Situation No Win

Chapter Three

Chapter Three: Trust

Melissa stood in the doorway of her compartment. Other passengers stuck their heads out amid growing murmurs whilst a security guard stood alert on her left.

It wasn’t long before Tom reappeared, walking unhurriedly down the corridor, ignoring the inquiring glances of the other passengers. He seemed tired and distracted with a worry lines across his forehead. Behind him, the attendant urged everyone back to bed: the English equivalent of ‘Nothing to see here.’

Melissa stepped back and sat on her bunk, allowing Tom in. He sank down onto his bed.

Her eyes were wide and her voice a little strained. “What happened? Did you catch him?”

Shaking his head and rubbing his eye, Tom said, “We lost him.” He looked up. “Did anyone come in?”

“Sorry?”

“Did anyone else come into this compartment?”

“No.”

“You sure?”

Melissa didn’t bother to hide her disbelief. Why the absurd question? She looked pointedly around the small space. “I think I’d have noticed if anybody else had stepped in, especially as they’d have to had squeezed past me at the door.”

His grin was bashful. “Aye, sorry. Wasn’t thinking. It’s only that I’m worried about my stuff, you know. Laptops are a bit hard to replace, especially with so much work on it.”

Her look softened. “Yes, I know. I had to bring mine from home.”

He stretched leisurely, relaxing, then yawned widely. “What time is it?”

She checked her phone, and was surprised. “Just gone 1a.m.” Had it only been about five hours since she’d boarded the train in Yulin?

Tom sprawled out on his bunk, crossing his socked ankles; his arms behind his head. “I’m not sleepy. Adrenalin, I guess.”

Melissa propped herself against a pillow and lay down. “Me too. Not that I was sleeping much before. Too excited to be heading back home.”

He smiled. “Miss home much?”

“Not really. Miss my family more. And the dogs.”

He laughed. “Yeah, and good pizza! How long you’ve been away?”

“Nine months. And you?”

He thought a bit. “Three years.”

“Really? You’ve been in Shenmu all this time?”

Suspicions rising, Tom shook his head. “No, about eighteen months. I’ve been based in Xi’an. the past three years.”

Melissa shifted into a more comfortable position. “So, what exactly is it that you research and write about?”

Tom shot her another wary look but answered. “I research scientific and historic items. New discoveries and technologies, and write for scientific and other specialist journals. Sometimes I syndicate in the mainstream.”

“That’s interesting. So, are you writing a book on ancient Chinese technology?”

“Aye. And some of their new ones.”

Melissa gave Tom a speculative look. His reaction to the intruder had been fast and effective, not what she’d expect from an academic. “Is it a dangerous type of job?”

His expression was closed. “Not really.”

“Only the way you reacted to that man with the knife...”

Tom’s eyes were dark, shadowed. “Used to be a polisman. Lothian and Borders.”

“Oh.”

In the growing silence, each of them kept their thoughts to themselves.

“What about you, Melissa? Which school are you in?”

She brightened, mentioning a reputable school. “I teach mostly kids. It’s great fun, most of the time.”

Amused, Tom asked, “This your first job as a teacher?”

“Yes. Is it so obvious?”

He smiled. “Most experienced teachers are a lot more jaded. You still sound enthusiastic.”

It was her turn to smile. “Well, it’s fun. At least, I think so.”

He nodded. “It suits you. Looks like you chose well.”

“Thank you,” she said in surprise, not used to having her decisions vetted by strangers. Melissa’s smile was secret, in amusement at herself and her pleasure at Tom seeming to finally approve of her.

He caught her smile and raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing,” she said quickly, knowing she’d die of mortification if he ever guessed.

Lights flicked by outside as they approached another town, the train slowing for another stop.

“Do you—?” began Tom as a knock on the door sounded. With reluctance, he opened the door. The attendant said something to him in rapid Chinese. Melissa frowned trying to follow the conversation with her rudimentary knowledge.

“Yes.” he answered. Turning to Melissa he urged, “Look after my stuff, okay? Don’t let anyone else in. Have to go speak to the police.”

“Okay.”

He closed the door behind him, leaving Melissa to wonder what he hadn’t told her. And why?

* * *

The policeman stood braced against the corridor wall, flipping through Tom’s passport as the train swayed into motion. He shut it with a snap. “What happened?”

Tom tried to keep his statements precise, glad of his fluent Chinese. “A man with a knife entered our compartment. The lady screamed, awakening me. I tried to fight him off. He ran away. I gave chase, hoping to apprehend him and notify the authorities. We ran through the next car. Then he opened the door and jumped.”

“Did you know this man?” The policeman’s face and tone didn’t alter.

“No, I don’t think so. I didn’t get a good look at his face.” No way was Tom going to admit to recognizing Jimmy, not till he got to Xi’an. and was around people he could trust.

The policeman wasn’t finished. “Did you threaten him in anyway? Did you push him?”

Tom stared in disbelief. “No. I didn’t. I wasn’t anywhere near him when he jumped. Ask the attendant and the security guard.”

“I’m sorry but I had to ask.”

Tom nodded, understanding. He’d been around enough police officers back home to know the drill.

The policeman continued, “Why do you think he jumped? Why didn’t you stop him?”

“I didn’t think he’d jump. It seemed suicidal.”

“It was. We found his body near the tracks.”

Tom lowered his eyes. “I wish I hadn’t chased him.”

The policeman nodded.

“Is that all, officer?”

The policeman shook his head. “Mr MacKenzie, you still haven’t told me why you think he jumped.”

Tom shrugged, his hands in his pockets. “I honestly couldn’t say.”

The policeman sighed. “We’ll need your details and your address at your destination.”

“Sure.”

Tom walked back to his compartment deep in thought. Things were getting far too complicated and dangerous way too fast, especially since he hadn’t been able to find any trace of Liu other than those bloodstains back at camp. If his best friend was dead, and he prayed it wasn’t so, they’d hidden the evidence well. None of this was what he’d signed up for when he’d accepted the job at the dig. He hated that his forebodings about the ancient device’s impact on their lives was coming true. He’d have to be extremely careful, and trust no-one. Tom smiled ruefully to himself. Well, he’d often been told he looked more than a little like Fox Mulder.

Melissa was waiting on her bunk, her pensive expression fading as he walked in.

“Everything alright?”

He nodded.

“Have they found the guy?”

He nodded again.

“So, he’s been arrested?”

“No. He jumped from the train. He’s dead.”

She seemed shocked, giving him the impression things like that didn’t happen in her world. “Bit extreme,” was all she said.

Tom gave her another appraising look. She claimed to be South African. Surely, she was used to death and violence if the news reports were to be believed. He sat down on his bunk again, unscrewed his water flask, and sipped water while Melissa appeared to reflect.

Then she blurted out, “Tom, are you in some kind of trouble?”

He looked up startled but spilt no water. “What makes you think that?”

Uncertainty or regret flickered over her face. “Well...you...just seem like you might be...” Melissa blushed, knowing it sounded lame, even to her.

The Scotsman’s gaze was inquisitive. “If I was in trouble, how could you possibly help?”

It wasn’t the sort of response she’d expected and she glanced sharply at him. His answering stare was unwavering. Looking away, she also reached for a sip of warm water, then shrugged. “I wouldn’t know until I know the nature of the problem.”

Tom’s intense gaze remained steady, searching.

Melissa shifted uncomfortably. What can of worms had she opened? Eager to prove she hadn’t been prying, she said, “It helps sometimes to talk to someone. Get another point of view, a new perspective.”

“I’ll bet you’re good at that,” he remarked, lying down again, crossed arms behind his head, crossed ankles shaking. “You’re the local agony aunt.”

He didn’t make it sound insulting, merely factual. And it was true. Melissa crossed her leg over her thigh, clasping her knee with both hands and started rocking gently. “Sometimes. I’m a good listener. But forget I asked. Have you been to Inner Mongolia yet?”

Tom didn’t appear to hear her, lost in his thoughts, the upper bunk casting a shadow over his face. Then, with a sigh, he said slowly, “There’s this woman I like... very much. Though I can’t seem to trust her.”

Melissa listened quietly, offering nothing yet.

It seemed a long while before he spoke again. “I’d like to trust her, but...” He paused.

Again, she waited, letting him formulate his thoughts into coherence.

“She does and says things that make me think it’s best not to trust her...So I don’t. But I’d like to. And to get to know her extremely well.”

Melissa sighed. Why was it always the romantic problems people mentioned first? She considered Tom’s problem. “Is she a colleague?”

“No, just someone that’s about.”

“Well then, if your feelings are so strong you could give her the benefit of the doubt. Unless, what she says and does are totally unacceptable to you.”

His feet continued their shaking as he considered her advice.

“If you have trust issues,” Melissa went on, drawing on a metaphysical coach’s advice, “you’ll need to work through them before you can have any kind of meaningful relationship.”

This, too, was met with silent consideration.

“You’ll need to talk to her. Get to know her better, like you said you’d like to.”

Tom shifted as if uncomfortable. “What if she rejects me?”

“What if she doesn’t? Besides, there’ll be someone else who won’t. You can count on that!”

His swift glance, bright and knowing, caught her unawares. Melissa blushed and wished she didn’t have such a big mouth. She turned her focus to the swaying curtains, conscious of his gaze on her.

When he spoke, it was with hesitation, like he was trying out an idea. “You know, you seem very familiar. Have we met before...Before Shenmu?”

Melissa frowned in concentration, then said, “No, I don’t think so. Maybe if you were in Edinburgh? I had a working holiday there.”

“Hmm....” Tom squinted as he raked his memory.

Melissa did the same, eventually mentioning she’d lived in Broughton, and Tom admitted he’d lived down the next street. Amazed at how small the world could be, they spent the next quarter hour or so reminiscing about their old neighbourhood and past haunts, relaxing more and more into each other’s company.

Melissa failed to suppress a huge yawn as fatigue caught up with her. She looked at the time, almost 1:30am. She yawned again. “What time do we get into Xi’an., about sevenish?”

“Sounds ‘bout right,” said Tom, not bothering to move.

“Great. I’m going to get some sleep. It’s been a busy few days.”

“Right. Sleep well.”

Trying to push away thoughts of the intruder, Melissa put the light off before crawling under the duvet and adjusting the seed pillow. Another yawn escaped as she settled in, expecting to lie awake a little longer.

Tom stared into the darkness. Melissa had fallen asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. What in the world had possessed him to tell her that story? Fatigue? It had to be. Had she guessed he was referring to her? She did seem awfully familiar. Maybe he had seen her around in Edinburgh. Maybe not. Maybe it had been somewhere else. The big question was where? He drifted into a light, dreamless sleep again, too tired to keep his eyes open.