Page 58 of A Family Of His Own
Luckily, no one else in their carriage was leaving the train at Bergamo, and no newcomers arrived, either. The bored guard didn’t glance their way; he wouldn’t have expected anyone to leave the train via the rear door, and they were as quiet as the proverbial mice.
Toby had unlocked the rear door prior to the train reaching Bergamo, and after the train had halted, the instant the platform door had been opened by the conductor and the man had gone farther along the train, Toby silently opened the rear door and latched it so that it lay flush with the external wall of the carriage. In that position, from the platform, it wasn’t readily noticeable that the door was open.
He returned to the carriage, and he and Diana supervised the execution of their plan.
Carrying as many bags as they could manage, Diana and Helga went first and quickly went down the steps to the track.
Toby came next, carrying Evelyn, who was clutching Rupert the Bear.
Both boys, carrying their cases, followed, Roland clutching the lead of an intrigued Bruno.
On reaching the rear door, Toby crouched and handed Evelyn into Diana’s arms, then he stood and swung Roland then Bryce down as well. Helga urged both boys to the side of the tracks so that they stood with their backs to the side of the platform, where their lack of height kept them out of sight of anyone above. Then Helga returned to fetch Bruno.
With Bergamo being a small country station, as Toby had hoped, there was no one on the opposite platform to see them and call attention to their escape.
Quickly, he returned to the compartment and gathered the remaining luggage, then swiftly checked both compartments to make sure they’d left nothing behind. His nerves were stretched taut by the knowledge that the Prussians might arrive at any moment, having taken it into their heads to use the brief halt to come searching down the train.
Finally convinced that they’d collected everything, he hefted his and Evelyn’s bags and carefully cracked open the door to the corridor.
The guard was standing right in front of the open side door; there was no way Toby could walk past and not be noticed. Jaw clenching, he forced himself to wait. And wait. Then someone farther up the train hailed the guard.
The instant the man walked off, Toby left the compartment, walked quickly along the corridor, handed the bags to a relieved-looking Diana, then swung down to the track. He reached up and unlatched the rear door and carefully—silently—shut it.
Then he crouched and scuttled to where Diana, Helga, and the children waited in the lee of the platform, their luggage piled about their feet.
Less than a minute later, the train’s whistle sounded its usual long warning blast. They heard doors slamming shut and held their breaths.
Moments later, with a distant hiss of steam, the train jerked into motion, then with increasing speed, drew out of the station, leaving them behind.
Toby looked at the children and put his finger to his lips.
They all remained as they were until the train vanished from sight.
Then he stood, and the others followed suit. As he’d hoped, the station staff had gone back into the station building.
He hauled himself up to the platform, then reached down and pulled the boys up. Diana lifted Evelyn, and Toby grinned at the little girl as he claimed her and set her on her feet beside her brothers.
All three children were thoroughly thrilled with the unexpected adventure.
Toby grasped a wriggling Bruno and passed him to Roland, then received the luggage Diana and Helga handed up, before taking Helga’s hands and hauling the middle-aged maid up to the platform.
Last to come up was Diana. Toby gripped her hands and instructed her as he had Helga as to where to put her feet, then he held her balanced as she climbed up, soles to the lower side of the platform.
At the very last, she tripped over her hem and, with a stifled exclamation, fell forward.
He swooped, caught her, and juggled her upright, and they both staggered as she landed against him, body to body, locked in his arms.
For the first time in his life, Toby understood what his peers referred to when they said “sparks flew.”
He stared into Diana’s wide eyes and sensed she was as shocked—as affected and adrift—as he, effortlessly transported to the previous night and the revelations of that exploratory kiss.
For a definable instant, time stood still.
It took him a long moment to catch his breath.
It took her even longer.
When he finally managed to force himself to set her fully on her feet and step back—to break the contact and lose that delicious sensation—she struggled to draw breath enough to whisper, “Sorry.”
