Madness on the Orient Express: 16 Lovecraftian Tales of an Unforgettable Journey by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chaosium Inc.
Published: 2015-06-29T05:00:00+00:00

A FINGER’S WORTH OF COAL

RICHARD DANSKY

IT WAS IN BRATISLAVA WHERE they put the fireman off the train, with the help of two burly passengers and a rather larger contingent from the local gendarmerie. The incident caused no small amount of scandal among the passengers, at least those who were aware of the disturbance, as it isn’t often that a screaming, thrashing man covered in coal dust and blood is hauled bodily from his station by officers of the law. In an odd reversal of fortune, those impecunious enough to have purchased berths in the cars closest to the locomotive had the best view of the proceedings, which made them suddenly and briefly sought after by the curious among the wealthier travelers. Later, over drinks in one of the dining cars, more than one witness suggested that they’d seen the man, a thick-legged Magyar who’d come on board with the lumbering Hungarian 4-8-0 engine they’d acquired in Vienna, contorting in inhuman fashion and heard him screaming in a language that none of them could either translate or identify. This odd fact was later confirmed by those same two burly gentlemen, who after some delay had returned to the train and were now being feted like conquering heroes.

Graciously, the two—one a lawyer named Higdon with a London legal firm on his way to Istanbul on business; the other, Walters, the stolid personal assistant to a certain professor of natural sciences en route to a series of speaking engagements in Sofia—allowed the other passengers to purchase refreshing beverages for them in exchange for further details of their adventures.

It seemed, said the professor’s assistant, that the fireman had abruptly begun acting as if he were possessed. When pressed for details as to what this meant, he rose briefly and demonstrated, flailing his arms, then commented that it was as if the man had somehow become unacquainted with the proper use of his limbs. In addition, he said, the man had been seen swinging a coal shovel about and generally screeching in what could be understood as no human tongue. His assistant had tried to restrain him and had gotten a vicious blow from the shovel in return. He, too, had been taken off the train, albeit on a stretcher, and it was doubtful as to whether he’d survive the night.

“Curious thing,” interjected Higdon, clearly tired of having Walters relate the lion’s share of the tale, “was that after they took the man to the police station, he just collapsed. No more screaming, no more of that damned animal talk. No, sir, out like a candle in a stiff breeze, that one was. Couldn’t wake him up or get a word out of him, either.” A bevy of young ladies traveling together heard this pronouncement and cooed in the lawyer’s direction; their fluttered eyelashes told him how very impressed they were with this new tidbit. He flushed, and smiled, and wriggled up a bit straighter in his seat.

Walters coughed slightly, and all eyes turned to him.

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