Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 The sleek train sped past the West London suburbs and into the rolling fields of the English countryside. As the mid-summer sun set, the gentle rocking motion of the carriage lulled Toto into a deep slumber. She fell into a dream that there was a huge plate of CAMEMBERT in front of her. The GOOEY FRENCH CHEESE had been one of her favourites,

but she hadn't been able to stomach it since her duel on board a barge full of the stuff, when she had almost been slain by ARCHDUKE FERDICAT. In her dream, the Camembert on her plate grew in size until it covered the table, then the floor. It began to ooze through the cracks in the door and the windows and it kept growing until the WHOLE ROOM was filled with the OVERWHELMING SMELL and she had to leap on to the chandelier to escape and— A jolt from the giant locomotive awoke her. She sat bolt upright, the sun now long gone, replaced by a CLOUDLESS MOONLIT SKY which illuminated the cabin and made it easier for her to get her bearings.

Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she glanced over at the other bed in the berth where she could make out the shape of her brother, curled around his own bushy tail, fast asleep and SNORING GENTLY. No waking you- belly full of milk, I'd imagine, she thought. She lay back on her bed and tried to drift off again... looking out the window, up at the ceiling, and around the cabin. She could make out the shadowy shapes of the beautiful iron luggage rack above her, the white porcelain washbasin and, in the corner of the room, the tall hat stand that— Wait a minute! she thought. There was no hat stand there when I came to bed. The ninja LEAPED OUT OF HER BED

just in time as the hat stand came to life and brought a lethal wooden rolling pin CRASHING down, missing Toto by a hair's breadth and SMASHING the bedside lamp. The hat stand- which, it was now obvious to Toto, was actually a GIGANTIC SIBERIAN CAT- looked down and sneered, 'I'm the ticket inspector! And it looks like you don't have a valid one to be on this train.' He cackled and took another swing at Toto's head. Once more she evaded the blow and dived across to her brother's bed, accidentally landing with one foot on his head.

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