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They can hear something fluttering faintly inside.

Kate leans against the wall beside the door, reaches out, and tries to open it.

Artemis adjusted his walking stick in preparation for what might be revealed when the door was opened. He nodded at Miss Kate as she tried opening the door.

The door to Compartment 10 opens to reveal a rather luxuriant sleeping car compartment of the sort more often found on the transcontinental railways of Europe rather than a little second class sleeping car in England. A deep green couch sits on one side, capable of being folded out into a bunk bed. Then a step away from the bed in the small compartment sits a comfortable green chair and the door to another room - perhaps a shared wash room? That would be peculiar.

There's already a WC at the end of the hall. There is a bell-push by the door that would buzz to light a white light outside to alert the conducteur who should be out in the corridor. Next to it stands a hook for your watch chain and another for a hat. There's currently a silver pocket watch tick-tick-ticking the time and a fedora on those two hooks. A matching pair of hooks sit above this for the person who would be on the upper bunk. There's no watch dangling from this hook but there is a rather feminine cloche hat. The most peculiar fact of the matter is that most people wouldn't lay their hats and watches aside unless they were going to sleep and yet the couch hasn't been made into a bed.

An inlaid, fold-out table crouches beneath the window -- upon which sits a brass bird cage. The fluttering sound could surely have come from the white feathered bird inside it. Thankfully, the bird is still alive, though the cage is a mess of bird feces and even the water looks rather polluted. It eyes you curiously, its yellow crest rising slightly in curious, it's black beak slightly parted as it eyes you off. Shortly above this table is a little shelf by the window containing a lamp with a peach-coloured lamp shade, a weighted vase containing a single red flower and a glass ash tray.

There's a pair of leather suitcases and a feminine hat box sitting on the netting just below the mosaic-covered ceiling. None of the lights in here work, leaving the room gloomy with the door open and doubtless very dark with the door closed.

Biology or Outdoorsman knowledge,identifies it as a sulfur-crested cockatoo native to Australia. It's a type of parrot.

"It's a sulfur-crested cokcatoo," says Kate. "It's a kind of Australian parrot. Poor thing looks like it hasn't eaten in some time. There's got to be some birdseed in here for it, maybe in the suitcases. I don't think we can bring it with us - parrots aren't known for being quiet - but we should let it go before we leave." She leans over in front of the cage and addresses the bird. "What happened in here?"

"Don't leave rawwwk don't don't don't leave rawwwwk be alone be alone rawwwwk." It doesn't say those words with any kind of human sentience, more as though it had heard those words before. Repeated. At length.

Artemis brought this walking stick down to a normal position and fished out the torch from his pocket. He flipped a switch and scanned the room with the more intense light hoping to find some of the bird seed mentioned.

"Miss Kate, it might be in one of the bags, but where did everyone in this room get away too? And seems that the bird really would rather we stay with it."

"Parrots don't really understand what they're saying," says Kate, looking through the bags for some birdseed with her own torch providing light as well. "They just repeat what people around them say, and they usually have to say it often before the parrot learns."

"But, that implies that this bird has been here a lot longer than we saw the train sitting on the tracks, and how could it learn that in the time it's been alone?" Artemis swept the light about and then shifted towards the other door.

She pulls the top suitcase down onto the couch and finds that it contains ladies garments, enough for an overnight stay or two, and a very well-thumbed book of poetry. The clothes aren't well-folded, however. They look like they've been shoved back into it in a hurry including an empty paper bag that smells of bird seed but has nothing left inside of it. The clothes smell well-used, grotesque, and are soiled under the armpits as though someone wore them for quite awhile before putting them away.

The man's suitcase is empty but for several empty packets of food, a bottle of nearly empty man's cologne and a framed photograph of an older couple who look very happy together. The photo frame has a few drops of water upon it that look somewhat like tear drops, but there's no way tears would have lasted even a few minutes before drying.

Opening the book of poetry,[b]Oh, They have Robbed Me of The Hope by Anne Bronte[/b] Oh, they have robbed me of the hope My spirit held so dear; They will not let me hear that voice My soul delights to hear. They will not let me see that face I so delight to see; And they have taken all thy smiles, And all thy love from me. Well, let them seize on all they can: -- One treasure still is mine, -- A heart that loves to think on thee, And feels the worth of thine.

Kate flips through the poetry book before putting it down, a smile on her face. "I always did like the Bronte sisters," she says. "Well, it looks like they're out of birdseed. We should just let the parrot go. Birds are good at finding food for themselves, unless this one got too spoiled from being fed all the time."

"I found Wuethering Heights a bit on the dark side to be honest, but well written none the less. I suspect letting the parrot go makes sense and I hope that it finds a bit of peace that seems to be alluding us." Artemis said. He leaned against the pass through door and listened to see if there were any noticeable sounds on the other side.

The soft and disturbing wail of the air raid siren can be heard through the window outside, distant and melancholy. The rest of the train seems to be far too quiet for comfort. Where is everyone? Why have they all gone silent? The bird flutters its wings, turns its head from side to side.

Artemis shifted the walking stick and the flash light into his right hand and opened the pass through door with his left hand.

It isn't a pass through door, per se. It's a door into a little room with a porcelain sink set into a wooden cabinet with beautiful mosaic tile work all around. A place to refresh oneself in the morning and perhaps apply one's make up without having to step over each other in the actual Water Closet. It is rather an impressive thing to see, especially for Second Class, and very much makes the car appear all the more like some European luxury train rather than a typical London carriage. What on Earth is going on here? The wooden cabinet has a cupboard door -- likely to hide the piping. When his flashlight brushes against the bottom of the cabinet,
Stability roll (potential 1-point loss)
[dice]0[/dice]

"This poem was written by Anne rather than Emily," says Kate, opening the cage door so that the parrot is free to fly away. "It is a bit dark too, but it does show the enduring power of love. Well, whoever screamed is obviously not here. Let's move on to the next compartment before that air raid gets too close."

Artemis stepped back into the main compartment and shuddered at what he had seen. Was that hair and blood? What is going on in this place? He thought to himself. He turned as the bird cage door was opened.

"I agree, we need to move on to the next compartment."

Laraqua,so that is a successful role right? Don't need to deduct?

Ritterton,if the number is lower than 4 than you've failed and lost the point of stability.

The parrot hops down onto the edge of the cage door and peeks out at them. It preens itself, then flutters up onto the luggage rack. It's wingspan fills the tiny space quite intimidatingly. "Don't leave rawwwk don't leave don't leave don't leave rawwwwk bad door bad door."

"What's wrong?" Kate asks Artemis, concerned.

"I, uh, it's just, I thought I saw something but must be this place playing tricks with my eyes." Artemis said rather unconvincingly as his eyes glanced quickly back at the water closet. When the parrot fluttered up to the luggage rack and spoke aloud, Artemis' head snapped in its direction almost too quickly. "why would the bird say that?"