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worked. We walked to the end of the platform, passing beneath the footbridge. Someone had graffitied a crude image of a man with huge genitals which were pointed at a smaller female figure. Next to that was a drawing of a devil, its face contorted into a scream.
    Averting my eyes, hoping my girlfriend hadn’t seen the graffiti, I followed Alina down onto the tracks, taking care to stay away from the rails in case they were live. I held Laura’s hand and we began to walk towards the trees, onto the track that cut through the forest.

Chapter Six
    W e walked along beside the rails, the forest to our left, tracks to our right. The trees formed a wall beside us, as still as sentries. In some places the taller trees bent forward to create a threadbare canopy, their tips touching the tops of their counterparts across the tracks, as if they were reaching out, trying to fill the gap that had been ripped through them. I tried not to look at them too much, concentrating on the ground beneath my feet, the few metres ahead that were illuminated by the torch. The flat space between the forest edge and the rails was dry and crunchy, seed pods and leaves scattered around, along with the occasional sign of human life: a rusted beer can or crisp packet that had been thrown from a passing train. Alina lit another cigarette which, when finished, she paused to tread out.
    It was so quiet that I had started chatting almost as soon as we left the station behind, eager to fill the oppressive silence.
    ‘I’m starving,’ I said now. ‘I wonder what we’ll be able to get for breakfast in this town.’
    ‘We haven’t got any money,’ Laura responded. She had changed out of her shorts into a pair of jeans and had stopped shivering.
    ‘I’ve got a little in my pocket,’ I said.
    ‘I don’t suppose you’ve got a bottle of gin in there too?’
    ‘No, but I’ve got some water in my backpack. Hang on.’
    I found the half-empty bottle of mineral water and passed it to her. She took a sip and offered it to Alina, who waved a hand to say no thanks.
    I groped for something else to say.
    ‘This is a bit like that film,’ I said. ‘You know, the one with River Phoenix, when those boys go walking through the woods along the train tracks.’
    ‘ Stand by Me ,’ Laura said. ‘At the end they find a dead body.’
    ‘This is nothing at all like that film with River Phoenix,’ I said.
    She laughed. As we went further along the path she seemed to relax a little, especially when the clouds above shifted to reveal a bright moon. It helped illuminate the path, so I was able to switch off the torch. I squeezed Laura’s hand and she squeezed back.
    ‘I bet Ion was shocked when he saw that you’d been kicked off the train,’ I said to Alina.
    ‘He was probably pleased.’
    ‘Why do you say that?’
    She looked at us sideways. ‘We had an argument. That’s why he went to the dining car. To get away.’
    ‘Have you been together long?’ Laura asked.
    ‘Hmm.’
    Laura and I exchanged a glance, but Alina didn’t say any more.
    ‘Have you ever been to England?’ I asked, trying to keep the conversation going. Every time it fell silent I could hear noises from the forest: rustling, swishing, unseen things stirring in the darkness.
    ‘No.’
    ‘You should,’ I said. ‘I’m sure you’d like London, if you’re an artist. My best friend is a musician, a singer. He reckons London is the most creative city in Europe.’ I wondered what Jake would say when I told him about this escapade. It comforted me to think I could turn this experience into an amusing anecdote, even though I knew that Jake would tell everyone we knew about it.
    ‘I think next year Romanians will be free to come and work in the UK,’ I kept on. ‘The right-wingers have been banging on about it like we’re going to be invaded.’
    Alina made a non-committal noise, then said, ‘So what do you think of Romania so far?’
    Laura and I laughed.