“Your ideas are exclusively my only problems right now.”
“This one will be good, I promise.”
“I’m not jumping out of a damn window.”
There’s another knock on the door. “If you don’t come out voluntarily I am authorised to manually unlock the door from the outside.”
I don’t have to say anything more to James, the look on my face speaks volumes. He cringes through a smile. Oh, this all very, very funny to him. I, on the other hand, fully expect to experience trauma after this trip. I will be having nightmares about running away on trains and hiding in icky toilets for weeks.
Another knock. The very polite train conductor is getting impatient. “I’m giving you ten seconds.”
James laughs, stepping closer to me. He plants one hand on my waist, pushing me into the wall, my bag acting as a buffer. He shifts his legs so that one of his is in between mine. It’s all a stark reminder of our kiss in the castle. Heat fires up in my chest and abdomen as if someone has lit a match and thrown it on the coals. It’s a welcome distraction to the situation. And something more, it’s really not like me. This isn’t Fliss. Flisswould never! And yet, I’m doing it, and it’s fun and it’s naughty and…
Oh, shit. The door clicks open. Almost simultaneously, James takes my water bottle from the side compartment, turns and tips it into the loo, hunching over to make a horrible gurning sound.
I stare at the back of him in disgust. What on earth am I witnessing?
But then my brain clicks and I jump into action, remembering the situation we’re currently in. I rub James’ back, pretending to nurse him. I briefly give the train conductor an annoyed face to show him he’s interrupting a vulnerable, private moment.
“Oh, very sorry,” he says. “Sorry. I didn’t know your… he… was being sick.” The door slides shut again, locking with a click.
James stands back up with a grin.
“That was exceptionally disgusting,” I say, unable to rid the grimace from my face.
James tries to smother a laugh with his hand. It instantly riles me. And yet, I too can’t fight the humour of the situation. “It’s not funny, you idiot.”
“I’m sorry,” he says, resting his forehead on mine. I swallow when I realise how easy this has become between us in only a matter of days. It feels sort of wonderful which is terrifying. I shouldn’t be feeling this about him. Luckily, a few moments later he steps away to open the top part of the window, and glances out. “Station ahead. We’ll get off here.”
“But we’re not in Inverness.”
He gives me a look. “They’re not going to let us chill out in here for another hour and a bit. As much as I’m enjoying this—” I snort at his sarcastic tone “—once it stops, we’ll charge out the doors, ok?”
“But where are we!?”
“I have no idea.”
“Oh, bloody hell.” I sigh.
“We’re a good team, Felicity. Don’t you worry.”
“There better be food,” I say, huffy, as he grabs my hand again towing me towards the door, readying ourselves for escape.
When the train slows to a stop, James tentatively opens the door to find the coast clear. We’ve clearly frightened Mr Train Conductor off with James’ convincing rendition of a sickness bug. We dart out onto the platform, and I’m tempted to leg it, but James slows me down, linking my arm with his and whispers, “Walk quick but casual. Less suspicious.”
“Are you a part-time criminal?” I ask.
“I’m in sales, Felicity. Criminality, sales, it’s a role cut from the same cloth.”
All I can do is laugh as we exit the station and step into the next unknown. Hell, maybe I’m even enjoying it now!
Chapter Nineteen
This town has more substance, I’ll give it that. The streets appear friendly enough, with their rustic light-grey stone buildings. There’s even a high street with shop fronts offering fish ’n’ chips, kebabs, Chinese and tea rooms. My mouth waters from the combined smell of frying fat.
It takes us a few moments to realise people are giving us funny looks. Probably due to the fact that my hair resembles something close to a bird’s nest. Oh, and I have torn-up shirt strips bandaged around my shin. We may look particularly grubby too… At least we shouldn’t smell, thanks to the deodorant we were supplied with.
But surely hikers walk through here all the time on their way to and from the wilderness? We can’t stand out that much. We stop as we come to a T-junction. A bed and breakfast across the road offers value-for-money stays. It’s an incredibly old building that leans to the right. It could very possibly be about to topple over. We tilt our heads to read the sign as it’s come loose on all but one nail and hangs vertically.
