Millie gazed through the glass roof at the snow-covered peaks above. ‘Whoa,’ she gasped.

‘Just look at the beautiful mountains and the beautiful snow and all those beautiful little villages with their beautiful churches,’ Sloane trilled, mimicking Herr Fanger’s accent and mannerisms perfectly. ‘There is so much beauty it is hurting my eyes.’

The others giggled.

Alice-Miranda grinned. ‘Poor Herr Fanger. He’s so sweet.’

‘Pity about his wife,’ Millie added.

The six children were seated together at one end of the train carriage while the adults sat behind them.

‘How good was that skijoring yesterday?’ Lucas said.

Sloane nodded. ‘My heart was beating so fast I thought I had a bomb in my chest.’

‘It was fantastic,’ Millie agreed. ‘I’d love to have a go at it one day – but I think I might need to improve my skiing first.’

Once they had recovered Gertie, the rest of the afternoon had gone by in a flash. Lucas had finally got his rösti for dinner and Millie was able to indulge her new-found love of Fanger’s Chocolate, although she was disappointed that there weren’t any of the giant blocks Lucas had discovered in the loading dock. Herr Fanger had sent boxes of the mouth-watering confections to each of the children to thank them for helping him find his beloved Gertie.

The party on the lake had continued long after the horses had been trucked back to their stables and, to top it all off, there was a huge fireworks display which lit up the whole village and half the mountain. By the time their party had wandered back to the hotel, it was well past nine o’clock. Suffice to say there were a few tired travellers the following morning.

After the group had farewelled Mrs Oliver and Mrs Shillingsworth, who were catching a train to Zurich an hour later, they boarded the Glacier Express, bound for Zermatt and another week of skiing.

All of the passengers were given headsets so they could listen to the commentary about the history of the train and some of the locations and landmarks they passed along the way. A gong conveniently sounded each time an audio recording began.

‘Do we have to listen to every bit?’ Sloane griped. ‘These things hurt my ears.’

‘Do what you like,’ Sep said, ‘but I’m not going to miss any of it.’ He put the earbuds in and turned up the volume.

The train had just travelled through a section of track that seemed to go around in circles and was now approaching the famous Landwasser Viaduct, a long curved stone bridge over a deep ravine. Its pillars rose from the valley below, creating another picturesque scene. Millie snapped away with her camera, trying to get as many shots as she could, although the reflection on the window was making it a tad tricky.

‘It’s a pity your father’s not here,’ Millie said to Alice-Miranda as the train forged on through a pretty village with a tall church spire and A-framed houses.

‘Oh, he had to go this way to Zermatt. Even though the train’s slow, this is still the most direct route from St Moritz,’ Alice-Miranda replied.

‘Will we be coming back this way as well?’ Sloane asked.

Alice-Miranda nodded. ‘I think so, unless Daddy would prefer to drive.’

Cecelia had been worried that the children might get bored as the journey would take almost eight hours but there was no sign of it as they played cards, took photographs and listened to the commentary. At one stage, she thought it was far too quiet and was surprised to see that Millie and Sloane had fallen asleep. Sep was reading the guidebook and Alice-Miranda, Lucas and Jacinta were all staring out the windows, mesmerised by the landscape.

‘Look at that stunning building!’ Alice-Miranda exclaimed as the train drew into a station.

Lucas read the name on the platform. ‘Disentis. Isn’t this where the Fanger’s Chocolate factory is?’

Millie roused at the sound of her favourite sweet. ‘Did someone say chocolate factory?’ she said sleepily. ‘Can you see it?’

Lucas shook his head. ‘I think it was that building Alice-Miranda spotted just before the station.’

‘Keep an eye out for Grouchy Doerflinger. She’s probably lurking around here somewhere,’ Millie said, before falling back to sleep.

It was mid-afternoon by the time the train started to climb high into the mountains, towards Andermatt, where the snow was thick and the extra-toothed track in the centre of the rail lines clawed at the circular cogs beneath the carriages, propelling the train forward on the icy rails. Sep was fascinated by the engineering of the railway and had borrowed Millie’s guidebook to read about it.

Millie’s stomach grumbled. ‘Do they have snacks in the dining car?’ she asked Alice-Miranda.

‘I’m sure they will,’ the child replied. ‘Do you want to go and have a look?’

Millie nodded. The girls stood up and asked if anyone wanted anything. The others were keen for a walk, so they all headed off together. The dining car was only one carriage along from where they were sitting.

‘Who wants a hot chocolate?’ Millie asked, scanning the menu. She ordered six of them and some cakes too. The children sat together at the tables, which were mostly empty apart from one couple, who were staring into one another’s eyes while holding hands.

‘Do you want to walk to the end of the train before we go back to our seats?’ Sep asked. ‘I think my backside’s numb from all that sitting.’

There was a murmur of agreement and the children finished their drinks and set off towards the front of the train. They weren’t sure how far they’d get but calculated there were at least four passenger carriages ahead.

A young man in a uniform stepped in front of them as they reached the door to the engine. ‘May I help you?’ he asked.

‘Hello,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘We were just stretching our legs. I’m Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones and these are my friends.’ Alice-Miranda proceeded to introduce everyone.

‘I’m Anton,’ the man said with a smile. He was a short fellow with a kind face and an air of calm about him.

‘We know,’ Millie said, pointing at his name badge.

‘Yes, of course,’ the man replied with a chuckle. ‘I’m afraid you can’t go any further unless you’d like to drive the train.’

‘That would be awesome,’ Sep gasped.

The train guard grinned. ‘Sorry, you can’t actually do that.’

Sep nodded, a little disappointed. ‘How many carriages are there?’ he inquired.

‘It can vary, depending on how many passengers we have and if there are any goods being transported over the mountains,’ the man replied. ‘Sometimes we need to hitch on extra carriages. We have two engines as well.’

‘Two? Why?’ Millie asked.

‘Well, sometimes we need pulling power at the back as well as the front, so there’s an engine up front and another at the back. That way, we can reverse the train at any time,’ Anton explained, impressed by the children’s curiosity.

At that moment a huge plume of snow flew up past the windows and over the roof. The passengers in the carriage sat to attention, peering outside.

‘See that?’ Anton said. ‘That was the train ploughing the snow. They had a big dump up here last night, so there’s a scoop on the front of the engine that throws the snow up off the track.’

‘Cool,’ Sep breathed as another huge spray of powder slapped at the roof.

‘Does the train really cross a glacier?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

Anton chuckled again. ‘No, they’re much higher up in the mountains. The train used to travel overland the whole way but it was too dangerous in winter. There’s now a network of tunnels so that it can run all year round.’

‘Hey, it’s snowing,’ Lucas said, pointing to the fat flakes pouring from the sky. It looked as if someone was standing on the roof with a bucket of white confetti and shaking it onto the ground.

‘Can we walk to the other end of the train too?’ Sep asked.

‘Sure,’ the man replied cheerfully. ‘Just watch out for Andreas.’

Sloane frowned. ‘Who’s that?’

‘You’ll see,’ Anton said with a wink.

The children waved goodbye to him and headed back the other way. They passed Hamish and Pippa having a coffee in the dining car, then Cecelia, who had her head firmly buried in a book. They continued on through another few carriages until they reached a door with the word ‘Private’ emblazoned across it.

‘End of the line,’ Sep announced. ‘So to speak.’

Just as they were about to head back, the door opened and a tall man with thick caterpillar-like eyebrows and crow-black hair walked out. He had a thin moustache and wore a sneer on his lips.

‘What are you doing?’ he barked, eyeing Sep suspiciously. He glanced over the boy’s shoulder at the others. ‘Go back to your seats. Children are not allowed to wander around unsupervised.’

‘Do you think Grouchy Doerflinger has a brother?’ Millie whispered to Sloane, who smothered a giggle.

‘Are you an engine driver?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

‘Yes,’ the man said gruffly. ‘Now, move along.’

Alice-Miranda thought the fellow seemed vaguely familiar, but before she had time to ask him anything else, he disappeared through the door, closing it behind him.

‘He’s not the friendliest member of staff, is he?’ Millie grumbled as the children returned to their carriage.

‘No,’ Sep agreed, shaking his head.

‘Must be why Anton warned us to watch out for him,’ Sloane said.

‘Come on, who wants to play cards?’ Lucas asked.

There were nods all around.

While the group walked to their carriage, swaying with the motion of the train, something about the engine driver niggled at Alice-Miranda. It was as if a memory were scratching at the back of her mind, refusing to come into focus. She wondered if she had seen him somewhere before. If only she could remember.