Training Days Read Online Free PDF Page A

loaded and unloaded from the baggage compartment.
    Her attention was temporarily caught by a man and woman who passed immediately in front of her. The woman looked like she meant business, striding with a purpose and a “don’t mess with me” expression. In contrast, her companion, a lean and lanky man, walked with a much less sure gait and chewed on the nail of his little finger. The pair stopped at the baggage carriage and the woman summoned one of the baggage handlers. The lanky man hung back, still chewing on his nails, while the woman stood with hands on her hips, shaking her head, obviously disliking the baggage handler’s response. Next, a suited man came rushing over from the station, and even from her distance Ally could see he concurred with whatever the woman had to say. Within a few minutes the now very displeased baggage handler had retrieved a black case from the baggage compartment and presented it to the nail-biting male. He looked wildly relieved as he and the woman passed by Ally again.
    With no one left on the platform except a gaggle of smokers furiously puffing and exclaiming how good it was to be back in the fresh air, Ally decided it was time to make her move. She ascended the two steep stairs into carriage number eleven and headed down the corridor, counting compartments as she went.
    The door of her compartment—number five—was closed. Ally hesitated. Was the other occupant there? If she was, was she asleep? Given the hour that was a distinct possibility. Should she knock or should she try to open the door? Come to think of it, what if the door was locked? She had no key. Was she supposed to get one from the guard?
    What to do?
    Muffled sounds from behind the compartment door broke the silence of Ally’s consideration. Listening a moment, she figured the sounds for what they were and stifled a giggle. It seemed a couple had taken the supposed romance of train travel to its extreme and the woman, at least, was thoroughly enjoying herself. Obviously this was not her compartment. Or rather, it was not her carriage, since the compartment number was definitely correct. She walked back down the corridor and carefully tackled the steep steps that took her back to the platform.
    She checked the carriage number against that written on her ticket three times. It matched. She could only suppose that one half of the couple—maybe he was a miner?—was disembarking at Kalgoorlie and so they were making the most of their last moments together. Well, that’s just great, isn’t it? Ally thought. What the hell am I supposed to do while Romeo and Juliet do their thing?
    Five minutes later, Ally was still standing on the platform, slowly beginning to seethe. Even if they were parting lovers, they’d had nearly ten hours since leaving Perth to say their good-byes. Did they really have to continue while the train had stopped and, more importantly, while Ally was waiting to get some sleep.
    It suddenly occurred to her that maybe she had been issued the wrong ticket number. She looked around for a guard or some other staff member she could ask, but the platform was empty. Just as she had made up her mind to do a carriage-by-carriage search for staff she saw a tall, well-attired man descend the steps of “her” carriage. He whistled softly as he straightened his tie and confidently shot his cuffs. In fact, if you swapped his head for that of James’s and trimmed down the belly a bit, Ally would swear it was her partner on the mornings after they had made love.
    Maybe Romeo was exiting the castle?
    Ally watched him leave. She walked the entire length of the platform and back—to give the woman she would be sharing with time to do whatever she now needed to do. Then, her irritation gone and again expectant at the prospect of her journey, Ally reascended the steep steps and headed back to compartment five. She raised her hand to knock but stopped short of her knuckles making contact. She swore under her breath as