The next day, things were going decidedly better for the Starshines. The luggage had been succesfully delivered to their hotel without any real trouble, and they had been able to secure a booking for transport to their next stop. Now, they were travelling along the road with their stuff in tow. It was all loaded into the cargo hold of the bus they were taking from their hotel in Milan to Tirano, which was where the next stage of their trip began.
"I take it you guys have been here before?" Sunny asked.
"Switzerland?" Argyle asked. "Yes, actually. I first travelled to Switzerland as part of a photography trip organised by myself and a friend- not Firelight, in case you're wondering. We explored a good amount of the country back in those days, and I imagine it's changed a good deal since then. One thing that certainly hasn't changed is the scenery around here." He smiled. "The Alps certainly never cease to take your breath away."
"Strictly speaking, these mountains are part of the Bernina Range," Goldie explained. "This is the Bernina Pass, after all."
"Gotcha," Argyle replied. "I've never done this trip in summer, come to think of it. I last did it in winter, which made getting to St. Moritz an interesting experience." He cleared his throat. "But we're going off topic, I feel. We need to focus on what is going on and what the plan is for today."
Goldie pulled out an itenerary on a clipboard and consulted it closely. "Well, that part is pretty simple," she said. "We need to board the Bernina Express before it departs, which is at 14:00 exactly (the Swiss are extremely punctual). We will then travel on the line as far as Samedan. Clearly Dan hasn't changed since we last saw him."
"Eh?" Sunny asked.
Goldie tilted the clipboard so her daughter could see.
"Oh. I get it now."
Goldie then resumed reading the clipboard. "Once there, we transfer to the Glacier Express, which will convey us all the way to the standard gauge interchange. I feel it would make sense to discuss the rest of the journey whilst on the Glacier Express, and take the opportunity to soak up the scenery as we travel along."
"Good idea," Sunny said, and looked up. "I thought the Snowdon Range was huge. But these mountains are something else!"
"Everything's bigger in Europe," Argyle laughed. "And just wait until you see the Rockies! Those are in the USA, by the way." He glanced over to Goldie. "Can you corroborate that claim?"
"Not really," Goldie replied. "I grew up in Rhode Island. That place is pretty flat and small. The smallest state by landmass, incidentally, but who set it was a competition for the biggest things?"
"It isn't!" Sunny noted. "Falmouth isn't the biggest of places, but it'll always be home to me."
"I'm not so sure I can feel the same way," Goldie admitted. "I've travelled so much I don't really have a concept of home anymore. One of the downsides of regular travel, I guess."
With a roar, the bus pulled up into the parking lot outside Tirano station. The three, alongside the passengers, got off and collected their luggage before heading to the baggage car at the back of the train. Argyle was first to arrive. "Wo sollen wir im Zug nach Samedan sitzen?" he asked the guard. ("Where should we sit in the train for Samedan?")
The guard, who was handling the bags, immediately switched to English. Somewhat broken English, but English nontheless. "You will to need to in the front carriage with your family and carry on bags be sitting."
Argyle nodded, but looked puzzled. "OK."
Sunny was equally baffled. "Why was the verb at the end?" she asked.
"German word order," Goldie explained. "Verb goes at the end. It's why some of the sentences are hard to understand."
They decided to see what was pulling the train up to Samedan. To their disappointment it was a modern EMU coupled to the coaches, and he didn't seem to be especially talkative.
As they waited for departure, a goods train rattled into the other platform and stopped. It was pulled by a boxy electric locomotive. Argyle smiled as he saw it. "I photographed that unit when I was last here," he explained. "Only it was red last time and not green. It appears to be part of the heritage fleet now."
"Ladies and Gentlemen," said an announcement, "we will shortly be departing for Chur. Please ensure everything is properly secured before departure. RhB welcomes you onboard the Bernina Express- the greatest railway journey on Earth."
As the Bernina Express pulled out of the station, a figure was watching from a nearby clock tower. "They're on the move," he said.
"Excellent," Opaline said. "Notify me when the train passes Pontresina."
"How can it be this hot at midnight?" Charles complained. "How's that possible?!"
The formation continued to trundle forward slowly through the jungle. They were going very slowly, with the poorly laid track and the plants all around not helping the situation at all. Although both diesels were fitted with high intensity headlamps for this operation, they barely cut through the gloom, and all around the jungle seemed to be threatening. Almost... alive, and wanting to gobble them up.
In the cabs of both diesel engines, the windows were all the way down to let some air in, but the intense heat was stifling. Zipp's face was drenched with sweat as they pushed onwards into the night. "How we're still going I have no idea," she said. "I had no idea it was going to be this hot."
She stopped as she heard the sound of water being consumed. "Hey, leave some for me, dad! That's your third bottle in about an hour!"
"Sorry," Lord Haven replied. "I'd forgotten how hot this part of the world is. It's been a long time since I lived outside of a temperate country."
"Yeah, and Charles' temperature gauge is running at the top of the yellow," Zipp answered. "At this rate we might be topping up the radiator with water."
"Are you two alright up there?" Lady Haven asked over the radio. "It's quite hot in here. These engines were not exactly built for hot weather running."
"Try wearing short sleeves tomorrow," Lord Haven suggested. "And some cargo pants will help with the heat."
"I may give that a try, actually."
Suddenly, there was a loud shriek over the speaker.
"What was that?" asked Sophie. "Was it the Wandering Penguin of Peru?"
"There aren't any penguins in Peru!" Charles snorted.
"Yes there are," Sophie said. "They live on the coast."
Just then, the voice on the radio spoke again, revealing them not to be the Wandering Penguin of Peru, but Pipp. "There's something in the cab with us and it's squeaking at me!"
"Don't turn the cab light on, as that may attract it," Zipp offered.
"I couldn't if I wanted to! It's amongst many things in here that have stopped working in the heat," Pipp replied. "How did people survive before air conditioning?"
"Ice boxes," Lord Haven said. "That's what my family used.
More squeaking could be heard over the radio, before some ribbeting, and something bouncing about.
"Agh! It's in my hair now! Get them off! Get them off!" There was another pause. "I can't take this any longer! I've got to get out of this thing!"
"I'm not a thing," Sophie complained.
Lord Haven consulted his map. "There's a passing loop about a quarter of a mile from here," he said. "We'll make camp there."
Once they had arrived (the generator for the coaches had been started up to power the AC and climate systems), the four retreated to the first carriage. Lord Haven pointed to the map. "We've not progressed forward as much as I'd hoped," he said. "We were supposed to be averaging 90 miles a day. We've done 10, and we've still got 40 miles of jungle to cover before we start climbing out of the Amazon."
"We'd probably best turn in," Lady Haven said. She turned to Zoom. "Are the bug zappers running?"
"Yes, your ladyship," Zoom replied. "We should be safe from small bitey creatures in here."
A few hours passed, and Zipp got up to use the bathroom. A foul thunderstorm raged outside, more intense than any she had known. As she made her way back to her bed, she suddenly spotted Pipp, sitting bolt upright and looking quite frightened.
Zipp spotted this, and sat down next to her. "Your brontophobia playing up?" she asked.
Pipp nodded. "It really startled me. How can it be so loud and noisy?"
Zipp chuckled. "Everything's bigger in the Americas. But you don't have to face it alone, Pipp. I'll stay with you."
"Really?" Pipp asked.
"Sisters are meant to look out for each other. I'd be an awful big sis if I didn't."
Pipp hugged her. "Thanks, Zipp."