Chapter 19 Sheridan Is Dead

Nell asked Mercer whether she could do anything for Mrs Lorrimore, or whether she and I should go.

'No,' Mercer said, 'but please stay in case she needs you.'

At that moment, George arrived. He started by telling Mercer how sorry he was about the accident.

'We have to go back,' Mercer said.

'Yes, sir, but not the whole train, sir. My instructions are that the train must go on to Vancouver as planned.'

Mercer began to protest, but George interrupted him. 'Sir, my head office has already informed all the authorities along the canyon to look out for your son. They also say that they will arrange transport for you and your family to return, as soon as we reach Vancouver. From there, you can go to a small town at the south end of the canyon; the town is called . . . er . . . Hope. And then you'll be in the area if there is any news of your son.'

'So how soon could we be in Hope?' Mercer asked.

'If you leave Vancouver at four this afternoon, you'll be there
by seven.'

'That's useless,' Mercer said. 'I'll get a helicopter.'

There was absolutely no point in being rich, I thought, if one didn't know how to use it.

Nell said she would get her travel company to lay on a car to meet the Lorrimores at Vancouver station, and arrange for the helicopter. George, Nell and I got up to leave. I picked up the tea tray and asked if there was anything I could bring them, but Mercer shook his head.

'I'll come and find you,' Xanthe said, 'if they need anything.' She sounded grown up, years older than she was at breakfast.

Once we'd left the room, George explained to Nell that she would have to wait until we were closer to Vancouver before making a phone call to her travel company, because the phone would not work until then. Then he hurried off.

Nell sighed and wondered what to tell the other passengers. 'It'll spoil the end of their trip,' she said.

But I had a different view of human nature. 'I bet you that they express sympathy for about ten seconds,' I said, 'and then go around saying "Isn't it awful?" for the rest of the morning, but without it spoiling anything for them.'

I was right.

However, Julius Apollo Filmer was no longer in the dining-car, which was a pity — I would have liked to have seen his face when he heard the news. Sheridan Lorrimore was Filmer's lever against his father. What would he do now? He could either give up trying to threaten Mercer Lorrimore, or he might still think that Mercer would want to protect his son's memory, and would sacrifice a horse for that.

♦

I helped to clear away breakfast, wash the dishes and pack everything away in boxes; then that was the end of my duties as a waiter. I felt that I had not been a very good one: apart from anything else, I had sometimes been busy elsewhere when the others were hard at work. Nevertheless, Emil and his crew thanked me and insisted on sharing the tips they had received with me. I was very touched by their kindness.

'We know you're not a waiter,' said Emil, 'but you have worked for it. It's yours.'

'And this morning,' added Cathy, 'you've worked despite obviously having a sore arm.'

We said our goodbyes, and I knew that I would never again curse a waiter, now that I knew how hard his job was.

I decided that I still wouldn't tell the passengers who I really was, until the game was finally over. I would continue to be the invisible man - only a waiter.

The passengers were busy packing their cases and having little parties in one another's rooms. I passed by Nell's room and found her packing too.

'What's wrong with your arm?' she asked as she folded a skirt.

'Is it so obvious?'

'To anyone looking at you, yes,' she said.

'It's not serious.'

'I don't believe you. I'll find you a doctor in Vancouver.'

'Don't be silly,' I said, though I was glad she cared.

George came and told Nell that we were now close enough to Vancouver for the phone to work. I accompanied her down to George's office while she made her call. She came out of the office very quickly.

'There's no need for the helicopter,' she announced. 'Sheridan has already been found.'

'Dead?' I asked.

'Very.'

'You'd better tell Mercer.'

She wasn't happy about that idea. 'You do it.'

'I can't — not as a waiter. George could, I suppose.'

George agreed to take the news to the Lorrimores, and went off immediately to do so.

Nell was starting to relax now that the trip was ending, and apart from my shoulder I was starting to feel happier too. I told Nell so, and then joked that my boss was always threatening to sack me for being too happy.

'I can never tell when you're being serious,' said Nell. 'Who is your boss, anyway?'

'Brigadier Valentine Catto,' I replied, and then, 'I've just had a brilliant idea.'

'Yes, you rather look like it.'

'You don't happen to have a world air timetable with you, do you?'

'Yes, of course. What do you want? Are you planning to leave suddenly?'

'No, but you could tell me the times of flights from London to Vancouver tomorrow.'

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 587