Bond lay like a dead man lies. Before the bullet, he had recalled the corpses2 he had seen-how their bodies had looked in death. Now he lay totally collapsed3, like a broken doll, his arms and legs carefully outflung. He explored his sensations. Where the bullet had crashed into the book, his ribs4 were on fire. The bullet must have gone through the cigarette case and then through the other half of the book. He could feel the hot lead over his heart. It felt as if it was burning inside his ribs. It was only a sharp pain in his head where it had hit the woodwork, and the violet sheen on the scuffed5 toecaps against his nose, that said he wasn't dead. Like an archaeologist, Bond explored the carefully planned ruin of his body. The position of the sprawled6 feet. The angle of the half-bent7 knee that would give purchase when it was needed. The right hand that seemed to be clawing at his pierced heart, was within inches, when he could release the book, of the little attaché case-within inches of the lateral8 stitching that held the flat-bladed throwing-knives, two edged and sharp as razors, that he had mocked when Q Branch had demonstrated the catch that held them.
And his left hand, outflung in the surrender of death, rested on the floor and would provide upward leverage9 when the moment came.
Above him there sounded a long, cavernous yawn. The brown toecaps shifted. Bond watched the shoe-leather strain as Nash stood up. In a minute, with Bond's gun in his right hand, Nash would climb on to the bottom bunk10 and reach up and feel through the curtain of hair for the base of the girl's neck. Then the snout of the Beretta would nuzzle in after the probing fingers. Nash would press the trigger. The roar of the train would cover the muffled11 boom.
It would be a near thing. Bond desperately12 tried to remember simple anatomy13. Where were the mortal places in the lower body of a man? Where did the main artery14 run? The Femoral. Down the inside of the thigh15. And the External Iliac, or whatever it was called, that became the Femoral?
Across the centre of the groin. If he missed both, it would be bad. Bond had no illusions about being able to beat this terrific man in unarmed combat.
The first violent stab of his knife had to be decisive.
The brown toecaps moved. They pointed16 towards the bunk. What was the man doing? There was no sound except the hollow iron clang as the great train tore through the Simplon-through the heart of the Wasenhorn and Monte Leone. The toothglass tinkled17. The woodwork creaked comfortably. For a hundred yards on both sides of the little death cell rows of people were sleeping, or lying awake, thinking of their lives and loves, making little plans, wondering who would meet them at the Gare de Lyon. And, all the while, just along the corridor, death was riding with them down the same dark hole, behind the same great Diesel18, on the same hot rails.
One brown shoe left the floor. It would have stepped half across Bond. The vulnerable arch would be open above Bond's head.
Bond's muscles coiled like a snake's. His right hand flickered19 a few centimetres to the hard stitching on the edge of the case. Pressed sideways. Felt the narrow shaft20 of the knife. Drew it softly half way out without moving his arm.
The brown heel lifted off the ground. The toe bent and took the weight. Now the second foot had gone.
Softly move the weight here, take the purchase there, grasp the knife hard so that it wouldn't turn on a bone, and then. . . .
In one violent corkscrew of motion, Bond's body twisted up from the floor. The knife flashed.
The fist with the long steel finger, and all Bond's arm and shoulder behind it, lunged upwards21. Bond's knuckles22 felt flannel23. He held the knife in, forcing it further.
A ghastly wailing24 cry came down to him. The Beretta clattered25 to the floor. Then the knife was wrenched26 from Bond's hand as the man gave a convulsive twist and crashed down.
Bond had planned for the fall, but, as he sidestepped towards the window, a flailing27 hand caught him and sent him thudding on to the lower bunk. Before he could recover himself, up from the floor rose the terrible face, its eyes shining violet, the violet teeth bared. Slowly, agonizingly, the two huge hands groped for him.
Bond, half on his back, kicked out blindly. His shoe connected; but then his foot was held and twisted and he felt himself slipping downwards28.
Bond's fingers scrabbled for a hold in the stuff of the bunk. Now the other hand had him by the thigh. Nails dug into him.
Bond's body was being twisted and pulled down. Soon the teeth would be at him. Bond hammered out with his free leg. It made no difference. He was going.
Suddenly Bond's scrabbling fingers felt something hard. The book! How did one work the thing? Which way up was it? Would it shoot him or Nash? Desperately Bond held it out towards the great sweating face. He pressed at the base of the cloth spine29.
`Click!' Bond felt the recoil30. `Click-click-click-click.' Now Bond felt the heat under his fingers. The hands on his legs were going limp. The glistening31 face was drawing back. A noise came from the throat, a terrible gurgling
noise. Then, with a slither and a crack, the body fell forward on to the floor and the head crashed back against the woodwork.
Bond lay and panted through clenched32 teeth. He stared up at the violet light above the door. He noticed that the loop of the filament33 waxed and waned34. It crossed his mind that the dynamo under the carriage must be defective35. He blinked his eyes to focus the light more closely. The sweat ran into them and stung. He lay still, doing nothing about it.
The galloping36 boom of the train began to change. It sounded hollower. With a final echoing roar, the Orient Express sped out into the moonlight and slackened speed.
Bond lazily reached up and pulled at the edge of the blind. He saw warehouses37 and sidings. Lights shone brightly, cleanly on the rails. Good, powerful lights. The lights of Switzerland.
The train slid quietly to a stop.
In a steady, singing silence, a small noise came from the floor. Bond cursed himself for not having made certain. He quickly bent down, listening. He held the book forward at the ready, just in case. No movement. Bond reached and felt for the jugular38 vein39. No pulse. The man was quite dead. The corpse1 had been settling.
Bond sat back and waited impatiently for the train to move again. There was a lot to be done. Even before he could see to Tatiana, there would have to be the cleaning up.
With a jerk the long express started softly rolling. Soon the train would be slaloming fast down through the foothills of the Alps into the Canton Valais. Already there was a new sound in the wheels-a hurrying lilt, as if they were glad the tunnel was past.
Bond got to his feet and stepped over the sprawling40 legs of the dead man and turned on the top light.
What a shambles41! The place looked like a butcher's shop. How much blood did the body contain? He remembered. Ten pints42. Well, it would soon all be there. As long as it didn't spread into the passage! Bond stripped the bedclothes off the bottom bunk and set to work.
At last the job was done-the walls swabbed down around the covered bulk on the floor, the suitcases piled ready for the getaway at Dijon.
Bond drank down a whole carafe43 of water. Then he stepped up and gently shook the shoulder of fur.
There was no response. Had the man lied? Had he killed her with the poison?
Bond thrust his hand in against her neck. It was warm. Bond felt for the lobe44 of an ear and pinched it hard. The girl stirred sluggishly45 and moaned. Again Bond pinched the ear, and again. At last a muffled voice said, `Don't.'
Bond smiled. He shook her. He went on shaking until Tatiana slowly turned over on her side. Two doped blue eyes gazed into his and closed again. `What is it?' The voice was sleepily angry.
Bond talked to her and bullied46 her and cursed her. He shook her more roughly. At last she sat up. She gazed vacantly at him. Bond pulled her legs out so that they hung down over the edge. Somehow he manhandled her down on to the bottom bunk.
Tatiana looked terrible-the slack mouth, the upturned, sleep-drunk eyes, the tangle47 of damp hair. Bond got to work with a wet towel and her comb.
Lausanne came and, an hour later, the French frontier at Vallorbes. Bond left Tatiana and went out and stood in the corridor, just in case. But the customs and passport men brushed past him to the conductor's cabin, and after five inscrutable minutes, went on down the train.
Bond stepped back into the compartment48. Tatiana was asleep again. Bond looked at Nash's watch, which was now on his own wrist. 4.30. Another hour to Dijon. Bond set to work.
At last Tatiana's eyes opened wide. Her pupils were more or less centred. She said, `Stop it now, James.' She closed her eyes again. Bond wiped the sweat off his face. He took the bags, one by one, to the end of the corridor and piled them against the exit. Then he went along to the conductor and told him that Madame was not well and that they would be leaving the train at Dijon.
Bond gave the conductor a final tip. `Do not derange49 yourself,' he said. `I have taken the luggage out so as not to disturb Madame. My friend, the one with fair hair, is a doctor. He has been sitting up with us all night. I have put him to sleep in my bunk. The man was exhausted50. It would be kind not to waken him until ten minutes before Paris.'
`Certainement, Monsieur' The conductor had not been showered with money like this since the good days of travelling millionaires. He handed over Bond's passport and tickets. The train began to slacken speed. `Voilà que nous y sommes.'
Bond went back to the compartment. He dragged Tatiana to her feet and out into the corridor and shut the door on the white pile of death beside the bunk.
At last they were down the steps and on to the hard, wonderful, motionless platform. A blue-smocked porter took their luggage.
The sun was beginning to rise. At that hour of the morning there were very few passengers awake. Only a handful in the third class, who had ridden `hard' through the night, saw a young man help a young girl away from the dusty carriage with the romantic names on its side towards the drab door that said `SORTIE'.
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1
corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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scuffed
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| v.使磨损( scuff的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚走 | |
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6
sprawled
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| v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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7
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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lateral
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| adj.侧面的，旁边的 | |
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leverage
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| n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量 | |
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bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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12
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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anatomy
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| n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织 | |
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artery
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| n.干线，要道；动脉 | |
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thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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tinkled
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| （使）发出丁当声，（使）发铃铃声( tinkle的过去式和过去分词 )； 叮当响着发出，铃铃响着报出 | |
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18
diesel
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| n.柴油发动机，内燃机 | |
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flickered
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| （通常指灯光）闪烁，摇曳( flicker的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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knuckles
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| n.（指人）指关节( knuckle的名词复数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝v.（指人）指关节( knuckle的第三人称单数 )；（指动物）膝关节，踝 | |
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flannel
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| n.法兰绒；法兰绒衣服 | |
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24
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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clattered
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| 发出咔哒声（clatter的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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26
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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27
flailing
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| v.鞭打( flail的现在分词 )；用连枷脱粒；（臂或腿）无法控制地乱动；扫雷坦克 | |
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downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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spine
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| n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊 | |
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30
recoil
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| vi.退却，退缩，畏缩 | |
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31
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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32
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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filament
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| n.细丝；长丝；灯丝 | |
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waned
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| v.衰落( wane的过去式和过去分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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defective
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| adj.有毛病的，有问题的，有瑕疵的 | |
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galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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warehouses
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| 仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 ) | |
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jugular
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| n.颈静脉 | |
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vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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40
sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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41
shambles
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| n.混乱之处；废墟 | |
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42
pints
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| n.品脱( pint的名词复数 )；一品脱啤酒 | |
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43
carafe
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| n.玻璃水瓶 | |
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44
lobe
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| n.耳垂，（肺，肝等的）叶 | |
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45
sluggishly
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| adv.懒惰地；缓慢地 | |
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46
bullied
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| adj.被欺负了v.恐吓，威逼( bully的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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48
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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49
derange
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| v.使精神错乱 | |
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50
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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