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‘But Alina’s graphic novel sounds interesting. She was telling me it’s about female power, a kind of feminist twist on the typical superhero story. She said she’d send me a copy.’
    ‘Cool.’ I moved over to her bunk and bent to kiss her. ‘You said you’d always wanted to have sex on a train.’
    ‘You’re priceless. Now, if you’d booked a sleeper like this for the whole night it might have been different. But the point of coming in here was to have a nap.’
    ‘Come on, it will be exciting. Could you’—I leaned forward to kiss her—’be persuaded?’
    ‘Mmm. Maybe.’ She kissed me back. I slid my hand up her smooth thigh and her breathing grew heavier; I could feel her heart fluttering as she pressed against me. ‘Lock the door,’ she said, breaking away. The flesh that covered her collar bone was flushed.
    I stood up as best I could and tried the lock. ‘Oh, for fuck’s sake. It’s broken. It won’t lock.’ That was probably why this compartment was empty.
    ‘You’d better take a cold shower, then.’
    She gave me another of the little smiles that I loved, turned away and faced the wall. I couldn’t help but laugh. Foiled by a broken lock. I lay down on the opposite bunk and watched as her breathing changed. Within minutes, she was asleep.
    I was determined to stay awake and took my phone out again to play a game, even though it was draining the battery. I had a plug converter somewhere in my backpack but was unable to gather the energy to heave myself off the bunk and find it. I was going to stay awake anyway, in case anyone tried to come through the unlocked door, so it didn’t matter if my phone died soon. I’d charge it before we got to our destination, assuming I could find a socket.
    I had dropped my phone in Italy, cracking the screen. I played the game for a while, peering through the spiderweb of cracks, aware of the growing heaviness of my eyelids. I told myself I would stop playing in a minute, move around, have a drink of wate r. The train rattled and rocked me on my bunk. I needed to stay awake.
    Closing my eyes, deciding it would do no harm to rest them.

    I sat bolt upright. I was cold and sweaty and my mouth felt like the inside of a grave. My phone dropped to the floor with a thud. I’d been dreaming I was in a coffin and someone was knocking on the lid.
    BANG BANG BANG.
    Laura rolled over and opened her eyes, just as the door was yanked open and a thickly accented voice said, ‘Passports.’

Chapter Four
    I blinked at the guards, my sleep-sodden brain refusing to function .
    The one in front had his arm outstretched. ‘Passports.’
    Laura sprang into action before me, crouching on the floor and unzipping the front pocket of my backpack.
    The guards watched her. The one in front was in his thirties, overweight with a bald head and patchy stubble on his chin. His colleague was a little younger, with a neatly trimmed beard and intense blue eyes. They both wore the same impatient, pissed-off expression, like they had just been told their wages were being cut. The guidebook said the Romanian border guards were welcoming and friendly, so I smiled at them and nodded. They didn’t smile back.
    Laura looked over her shoulder at me, an anxious expression on her face, then unzipped the front pocket on her own backpack. She rummaged inside, then turned back to me, her face pale.
    ‘They’re not here,’ she said to me.
    ‘What?’
    The guards watched as I scooted onto the floor beside her, sticking my hand into the front pocket where I always kept our passports, tickets and money.
    ‘They were in here,’ I said quietly. ‘Definitely. I put the passports back in here after the Hungarian guards checked them.’
    ‘Are you sure?’ Laura hissed.
    ‘Yes.’ I was aware that my voice was trembling slightly. ‘Didn’t you see me?’
    ‘I don’t know.’ Her eyes were wide, panic creeping in. ‘I wasn’t really looking.’
    ‘Come on,’