it seemed as if the whole tunnel was shaking, the train was rattling around behind them.

'Here it comes!' Peter shouted as they saw the light appear. The train bore down on them, not appearing to be slowing.

'It's not going to work! It's not going to work!' Elise screamed hysterically. Satine glanced sideways. There was still an extra piece of cloth. Dropping her piece, she picked it up and began running up the track towards the express, waving the piece of cloth and screaming.

'SATINE!' Christian screamed at her but she couldn't hear him.

'What the...' The engineer couldn't believe his eyes in front of him was a lady running towards the train. He looked beyond, in the distance he could see the back end of a train and some people holding a red cloth, screaming frantically.

'Brake!'

'What?'

'BRAKE!' He shouted, pulling the lever. The wheels locked and there was a screeching noise.

Satine stopped running but continued to wave her cloth. The train was looming closer and closer. She closed her eyes and looked away.

***

Opening one eye cautiously, she found herself staring at a huge dark green engine, only inches from her face. The train had managed to screech to a halt just a few seconds before hitting Satine. Christian had watched in horror, the colour draining from his face.

'She did it! She did it!' Phyl shouted excitedly, jumping up and down. Christian looked and saw Satine standing there, perfectly unharmed. The driver and engineer jumped down and went up to Satine.

'What do you think you're doing?! You could have been killed!' The driver shouted at her.

'Yea, sorry about that. It's just our train came off the tracks and I didn't want you to run into the back of us.' She smiled sweetly at them and they seemed to soften.

'Well, er, you did the right thing.' The engineer shifted uncomfortably as Satine eyed him up.

'Will you be able to help us out?' Phyl came up to them and stood next to Satine.

'Um...yes, yes.' The driver and engineer ogled at these two beautiful women in front of them. Satine glanced at Phyl who rolled her eyes. They were both used to it and both used these kind of situations to their advantage. The only person who did not like them doing this was Christian. He couldn't stand the thought of men thinking about his wife and sister like that. Noticing what was going on, he walked up to them and wrapped his arms around Satine.

'Darling, are you alright?' He asked, kissing her lips momentarily.

'Mmm. These kind gentleman are going to help us get out of here.' She smiled at them again and they blushed furiously.

'Ah, shucks, it's nothing.' The driver told them. By now the few passengers that had been on the express train had jumped down to find out what was going on.

'Look, are we going or not?' One man shouted.

'I'm afraid our train has derailed so we have to go on your one.' Satine walked seductively up to him. 'Our luggage is still on it and my husband would get it off but he's still feeling a bit frail. Would you mind?'

The man stared at her. 'N-No, no. Not at all.' He turned back. 'Come on!' He shouted to some other men and they eagerly ran to the train. Christian looked at her, unimpressed.

'See, Christian. Flirting has it's advantages.' She smiled sweetly at him and, like the other men, he blushed furiously.