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    It was half a mile before I saw it. At first I thought it was a mirage – my mind playing tricks on me. But it was real enough. I pulled Shanti into some bushes and put a finger to her lips.
    â€˜Ssshhh!’ I said, my heart jumping in my chest.
    â€˜What?’ she whispered.
    â€˜Up ahead,’ I told her excitedly. ‘It’s the night train!’

Chapter Thirteen

Finding Dad
    C onfused soldiers surrounded the train, trying to get used to the darkness. They seemed to be searching each compartment and some were even on the roof. Others crawled along the track, searching the underside of each carriage. I thought quickly.
    â€˜I have to get inside somehow,’ I told Shanti.
    â€˜That’s impossible,’ she replied. ‘They will see you.’
    I shook my head. ‘I can’t let them. I thought I’d failed but now I’ve got another chance. I have to help my dad.’
    The tracks lay between two steep banks that were overgrown with weeds. We used them as cover and moved along the left bank, edging closer to the train. I felt the firecrackers in my pockets and the matches I’d taken when I’d started my journey.
    â€˜If we let the firecrackers off, they’ll think someone is attacking them,’ I whispered to Shanti. ‘Maybe they’ll investigate and I can sneak down?’
    Shanti didn’t seem convinced.
    â€˜But it will be too dangerous,’ she told me. ‘They might shoot you.’
    I told her my address and my mother’s name. ‘If anything happens to me, you go there and she’ll help you.’
    Shanti shook her head. ‘No. We escaped together. Whatever happens now, we stay together.’
    I nodded and pulled out the fireworks.
    â€˜We’ll set them off along the ridge, back there.’ I said. ‘If we’re quick, we can light them and run across the tracks to the far bank. When the soldiers investigate, we can get onto the train.’
    We edged back about twenty yards and stood the crackers on the ground, each one about two feet apart. Then I set out a second row, parallel with the first. Icould light two at a time that way. Starting with the ones farthest away, I got out my matches.
    â€˜Go now,’ I told Shanti. ‘Wait for me on the other bank.’
    As she scampered across the tracks, I took a deep breath and lit my first match. The firecrackers had long wicks, so I managed to light several before the first two went bang. They were high-quality fireworks and the sound was almost deafening. White smoke billowed from them.
    As the soldiers panicked and began to shout, I lit the rest and then hid in some bushes. All of them ran towards me, their rifles held out. I lit another cracker from my pockets and threw it further away from the tracks. When it exploded, the soldiers began to shoot into the gloom. I repeated my action three more times and then ran over to Shanti. In the darkness and confusion, we slipped past more armed men and made it to the train.
    â€˜That was great!’ said Shanti.
    â€˜Wait here, then,’ I said. ‘I’ll go and check each carriage.’
    â€˜No, I’ll go first. If the soldiers see me, they won’t shoot. I’m only a girl.’
    She was right and I nodded. ‘Alright. But the first sign of trouble and you run.’
    The first carriage was empty, save for some suitcases and bags. In the second, we found food and medical supplies. I guessed that they were for the fort at Lahore, and had been sent from Delhi. The train was the main transport for soldiers across Northern India. That was why it was so heavily guarded. In the third carriage, there were wooden boxes, stamped with words in English, which I couldn’t understand. There were so many that we had to squeeze past them.
    At the end, there was no door – only a metal ladder that led us onto the roof. We took it and made our way to the fourth carriage. Behind us, I could hear