They entered the cart and split into groups to search and check if anything was disturbed among the luggage and crates. Madolyn refused to be in a group with Darby and went with Mr. Weinberg and Darby and Jack remained together to investigate. The storage car was extremely dark and the little lights they had were a stark difference in the pitch blackness. The cart creaked and rattled as it clattered over the tracks pulled by the train. Even with their flashlights, they strained their eyes to inspect the boxes along the aisles. In the dark, every sound they heard seemed to be amplified and everyone seemed to shift around anxiously in their own way. Darby was leading the way, furthest in the front of the group and even though Jack felt terribly uncomfortable he felt that he must stay as close to her as possible, it was his job to stay close to her and make sure that she was safe, even if he himself felt exceedingly anxious as they walked together slowly inspecting along in the dark car. He glanced over occasionally at Darby to make sure that she wasn't too scared, but she still led as though this was any other normally lit room. As they walked along checking the boxes and crates, Darby stopped suddenly in front of a crate. It had been half pried open and the crowbar that had been used was still sticking out of the box. When Darby abruptly stopped, Jack had been glancing around and didn't notice, he bumped into her as he shuffled along. He reached out and grabbed on to her to steady himself but hurriedly let go, saying
"O-oh excuse me Miss Herrington." He felt slightly timid at having reached out and grabbed her and was hoping he hadn't made her uncomfortable too. But Darby seemed completely unphased as she bent over and inspected the crate, but Jack didn't notice that she had the smallest of smiles on her face as her lips slightly twitched. Even though Darby was very serious about getting down to the bottom of this suspicious situation, she couldn't help but be amused by Jack's timid and nervous behavior.
"Over here!" Darby called loudly to the rest of those searching and Madolyn and Mr. Weinberg rushed over. Mr. Weinberg, after looking over the half open crate and surrounding area, muttered reluctantly
"..Well, I suppose there really must have been something going on in here." Suddenly, from the door that they had entered by they heard someone calling
"Is there something the matter?!" They all turned their heads towards the voice to see David Robbinson making his way towards them from the the direction of the entrance. Darby was the first to respond, saying
"It seems Madolyn saw someone trying to tamper with her group's equipment but it was too dark to see them clearly." David walked closer to them. He said in alarm,
"My goodness! Are you alright, Miss Browning?! That must have been awful!" Madolyn felt calmer now that there had been evidence found to prove that it wasn't just all in her head and said demurely
"Oh yes, thank you, I am fine now, Mr. Robbinson." David replied reassuringly
"Please call me David, how about I help you get somewhere comfortable to rest?" Madolyn felt pleased and warmed by his kind attention towards her and said quickly
"Y-yes, thank you David" and then added a bit shyly "And you should also call me Madolyn." David smiled warmly and helped Mr. Weinberg guided Madolyn out and led her back towards the restaurant car. As Madolyn passed by her, Darby said
"Did you notice anything from earlier Madolyn?" David looked back and forth between Madolyn and Darby and said
"Oh, are you two close? Would you rather Miss Herrington help you?" Madolyn wrinkled her nose feeling slightly annoyed and said "Ahem! We know each other, we aren't close, our museums are rivals….And I am sure Miss Herrington has other things to do." David smiled politely and said
"Oh I see. Then let's get you something to help calm your nerves Madolyn." Darby stared at them for a split second before she quickly smiled and added
"Yes, Madolyn, I'd recommend the tea, it is divine." Madolyn rolled her eyes in Darby's direction as David smiled warmly and nodded as he led Madolyn off toward the restaurant car with Mr. Weinberg followed behind to help escort her. As the rest of the group was heading back to the main dining area, Darby turned to Jack and said
"Let's have a look around a little longer, shall we Mr. Clemins?" She made her way back to the crate that they had found earlier. It was partially cracked open and the contents were almost spilling out. Darby crouched down with her light to inspect it as close as possible.
"Hmm" She said thoughtfully as she stared at the box. Jack, wanting to be help to her, crouched down as well and also stared at the box. He looked hard at the crate, trying to think of what could possible be useful in this situation. He crouched staring at the box "...." Darby was crouching staring at the box
"...." There was a long silence before Jack, not being able to take it any more, looked over at Darby and said
"...Notice anything?" Abruptly Darby shot up, standing and said
"Not much. Whoever was ratching around in here didn't get far, which is actually great on Madolyn's part, perfectly timed screaming…..I'll have to compliment her on it later. Hehe." Darby paused a moment to giggle to herself and Jack sighed in relief and said
"Well, that is good then! Nothing serious to worry about so far." Darby nodded in agreement and said
"Mhmm. I will take a look at our stuff and then let's head back, maybe Madolyn will have recalled something else." After Darby had a quick look around they headed back to the dining cart. The rest of the group riding the train were still gathered there. As Darby walked toward Madolyn she said, smiling,
"I must say, Madolyn, you are very skilled, not only at screaming but also the timing! Nothing seems to have actually been moved, the culprit wasn't able to do anything other than start opening the crate." Madolyn narrowed her eyes at Darby and was about to shoot out a quick retort when Mr. Weinburg interrupted her, saying
"Well, now let's not scare Miss Browning anymore than she already is. The crate could have been loaded carelessly and that could be why it was open and Miss Browning could have been frightened by the dark lighting and shadows." He reached out and patted Madolyn's hand reassuringly, adding "Nothing more." Darby looked at the scene in front of her, thinking for a moment then shrugged and said
"I suppose if you aren't worried about it Madolyn, then the matter can be set aside for now." Madolyn looked between Darby and Mr. Weinberg as she tried to decide if she wanted to keep discussing it or let it go as Mr. Weinberg had suggested. David, noticing Madolyn struggling with her decision, quickly offered
"How about we all keep an eye out for anything suspicious. I know we are all looking for the same thing on this expedition but that doesn't mean we can't help each other out, right?" David smiled pleasantly at the group gathered around, Darby smiled back and nodded, saying
"I couldn't agree more, that is very kind of you Mr. Robbinson." David shook his head and said exasperatedly.
"Now, now, you're calling me Mr. Robbinson again. Remember I asked you to call me David?" Darby quickly added
"Oh yes! David haha, I guess you'd better call me Darby, let's all get comfortable with each other, who knows how long this expedition will be." Madolyn sat next to David and glared at Darby, feeling annoyed to see the two getting along.