Mother on the Orient Express: Part Seven (The Train)

(I broke the train into two parts. The first part of the train (part six of the story) is here.)

We take the long walk toward dinner. Now we're a little less sure on our feet. Mom's getting tired, and I'm a little tired, and it's darker. We make it to the bar car, which we have to go through to get to our dinner car.

We open the door. It's different in the dark, more mysterious, more like a lounge, like you'd imagine. The piano abruptly stops and — "Sentimental Journey" begins playing. And...