Somewhere south of Northallerton the train ground to a halt, the carriage fell dark, and the guard called to the passengers to climb out to the track as fast as they could.

I grabbed my green handbag and laptop bag, then followed CI out of the carriage door. She was so keen to escape danger that she scaled the summit of a nearby artificial mountain. I kept as close to her as I could, despite my distress. I was beside myself having realised that I had left my grey seal fur teddy on the train.