SAPPHIRE & STEEL

THE PASSENGER

by Steve Lyons

CAST OF CHARACTERS

SAPPHIRE
STEEL

PHILIP BURGESS
GOLD (EPISODES 2-4)
MRS WARBURTON
FLT. SGT. JOHN ANDREWS
THE PRINCESS

3 x FEMALE PASSENGERS (SC. 34 ONLY)
3 x MALE PASSENGERS (SC. 34 ONLY)

PART ONE

1. TRAIN STATION PLATFORM – EVENING

A HARSH WIND SCATTERS LEAVES ACROSS THE PLATFORM. THE STATION CLOCK TICKS SLOWLY (ALTHOUGH THIS SHOULDN’T BE TOO OBVIOUS).

PHILIP BURGESS IS ALONE, TALKING INTO A MOBILE PHONE. HE’S IN HIS SIXTIES. HIS VOICE IS DISTANT AT FIRST, BUT IT GROWS LOUDER AS HE WALKS TOWARDS US THEN STOPS.

BURGESS: (IMPATIENTLY) Yes, yes, I know about the engineering works, but I was assured by a member of your staff this morning that the 2130 train was still… No. No, he isn’t here now. There’s nobody here… No, the ticket office is closed. I can’t even find a timetable.

A SMALL, ELECTRIC FIZZ; THE CLOCK STOPS TICKING.

Well, yes, if you could find out for me, that would be… Hello? Hello, are you still…? (TO SELF, IRRITATED) Blast it!

HE MUTTERS TO HIMSELF AS HE DIALS AGAIN.

(MUTTERS) I swear to God, every time I think they can’t get any…

HE STOPS DIALING.

No signal? How can there be no…? (MAKES AN EXASPERATED NOISE WITH HIS THROAT)

HE WALKS ALONG THE PLATFORM (WE STAY WITH HIM THIS TIME), PRESSING BUTTONS EXPERIMENTALLY. SOMEONE STEPS OUT IN FRONT OF HIM.

(STARTLED) Oh. Excuse me. I didn’t see you there. I thought… Are you in charge here? I thought the station was deserted. I’ve been looking for… (HE RALLIES, REMEMBERING THAT HE’S ANNOYED) Yes, well, perhaps you can tell me how I’m expected to get home? I was booked on the 2130 train, but I’ve been standing here in the freezing cold for almost an hour. It’s not good enough, you know. It really isn’t good enough. If this is where privatisation gets you…

A PLATFORM BELL IS RINGING. A STEAM TRAIN IS PULLING IN. BOTH SOUNDS ARE QUIET AT FIRST, BUT GROWING LOUDER.

	Yes, yes, I know – engineering works. Well, is there another train tonight or not? Because, if there isn’t, then I really will have to insist you order me a taxi. I paid for a return ticket, you know. I think I’ve a right to expect…

THE TRAIN COMES TO A REST, AT FULL VOLUME NOW.

Oh. Oh, I say. She is a beauty, isn’t she? Steam-powered? I didn’t know you were running steam trains on this line. I expect it’ll be a slow journey home, then. Still, as long as she gets me there, I shouldn’t… (VAGUELY) I really shouldn’t… (TAILS OFF; BEAT) Well… all aboard, I suppose.

MAIN THEME

2. THE TRAIN

THE TRAIN IS IN MOTION.

PRINCESS: (GIGGLES PLAYFULLY)

THE PRINCESS IS ABOUT TEN YEARS OLD. HER LAUGHTER HAS A DISTANT, ECHOING QUALITY TO IT. IT FADES AWAY.

STEEL IS HERE. SAPPHIRE ENTERS, THROUGH THE CONNECTING DOOR TO THE NEXT CARRIAGE.

STEEL: I’ve been waiting.

SAPPHIRE: Hello, Steel. It’s been a long time.

STEEL: Yes. What have you observed?

SAPPHIRE: We’re on a train. It’s an old train – outdated technology; pistons driven by steam from a boiler – but it feels quite new.

STEEL: Are we alone?

SAPPHIRE: No. There’s a man in one of the first class compartments. A businessman. Sixty-six years old. Older than the train, but at the same time younger.

STEEL: And?

SAPPHIRE: Nobody else.

STEEL: I thought I heard… (HE STOPS, DOUBTING HIMSELF)

SAPPHIRE: What is it, Steel?

STEEL: (HESITANTLY) A girl. A young girl.

SAPPHIRE: At this end of the train?

STEEL: I’ve searched.

SAPPHIRE: Did you check the driver’s cab, in the engine car?

STEEL: It’s empty.

SAPPHIRE: There must be somebody in control.

STEEL: I’ve seen this type of vehicle before. It runs on a pair of rails. It’s impossible for it to veer off-course.

SAPPHIRE: It still needs a driver, Steel.

STEEL: Tell me more about the train. How old is it?

SAPPHIRE: It’s difficult to be precise. It’s made up of a great many components, of varying ages. Some have already been replaced. I’d say the whole was assembled some time between 1932 and… (THINKS) 1934.

STEEL: And what year is it now?

SAPPHIRE: In this carriage? It’s 1938. In the last one, it was 2004. In another, 1982. In most of the carriages, it’s 1938.

STEEL: And outside, Sapphire? What year is it outside the train?

(BEAT)

SAPPHIRE: No year. No time.

STEEL: Explain.

SAPPHIRE: I can’t. When I reach outside, I sense nothing. Nowhere.

STEEL: A trap?

SAPPHIRE: I don’t think so. Time is moving normally inside each carriage.

STEEL: And the train is moving.

SAPPHIRE: Yes. Which implies that it’s going somewhere.

STEEL: The question is, where?

SAPPHIRE: And when?

3. THE FIRST CLASS COMPARTMENT

BURGESS IS HERE. SAPPHIRE AND STEEL PULL BACK A FOLDING/SLIDING DOOR TO ENTER.

SAPPHIRE: Excuse me – is anyone sitting here?

BURGESS: No, no, by all means, feel free. Oh, but you wouldn’t mind leaving the door open, would you? Just a little. (EMBARRASSED) Thank you, that’s fine. I get a little… well, you know how these things are… Irrational, I know, but… (BEAT) You’ve been upgraded too?

SAPPHIRE: Upgraded?

BURGESS: To apologise for the inconvenience – the train being so late, and all. Oh, unless you were already travelling First Class?

STEEL: (UNCERTAINLY) I don’t think…

BURGESS: No, of course you weren’t. I don’t know why they put the carriages on at this time of day, to be honest, on this line.

SAPPHIRE: Which line is this?

BURGESS: Don’t you know? Why, it’s the… (VAGUELY) the… We’re travelling from… (PAUSE; CONFUSED) Now, isn’t that odd? After all these years, you’d think I… I used to know this network like the back of my hand, but, you know, it’s quite gone out of my…

SAPPHIRE: Where are you going?

BURGESS: Hmm?

STEEL: (IMPATIENTLY) You must remember that. Where are you going?

BURGESS: Oh… oh, nowhere special. Just been to a collectors’ fair, and I’m on my way home. Should have been there an hour ago, as it happens. My daughter will be worried. I’ve been trying to call her, but I can’t get a signal on this blessed phone. Still, she knows what the trains are like, these days. She keeps telling me I should take her car, but… but I don’t like to drive.

STEEL: ‘These days’?

SAPPHIRE (TELEPATHICALLY): He comes from the year 2004.

BURGESS: I say, I don’t suppose you’ve seen a buffet car on your travels? I could murder a coffee; steady my nerves.

SAPPHIRE: There is a restaurant car, but it doesn’t seem to be attended.

BURGESS: Oh. Never mind. I’ll have a word with the conductor, next time he comes by.

SAPPHIRE: The conductor?

STEEL: We haven’t seen a conductor.

BURGESS: Well, he’s around here somewhere. Decent enough chap. Tough job, you know. A lot of people don’t appreciate that, but – well, especially with the railways in the state they’re in – he’s the one on the front line, the one who gets it in the neck from the travelling public. It was him who told me I could come in here; you mean to say you haven’t seen him at all? (VAGUELY) Something odd about him, actually. Can’t shake the feeling we’ve met somewhere before…

STEEL: A collectors’ fair.

BURGESS: I beg your pardon?

STEEL: You said you’d been to a collectors’ fair.

BURGESS: Yes. Yes, books. Antiquarian books. I’m a dealer. My card.

SAPPHIRE: (READS) Philip Burgess.

STEEL: You were selling?

BURGESS: Just buying, today.

SAPPHIRE: May we see?

BURGESS: Well… well, yes, I don’t suppose that would do any...

HE FUMBLES WITH THE CLASP OF A BRIEFCASE.

	 Not that there’s much… I mean, there never seems to be a great deal around these days. Just picked up a few TV tie-in books for a regular customer… oh, and this. Be careful with it, won’t you? It’s a first edition; worth… Well, actually, I paid a little bit over the odds, but it’s a beautiful book. Very nice condition – for its age, I mean.

SAPPHIRE: (ADMIRINGLY) Yes. Yes, I can see that.

STEEL: ‘Murder on the Orient Express’. A book about a train?

BURGESS: Oh, no, not really. The train is only the setting. It’s an Agatha Christie. A whodunit. Probably the most famous example of its genre. You can’t mean to say you haven’t heard of it?

STEEL: I don’t find much time to read. (TELEPATHICALLY) Are you familiar with the book?

SAPPHIRE (TELEPATHICALLY): A little.

STEEL (T): Tell me about it.

SAPPHIRE (T): As Mr Burgess says, it’s a whodunit. A murder mystery.

STEEL (T): Fiction?

SAPPHIRE (T): Yes.

STEEL (T): Could it be the trigger?

SAPPHIRE (T): It could – but then, so could many things. Burgess’s jacket is old, but his tie is new. His briefcase was manufactured in 1978, but the sandwiches inside it were made from bread baked yesterday.

STEEL (T): Read it.

HE STANDS.

(OUT LOUD) I’m going to find this conductor.

BURGESS: Well, he can’t have gone too far. If I were you, I’d just wait. I’m sure he’ll be back round here in a few minutes.

STEEL: I doubt that.

HE LEAVES THE COMPARTMENT, SLIDING THE DOOR BACK AND FORTH.

BURGESS: Seems a little highly-strung, your companion – if you don’t mind my saying so.

SAPPHIRE: Yes, he can be. (BEAT) Mr Burgess… have you noticed anything unusual about this train?

BURGESS: Such as?

SAPPHIRE: Well, it’s rather old, isn’t it?

BURGESS: Oh, yes. She’s a classic, all right. Old 5700 class. From the number on her, I’d say she’s been in service since… oh, 1934. Withdrawn in the 60s, of course, but nostalgia being what it is… And I have to say, this is one of the best refurbishment jobs I’ve come across. Quite authentic.

SAPPHIRE: You seem to know a lot about it.

BURGESS: Yes, well, I was something of a train buff. A few years back, now… (DRIFTING OFF INTO HIS OWN THOUGHTS AGAIN) Yes, a few of these old girls were converted back to steam, for the tourists and the aficionados. There’ll be some promotion or other, I expect. In fact, it may be the anniversary of this line. A hundred years old. Yes, yes, I think I may have read that.

SAPPHIRE: And what about outside the train? When you look through that window – what do you see then?

BURGESS: (SURPRISED BY THE QUESTION) Outside? Well… well, nothing.

SAPPHIRE: Nothing?

BURGESS: Just this damnable mist. I don’t know where it came from; it seemed to close in all of a sudden. Not long after we set off, actually. I don’t know why. It was quite mild, the weather, this afternoon – for this time of year. And it’s dark, of course. I don’t suppose you have the time on you? It must be getting late, by now. I really should have called my daughter.

4. THE TRAIN

PRINCESS: (GIGGLES PLAYFULLY)

HER VOICE STILL HAS THAT ECHOING QUALITY.

STEEL: I can hear you. I know you’re around here.

PRINCESS: (GIGGLES)

STEEL: (TRYING TO BE GENTLE) Why don’t you show yourself? (BEAT)  I only want to talk to you. I want you to tell me about this train.

PRINCESS: (CHANTS) This is a choo choo train, Puffing down the track, Now it’s going forward, Now it’s going back.

STEEL: You’re too good at this game. I give up. Do you hear me? You’ve no need to stay hidden now. You’ve beaten me.

PRINCESS: Now the bell is ringing, Now the whistle blows, What a lot of noise it makes…

AND NOW, SUDDENLY, THERE’S NO ECHO; SHE’S HERE.

Everywhere it goes.

STEEL: Thank you for trusting me.

PRINCESS: Have you seen my daddy?

STEEL: What’s your name?

PRINCESS: I can’t find him.

STEEL: I’ve seen a tall man, with dark eyes. Nobody else. He’s in the first class carriage. If you like, I could take you to him.

PRINCESS: (SOURLY) He’s not my daddy. I don’t know him. I saw him through the door. He’s old.

STEEL: You’ll be old too, one day.

PRINCESS: No, I won’t! I’m special. They told me.

STEEL: Who told you?

PRINCESS: Daddy’s mad at me, but it’s not my fault. They said so.

STEEL: (GROWING IMPATIENT) What did they say? Who are they? Why are you so special to them?

PRINCESS: You mean you don’t know? You can’t tell?

STEEL: Tell me.

HE STEPS FORWARD.

PRINCESS: I’m a princess. A princess!

HER VOICE ECHOES AS BEFORE, BUT THE ECHOES ARE SWALLOWED BY THE SOUND OF CRUMPLING PAPER.

STEEL (T): Sapphire!

5. THE FIRST CLASS COMPARTMENT

SAPPHIRE: Is there anyone else on the train? Apart from the conductor, I mean.

BURGESS: I don’t think so. Surprisingly quiet, in fact; I remember noticing that from the platform. Empty windows. Oh, but then I did hear…

SAPPHIRE: Someone?

BURGESS: (REMEMBERING) A child. Yes, that’s right, a child. It sounded like a little girl.

SAPPHIRE: But you didn’t see?

BURGESS: She must have boarded at the last stop. She was running in the corridors, laughing and singing. A while ago, now. I wondered if her parents had reined her in. I assume she’s with her parents, or a guardian... I hope they didn’t. Perhaps they thought she was disturbing me, but I enjoyed listening to her. That innocent age…

SAPPHIRE: So, the train has stopped? Since you came on board?

BURGESS: Well, yes. Yes, of course. Isn’t that when you…? Well, it stopped, yes. Just the once, so far. So, that’s when she must have…

SAPPHIRE: Where was that?

BURGESS: I honestly don’t know. Couldn’t make out the sign; couldn’t even see the platform. The mist, you know.

SAPPHIRE: And the darkness.

BURGESS: Yes It’s rather like the setting of one my books.

SAPPHIRE: A whodunit?

BURGESS: A small group of people – strangers – cut off from the outside world. Trapped with each other.

SAPPHIRE: You do read, then? You don’t just deal in books?

BURGESS: Oh, yes. Well, that’s how it started, really. Ever since I… stopped working. A hobby; something to pass the time. No, I don’t hold with those collectors who keep their books in bags and on shelves, to gather dust. They’re for reading – why else have them? To immerse yourself in a good story… It’s like you can step into another life. Forget yourself, forget your problems – for a few hours, at least.

SAPPHIRE: Pretend that good always wins over evil.

BURGESS: I suppose so. The detective always gets his man. That’s one of the comforts of the genre: its predictability.

SAPPHIRE: Really? I thought the point of a whodunit was to be unpredictable.

BURGESS: In the details, maybe – but the structure never varies. A crime is committed; the suspects are identified; the detective gathers his clues and draws his conclusions. Always clear-cut. Everything is explained. There’s no room left for doubt. (HE’S TALKING TO HIMSELF BY NOW, WISTFULLY) It’s rather like a train. You might not know exactly where it’s going, but you do know how it’s going to get there. Bound by its rails. It can’t get free, can’t go anywhere new.

THE PRINCESS’S VOICE STRIKES UP BEFORE BURGESS FINISHES SPEAKING; VERY FAINT AT FIRST, BUT GROWING LOUDER – ECHOING AGAIN.

PRINCESS: (CHANTS) Now the bell is ringing, Now the whistle blows, What a lot of noise it makes, Everywhere it goes.

A SHORT PAUSE.

SAPPHIRE: Excuse me a moment. I think my friend needs me.

SHE LEAVES.

6. THE TRAIN

SAPPHIRE ENTERS FROM THE NEXT CARRIAGE.

SAPPHIRE: Is this where you saw her?

STEEL: She was in that doorway. A girl. About ten years old. Long, blonde hair. Freckles on her cheeks.

SAPPHIRE: Wearing?

STEEL: A dress. A blue dress.

SAPPHIRE: From what period?

STEEL: I don’t know. Modern, I think. I tried get close to her, but as soon as I touched her, she… crumpled.

SAPPHIRE: Crumpled?

STEEL: Like paper.

SAPPHIRE: This piece of paper?

SHE TAKES THE PAPER FROM HIM, AND UNFOLDS IT. THE PRINCESS’S VOICE SOUNDS, DISTANT AND ECHOING AGAIN.

PRINCESS: This is a choo choo train, Puffing down the track…

SAPPHIRE: It’s empty. An empty piece of paper.

STEEL: It had her photograph on it. She was here, Sapphire. I spoke to her. She was looking for her father.

SAPPHIRE: On the train?

STEEL: I described Burgess to her. She said it wasn’t him.

SAPPHIRE: He didn’t seem to know her, either. He did mention a daughter – but he gave the impression that she was older.

STEEL: Perhaps he doesn’t remember. He seems confused.

SAPPHIRE: He isn’t like us, Steel. He can only see what Time allows him to see.

STEEL: And the book? Did you read the book?

SAPPHIRE: Yes.

STEEL: You said it was a… ‘murder mystery’?

SAPPHIRE: A traditional formula in fiction. A body is found, and a detective – two detectives, in this case – investigate the cause of death.

STEEL: And this murder – it takes place on a train? A train like this one?

SAPPHIRE: Yes. Burgess said this train was assembled in 1934. The book was published that same year. It is fiction, though, Steel. A story.

STEEL: It may not matter. So long as there’s a grain of fact…

SAPPHIRE: All fiction is based on truth. Objects, places, customs…

STEEL: Like minute particles of time, captured and manipulated, shaped into new patterns.

SAPPHIRE: And frozen, sealed in paper and ink, to be reproduced, many, many times over. Like the girl, Steel – a picture on a page, but at the same time more than that. Much more.

STEEL: We need to know more, Sapphire. I need to see her again.

SAPPHIRE: I can try – but if she’s as elusive as you say…

STEEL: Find her. Bring her back here, Sapphire. Take time back.

7. THE FIRST CLASS COMPARTMENT

BURGESS: (WAKING FROM A DOZE; STARTLED) Oh. Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come in. I must have dozed off for a… I suppose you want to see my ticket? It’s in here, somewhere, just let me…

I say, I haven’t missed my stop, have I? It’s hard to see, through this mist. No, I don’t suppose I have. Did you see the others, by the way? A man and a woman. Nice couple. They were looking for you.

Ah, here it is. My ticket. I think you’ll find everything’s in order... You know, I’m sure we must have met before. I know you from somewhere…

I don’t suppose there’s a phone on this train? No, I didn’t expect there would be. I don’t know what’s wrong with mine. I’ve been trying to call my daughter. She’ll be worried about me. Always treats me like I’m so fragile. I really should talk to her soon. I need to let her know I’m going to be late.

8. THE TRAIN

THE CUSTOMARY HEARTBEAT SOUND OF SAPPHIRE USING HER POWERS.

STEEL: Show me.

PRINCESS: (GIGGLES)

EVERYTHING THE PRINCESS SAYS IN THIS SCENE HAS THAT STRANGE ECHO, AND SHOULD BE SAMPLED FROM SCENE 4.

SAPPHIRE: Oh, it’s difficult, Steel. You were right. She’s like paper. So fragile. Fluttering through my fingers.

STEEL: Show me.

PRINCESS: (GIGGLES)

SAPPHIRE: (STRAINED) Something resisting… I think it’s Time. I think it’s Time, Steel. It doesn’t want us to see. It doesn’t want us to know.

PRINCESS: Now the bell is ringing, Now the whistle blows, What a lot of noise it makes…

STEEL: Concentrate, Sapphire. You must bring her to us.

SAPPHIRE: I’m trying.

STEEL: That’s it, Sapphire. I can see her shape. Concentrate!

PRINCESS: …What a lot of noise it makes…

STEEL: You’re almost there.

SAPPHIRE: Show me!

PRINCESS: …What a lot of… What a lot of… What a lot of….

SAPPHIRE: (GASPS) Her face, Steel! Look at her face.

PRINCESS: …What a lot of noise it makes…

SAPPHIRE: I can’t keep her here. I can’t!

PRINCESS: Have you seen my daddy?... I can’t find him.

STEEL: (URGENTLY) Who are you? Where are you from?

SAPPHIRE: I’m losing her!

PRINCESS: …it’s not my fault. They said so.

STEEL: What year is this?

PRINCESS: I’m a princess.

SAPPHIRE: Steel!

STEEL: What year is this?

PRINCESS:. …a princess… a princess… a princess… a princess…

THE WORDS REPEAT TO FADE, ALONGSIDE A SUGGESTION OF SCREECHING TYRES.

THEN, SILENCE FOR A MOMENT, ASIDE FROM THE REGULAR RHYTHM OF THE TRAIN.

STEEL: Did you see her?

SAPPHIRE: I saw her.

STEEL: And?

SAPPHIRE: She saw it.

STEEL: What?

SAPPHIRE: The end of time. Her time. I recognised that hopeless look in her eyes; that terrified, futile disbelief.

STEEL: She was bleeding. Her face…

SAPPHIRE: Her skull. It was fractured. There was no hope. She saw it coming, but there was nothing she could do. No time.

STEEL: A premonition? You were meant to be taking time back.

SAPPHIRE: The girl was taken out of time. Backwards, forwards, it’s the same to her. Everything is confused. The only certainty is that she must die. We can’t stop it, Steel. There’s nothing we can do.

STEEL: When will it happen? What year was she taken from?

SAPPHIRE: I couldn’t see. I can only guess, from her clothes and her hairstyle. The 1980s. The first half of the decade.

STEEL: 1982. You said it was 1982, in one of the carriages.

SAPPHIRE: In this carriage. (BEAT) Steel, there was a dead girl in the book.

STEEL: The murder victim?

SAPPHIRE: No. This was an earlier death. It occurred before the events of the book began.

STEEL: Then the book could be the trigger. If Time is using it to break in, to mould the form of its intrusion…

SAPPHIRE: Then somebody else will die here, soon. Is that Time’s plan, Steel? Is that what it wants?

STEEL: You said there were two detectives. In the book.

SAPPHIRE: There were two characters in that role, yes. Three, really – but the third is the coroner. He doesn’t arrive until after the murder.

THE TRAIN IS SLOWING DOWN.

STEEL: But the detectives succeed? They solve the case?

SAPPHIRE: They solve it. But, Steel, they can only do that with hindsight, once the victim is already dead.

THE SQUEAL OF BRAKES – IT’S OBVIOUS NOW THAT THE TRAIN IS COMING TO A STOP.

STEEL: We’re stopping.

SAPPHIRE: Yes. According to Burgess, it happened once before.

STEEL: Where are we? 

SAPPHIRE: Nowhere, still.

STEEL: How is that possible?

SAPPHIRE: I don’t know, Steel. I don’t know.

FURTHER DOWN THE TRAIN, DOORS OPEN. PEOPLE ARE GETTING ABOARD – A LOT OF PEOPLE. WE HEAR THE MURMUR OF CONVERSATION. THE DOORS SLAM SHUT.

More passengers?

STEEL: I’ll investigate. You go back to Burgess. Watch him. Talk to him. I want to know everything about him.

A WHISTLE FROM THE TRAIN, THEN IT SETS OFF AGAIN.

SAPPHIRE: Why Burgess? Why not the others? He isn’t the only passenger any longer.

STEEL: No, but he was the first. And he brought the book on board. Whatever’s going on here, our Mr Burgess is the key to it.

9. THE RESTAURANT CAR

STEEL ENTERS, CLOSING THE DOOR BEHIND HIM. HE SCRAPES A CHAIR BACK, AND SITS DOWN.

STEEL (T): I’ve found them.

SAPPHIRE (T): Where?

STEEL (T): In the restaurant car. The very back of the train.

SAPPHIRE (T): How many?

STEEL (T): Just four. An elderly couple. A middle-aged woman, wearing an apron, her hair tied into a bun. And a young man; dishevelled. He’s nervous, avoiding eye contact.

SAPPHIRE (T): You’re sure there are no more?

STEEL (T): I checked every carriage on the way here.

SAPPHIRE (T): Did you find the little girl? Or the conductor?

STEEL (T): No. What about Burgess? Are you with him?

SAPPHIRE (T): He’s asleep. Have you spoken to them, Steel?

STEEL (T): Not yet.

SAPPHIRE (T): What are they doing?

STEEL (T): Sitting. Waiting.

MRS WARBURTON SPEAKS UP. SHE’S A FORTHRIGHT WOMAN WITH A WORKING CLASS ACCENT.

MRS WARBURTON: ’Ere, you. Yeah, you in the tatty-looking suit, don’t make out like you can’t see me. I been watching you, just sitting there, giving us the evil eye like you’re judging us.

STEEL: I’m afraid I don’t know what you mean.

MRS WARBURTON: You ain’t one of us. You didn’t board with us, I’da seen you. Nothing gets past these eyes. That’s what folk used to say, you know – you don’t get nothing past Sheila Warburton. Sharp as a tack, my friend. Sharp as a tack. You’re with the company, aren’t you?

STEEL: The company?

MRS WARBURTON: That’s what the other bloke called it. The conductor.

STEEL: He was in here? You saw him?

MRS WARBURTON: He was the quiet type, too. Wouldn’t even tell us where we’re going, but you know, don’t you? You can tell us.

STEEL: Where do you think you’re going?

MRS WARBURTON: (SIGHS) So, another one as can’t give a straight answer to an honest question – and I don’t see what harm it could do now. I mean, it’s for their sake, more’n mine. Look at ’em, the pair of ’em. They’re scared stiff. And him over there… Why, he’s no more’n a kid. Looks like he wouldn’t say boo to a goose. Put him out of his misery, the poor beggar!

STEEL: Perhaps if I knew where you’d come from…?

MRS WARBURTON: I should’ve expected no better. All my life, I’ve had folk treat me like I’m just part of the furniture. I don’t know why I thought it’d be any different here.

STEEL: (IMPATIENTLY) Do you remember how you got here?

MRS WARBURTON: (LAUGHS) As if I could forget a thing like that!

STEEL: Tell me.

MRS WARBURTON: It was the last straw, I tell you. His bloody Lordship, getting me to fiddle with that monstrosity of his. I swear, he thought more of that thing than he did of his own kiddies. And to think, I actually prayed for him to come home safe from the fighting, not that he did much of that by any account. I mean, I knew she’d not be able to drag herself away from her posh friends and her dinner parties, but I thought he might take an interest.

STEEL: You’re a domestic help? A housemaid?

MRS WARBURTON: Nursemaid, luv. The kiddies, they were my job, no more, no less. Not that you’d know it by them two. People like them, they think people like me were put on God’s green earth just to skivvy for ’em. (ATTEMPTING A POSH ACCENT) ‘Mrs Warburton, I can’t help but notice the garden is a little untidy – if you have a spare moment?’ ‘Mrs Warburton, I simply can’t be bothered to draw my own bath today.’ ‘Mrs Warburton, would you mind getting down on your hands and knees and licking the kitchen floor clean?’ (SIGHS) It’s them kiddies I feel sorry for. Lord knows, they’re the only reason I put up with it as long as I did.

STEEL: So, you’ve left them? Your employers? You’re running away?

MRS WARBURTON: Lord only knows what they’ll do now. It’s not as if they can go to her with their tummy upsets and their skinned knees. What would she care? And I promised ’em, too. I said, come this New Year, we’ll have our own little party in the nursery; we’ll see in the new decade together. They’ll be so disappointed. If I’ve just one regret, it’s that I wish I could’ve held on till then, for their sake. Just a few more weeks. Just until 1920.

10. THE FIRST CLASS COMPARTMENT

BURGESS: (MUMBLING IN HIS SLEEP) I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean… I tried my best… It all happened so suddenly…

SAPPHIRE: (SOFTLY) Mr Burgess? (BEAT) Mr Burgess!

BURGESS: …I’m so sorry…

PRINCESS: (CHANTS) This is a choo choo train…

SAPPHIRE: (GASPS)

PRINCESS: …Puffing down the track, Now it’s going forward…

SAPPHIRE (T): She’s here, Steel. The girl. She’s here.

PRINCESS: Hello.

SAPPHIRE: Hello. I didn’t see you there. You startled me. I’m Sapphire. What’s your name?

PRINCESS: (SULKILY) I’m a princess.

SAPPHIRE: A princess! Then I should probably curtsey to you, shouldn’t I?

PRINCESS: I can’t find my daddy.

SAPPHIRE: I know. My friend told me.

PRINCESS: It’s not fair. They said I could see him, but he isn’t here.

SAPPHIRE: Will you tell me about your daddy?

PRINCESS: He’s mad at me.

SAPPHIRE: Oh, I’m sure that’s not true. I’m sure he’s looking for you just as hard as he can – and he’ll find you soon. He wouldn’t want to lose his princess, would he?

PRINCESS: He said not to play out on the big road. He always told me that.

SAPPHIRE: But princesses can do as they please, can’t they?

BURGESS: …I’m sorry…

PRINCESS: It wasn’t my fault.

SAPPHIRE: Did your daddy teach you that rhyme? I like the way you do the actions. You looked just like a real train. Can you teach me to do that?

BURGESS: …I was tired… I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry…

SAPPHIRE: I know. Why don’t we say the rhyme together? Go on – you start, and I’ll join in when I know the words.

BURGESS: …I didn’t mean for you to die…

11. THE RESTAURANT CAR

STEEL: What about you? Who are you? Where did you come from?

MRS WARBURTON: Don’t badger the poor boy. Can’t you see he’s upset?

STEEL: (UNRELENTING) Mrs Warburton boarded the train in 1919, Lord and Lady Rothmoor in 1963. What about you? When did you come aboard?

MRS WARBURTON: A crying shame it is, to see someone of his age here. This journey should be reserved for us old fogies, not for the young ’uns. He should be out there, living his life.

STEEL: It’s a simple enough question. The year. What year do you think it is?

MRS WARBURTON: You may as well tell him, luv. Does no good to sit around, moping about it.

STEEL: Tickets, please. I need to see your ticket. I’m with the company.

MRS WARBURTON: (AMUSED) You don’t need a ticket for this train, luv. It’s already been punched, if you know what I mean.

ANDREWS: I… I don’t…

STEEL: Papers, then. You must have some proof of identity. You can’t ride without papers. Company rules.

ANDREWS: A-Andrews. My name is Andrews.

MRS WARBURTON: You’re a soldier, aren’t you, luv? I thought so. I can spot ’em a mile off, me. My Cyril, God rest his soul, he had the same look about him. Haunted, like.

STEEL: What year is it, Andrews? The year!

MRS WARBURTON: He’ll have been out fighting, won’t you, luv? And he doesn’t look the sort as’d join up by choice, am I right?

ANDREWS: 1943. It’s 1943.

MRS WARBURTON: ’Ere, what’s he doing? (SHOCKED) Oh my Lord, he’s got a gun!

ANDREWS LEAPS TO HIS FEET.

ANDREWS: Just stay back, both of you. I… I just want to get home. I don’t want to use this, but I will if I have to. I’ll shoot you all.

MRS WARBURTON: (PITYING) Oh, luv! (LAUGHS RAUCOUSLY)

STEEL (T): Sapphire. I need you.

SAPPHIRE (T): Is it urgent, Steel? I think I’m getting somewhere.

STEEL (T): With the girl?

SAPPHIRE (T): She’s starting to trust me.

STEEL (T): Read her, Sapphire. Find out how long she has.

SAPPHIRE (T): I will. As soon as she lets me get close enough.

12. THE FIRST CLASS COMPARTMENT

SAPPHIRE: That was fun, wasn’t it? Shall we do it again?

PRINCESS: I don’t want to.

SAPPHIRE: One more time? Please? For me? You could take my hands, and guide me through the actions. (BEAT) That’s right. Now…

SAPPHIRE/PRINCESS: This is a choo choo train, Puffing down the track…

SAPPHIRE USES HER POWERS AGAIN.

…Now it’s going forward, Now it’s going back. Now the bell is ringing, Now the whistle blows, What a lot of noise it makes…

THE HEARTBEAT SOUND STOPS.

SAPPHIRE: (GASPS)

PRINCESS: …Everywhere it goes.

SAPPHIRE (T): Twenty-two years.

STEEL (T): How is that possible? We saw the moment of her death. She was still young.

SAPPHIRE (T): You don’t understand, Steel. That isn’t how long she has left. It was a minus figure. I was wrong. The girl wasn’t taken out of time before she died. The girl is dead. She’s a ghost.

STEEL (T): (BEAT; THEN, IN A HUSHED VOICE, AS HE REALISES) I think they all are, Sapphire. I think they’re all ghosts.

END PART ONE