Friends, with Charles and the king's combined food and water supplies, went outside the city limits - to the south. This had actually been two days ago. Now, they had arrived in Metz - in northeastern France.
For now, there were no further indications, so they both leisurely explored the city. It was nice to finally enjoy something like Gothic-style buildings. The friends hadn't seen such structures since the German department. The houses nostalgically reminded them of homes in Árbolville.
They were no longer quite sure where to go, as the beautiful constructions had captivated them. They turned corners recklessly. The city became smaller and weaker until the only Gothic-style building stood before them. It turned out to be the Metz station.
A sign. - Charles thought simultaneously and also said.
Do you really think they'll let us on the train? We don't have any money, remember? - Herald wondered.
Who said we had to ride legally? - Charles whispered the last word quietly, as if he thought no one would hear or understand them.
In fact, we don't even know which train to take. - Herald further shot down Charles's idea.
Let's just go in; maybe something else will be said up front. - Charles said, grabbing Herald by the hand, and they both made their way to the station's front doors.
The doors creaked loudly as they opened, revealing the grand station foyer. Charles could discern materials like marble, jade, crystallized glass, and perhaps even gold. All these materials were so expensive. It surprised the friends how a city of such size and level of living could afford such things.
Well, both friends thought. The station's lavish appearance was not the reason they had come here. They were here to catch a train. They approached the only open ticket counter. The counter was adorned with marble columns, around which jade serpentine twisted.
Herald jumped up to the counter and was the first to ring the bell, which instantly summoned the cashier. It turned out she had just been rummaging under the table. And now she piled even more papers on the already cluttered desk.
Since Charles, after the raid, didn't know any language other than English, he had to just listen as Herald had a back-and-forth with the cashier. After a moment, Herald turned to Charles.
There's only one train leaving today; well, actually the only one operating this month, I think it's the right one, right? - Herald consulted Charles.
Yes, but we have no money to buy tickets, remember? - Charles reminded him of their poverty.
Hmm… - Herald grumbled and turned back to the cashier.
They exchanged all sorts of gestures and aggressive expressions.
It's not anything else but money to buy a ticket. - the cashier sounded dissatisfied.
The cashier prepared the tickets, and another conversation took place. In the end, it was agreed that the cashier would give the same tickets, as they were the only ones left for that day, until the end of the day, if Charles and Herald could come up with 10 French dollars together. The friends were ready to do anything.
Here's the translation of the provided text into English:
They were practically ordered away from the station. They would only be let in once they had the required amount. The scientists stumbled and rushed towards the city center, knowing that they would have the best chance of earning quick cash there. There weren't many people in the center, but for a Sunday (they realized this from the tickets), it was quite enough.
Charles immediately found and stole a half-barrel. He held it in front of him to solicit donations. When that didn't help at all, he had his friend climb onto his shoulders and perform various tricks. Harold did just that, performing backward jumps, somersaults, and juggling various bits and bobs. This at least garnered some interest from the crowd.
After the brief performance, Charles counted the earnings—3 dollars, which was too little. He stuffed the money in his pocket and put the half-barrel back in its place. The friends decided to try something else, something more impressive.
Charles and Harold found a café around the corner, where half a dozen musicians were playing. The Sock darted ahead. Harold asked the musicians if they could borrow their instruments, and to their surprise, they said "yes." Now both friends started to play in their place.
Charles arranged with Harold to play the only song that would truly reach the hearts of the French audience and also the only one they both knew by heart—of course, it was the French national anthem. At first, the sounds were quite off-key and crooked. Passersby covered their ears. But as the duo got warmed up, the melody and lyrics flowed smoothly, and a crowd of admirers began to gather around them. They threw coins, cheered, and even sang along.
They liked it. — Charles realized.
Soon the crowd became uncontrollable, and the duo had to return the instruments. They tried to slip through the crowd, picking up dollars along the way. They occasionally lost sight of each other, but eventually, they made it out of the encirclement. Suddenly, the crowd started running after them, likely asking for autographs or something similar. The friends literally had to run to the station.
They slipped through the door and immediately barred it. They blocked the door with a chair, which practically worked as a lock. After that, both scientists, now more calmly, headed to the ticket counter, where the cashier was filing her nails. The friends handed over the money, slightly overpaying. The cashier immediately gave them the reserved tickets. They were for the "Metz-Dijon" route with two stops along the way.
The friends admired the fancy and modern tickets when, out of nowhere, they were all startled by loud noises. They came from the entrance and the front windows. Charles turned sharply, expecting to see raiders, but there was something else…
The crowd had now reached the station. People were banging on the doors, smashing windows, and shouting. Harold realized that they were asking for another performance and, of course, autographs.
Unexpectedly, the French cashier stood up, and in perfect English shouted—Enough! I've had it; I'm not being paid enough for this kind of stuff! The Frenchwoman tore off her cashier's uniform, underneath which was a scientist's outfit. It was crimson red, with golden cuffs. The scientist jumped over the counter and elegantly pulled out a silver stick from her sleeve. Charles managed to examine it and concluded that it was a CryoStick—specifically, a stick that converts water into ice, but it does so in such a manner that the water is shot out and only freezes when it has already hit the target.
The cashier pointed her stick towards the noise and, with the help of a gear, shot a solid wall of ice along the entire front wall. This created an impenetrable ice barrier that no ordinary person could ever bring down. You could hear the crowd being frightened away. Both wise men were now completely speechless from what had just happened.
What was that!? - Both friends exclaimed at the same time.
Oh, you speak English too? Then you understood everything. - The cashier turned to them.
Not at all. - Charles replied.
I'll explain on the way, let's go to the train, it leaves in 10 minutes! - The cashier, who had now turned into some sort of scientist, led them outside to the tracks.
Here it comes already! - Herald gasped.
The three of them quickly walked and boarded the train, showing their tickets. This time it was a very elegant train, the interior was completely matte red, and it looked quite classy. Apparently, the trains in France were much better than the trains in Germany. In any case, this was also one of the rare trains that had three seats in each row. This meant that all three had a free spot to sit together.
Catching her breath, the cashier-scientist spoke. - I'm sorry, guys, about that sudden incident. - Charles and Herald merely said it was nothing, and the scientist continued. - My name is Elizabeth Fritzgrande, and what are your names? - Charles and Herald introduced themselves. Elizabeth was surprised that her name was so short.
The train suddenly started moving and then began to speed up. The friends were the only ones in this compartment, despite having bought the last tickets. Perhaps others would board at the next stations.
You mentioned something about work. - Charles unexpectedly brought it up.
Yes, I did… I guess I'll have to tell my entire life story, only then will everything be clearer. - the scientist offered.
Both Herald and Charles made themselves more comfortable, taking a sandwich from their bags and also offering some to Elizabeth. Now they were ready to listen to her life story.
***
So, it all started, of course, with the fact that I was born… in Wales, and there I spent my entire childhood. Later in life, when I was about half young, my parents moved to London, of course, taking me with them. They wanted to give me the most opportunities, and they themselves wanted to get better-paying jobs. Later, when I could start working, it was difficult to find a job, and I was jumping from one place to another like a grasshopper.
In general, I didn't like London. My life wasn't the best until one day I received a good job offer in France in a letter. Just so you understand, I had studied not in London, but in Oxford, and, as you know, student names are recorded in a sort of honor roll so that various institutions can quickly find the smartest people. I had learned French as one of the subjects in Oxford, so I immediately accepted the offer.
So, where was I? Ah yes, right. When I arrived in France, in Metz, from where we had just left, I started working. This job turned out to be my dream job - a station cashier. At that time, the station was bustling with clients, all the train cars were full to the last seat. This, of course, also brought in profit. That's why the station was built with marble, gold, and so on.
But then... the station completely fell apart. I barely managed to keep my job. Profits declined. My dream job turned into one big, boring nightmare. I had to do all the employee tasks because I was the only remaining employee, but I wasn't paid extra for it.
And so we have arrived at the present day. I just left the job because I didn't have the willpower to protect the station from such a large crowd of people. I guess they were looking for you. Well, whatever, let them have the station; I was already tired of it.
***
The friends chatted about Elizabeth's interesting life story. Charles and Harold also shared something from their own lives. Time passed unnoticed, and they had already arrived at their destination - Dijon.
After getting off at the usual station, the friends remembered that they needed to head south, most likely towards Spain. Elizabeth was willing to go along because she no longer had a home or a job.
The elegant scientist, with her charm, managed to get free tickets. Without realizing it, after a while, the friends boarded the next train. Now their destination was Madrid.
Pretty good, right? - Charles smiled.
Yes, we can travel anywhere, for free! - Harold chimed in. Elizabeth only looked irritably in the other direction.
The friends, oblivious to everything, had once again plunged into another interesting and extensive conversation, which lasted for several hours. They only pulled away from the conversation when dry, clay-colored mountains appeared outside the train windows, scattered with occasional green patches.
Here, the temperature wasn't afraid to exceed thirty degrees, and even forty. These were true summer holidays. The trio enjoyed the warm evening sun shining through the window. Of course, they enjoyed the mountain scenery and each other's company as well. It seemed there was nothing else in the world but this beautiful, sunny, joyful moment, and mostly that was true.
For quite some time, this similar landscape was visible - dry sparse forests, behind which rose high clay-colored mountains. Charles began to doze off and was almost falling into a dream, but then out of nowhere, there was a crash, then another, and another, and another. And before he could fully comprehend what was happening, the train crashed somewhere, and all movement was halted. Sand and dust poured in through the windows, and somewhere closer to the front of the train, there was a fire!
It seems that an accident has occurred; we must get out immediately before the locomotive collapses completely! - Elizabeth urgently and also business-like instructed her friends.
Chaos reigned all around, and the passengers desperately flailed through the aisles. Soon, they began to attempt to devise escape plans. Charles, Harold, and Elizabeth were the first to escape from the burning, sandy, and shattered-glass-filled train. Once outside, they realized that the view wasn't very optimistic either – a desert and mountains, with no water, village, or city in sight.
What now? – Harold looked at Elizabeth.
You took the belongings, right? Then let's move forward, away from the train! – Elizabeth tried to drown out the screams of the people still inside the train and the roars of the fire. – Inside the train is a semi-nuclear electronic engine that powers all the equipment. It only takes one spark for the entire train and 100 meters around it to be engulfed in flames! So I suggest we hurry!
Elizabeth ran ahead of everyone. As the youngest of the group, she was able to run faster than the two older men. Charles ran behind her, and Harold followed Charles.
They made it just in time – not a second earlier, not a second later. They saw the train explode outward and how its wreckage flew in all directions.
Epic! – Elizabeth marveled at the horrific scene. – I hope the others made it out somehow; let's head in the direction the train was going before it… well, you know.
The friends now set their course southward. Their cool, grim, and survival-filled journey across the mountains had begun!
Did you hear what she said about that explosion and those people? – Harold whispered to Charles.
I don't know, but it seems to me that her work could have really thrown them into a bigger mess than we can even guess right now, – Charles thoughtfully concluded. – Either way, I think I saw a group of people ahead; surely, everyone will have gotten out.