My name is Sam Clarke. I was 19 years old and on a backpacking trip across Europe a few years ago now. As it happened, I didn't get that far "across" it. I ran out of funds early in the trip and never got beyond Switzerland (having begun the trip in France!). But given the following incident which took place one afternoon on a train travelling across the Swiss countryside, it nonetheless remains the one of the great journeys of my life.

I love travelling on trains, especially the older European trains with their inviting private compartments which, if the train is not busy, allow you to sit unaccompanied in your own little room for the entire journey. It can be a lovely experience sitting alone in one of these old-fashioned compartments while the train rumbles along the line, particularly when passing through beautiful sunny countryside. And this is exactly where I was and what I was doing on the afternoon in question.

I had boarded the train in Paris and had been travelling for an hour or so across France on the way to Switzerland. To begin with, the train had been reasonably busy but as the journey went on, and the destinations grew more rural, most of the passengers appeared to have disembarked at stations along the line. I was lucky in that my compartment had been empty on the train's departure from Paris, with the exception of myself and one other passenger - an elderly lady with a small dog on a (curiously) pink leash. She and the dog were quiet and perfectly well behaved for their short journey and they left the train a few stops outside the French Capital.

From this point onward I was fortunate enough to have the compartment to myself, as the train crossed the Swiss Border through some of the most exquisite countryside in Europe. The sun was beaming down and it was a truly glorious day already, but I had no idea it was about to get a whole lot better.

The distance between stations became far less frequent as we entered Switzerland and the train took the opportunity of the long unbroken stretches to pick up speed. My compartment had a vast window to the right and I unlocked the thin folding section at the top to let the cool summer breeze refresh the cabin. I had been blissfully undisturbed for about 45 minutes (with the notable exception of the train inspector who had entered my compartment briefly to check my ticket). As the train began to slow down at what seemed to be a rather remote countryside station, I looked along the platform to see if anyone was going to be getting on at this stop. I was rather hopeful nobody would be, because I was at peace alone in my little cabin and the idea of new boarders to the train brought the threat that one (or more) might sit themselves down in my compartment. I had no idea how many of the other compartments on the train may or may not be empty. For all I knew there was still at least one person in each of them, and my compartment would appear an attractive option to a prospective boarder.

To my relief however I saw that there were very few people looking to board the train at this remote station and I settled down a bit. It was a stupid worry to be having, I thought, anyhow. It was just that I had been enjoying my peace and privacy so much. What I did see however, albeit fleetingly, was the most beautiful looking girl, waiting on the platform to board the train when it came to a stop. My carriage passed ahead of her as the tran came to rest and I didn't have a full chance to study her, but she was wearing sunglasses, a short sleeved t-shirt and small denim shorts. She was clearly peering into each of the carriages that passed her, possibly to survey which would be the least crowded, and as my carriage became parallel with her line of vision, for a short moment she looked directly at me. And by that I mean, she would have seen I was a young man in an otherwise empty carriage, not that she would be likely to have seen my face.

As the train came to a full halt, I felt a little disappointed my carriage had not come to rest closer on the platform to where this enigmatic young beauty had been standing. The prospect of having to share my compartment with a stranger suddenly didn't seem so bad when I imagined this extremely sexy girl sitting across from me. But judging from where she had been standing on the platform, I thought she would be likely to have boarded three or four carriages behind me. Not that I was thinking all that much about her at this time. I have a tendency with hindsight to imbue the whole event with a kind of inevitable destiny. At the time I had no idea what was about to happen.

I sat back in my seat and a few minutes later, as the train pulled away, the vision of this beautiful girl at the station had all but faded from my mind. The sun was again shining out of a cloudless sky and a perfect soft breeze pouring in from the window above. The train picked up speed and I was once again in my element. Then all of a sudden, I was brought back to earth. Before I had time to register it in my mind, I saw that the gorgeous girl from the platform had opened the wooden door to my compartment and was coming in to sit down. I immediately stopped slouching in my seat (although not in an overly-obvious way) and ran a surreptitious hand through my hair, in that way we all tend to in the misguided belief it will immediately make us more attractive and presentable. I doubt she saw any of this however. She had a small cream-coloured linen bag which she was taking off her shoulder and placing on the seat opposite me. She finally sat down next to it and came fully face to face with me for the first time. She smiled and may have mumbled a "hi" in some language or other, but if so, it was almost thrown away. I smiled back at her politely but couldn't be sure she had seen because she was still wearing the sunglasses. Eventually she sat back in her seat and turned her head to look out the window. The cabin was silent and peaceful again.

For the next few minutes of the journey, my gaze wandered carefully from the view outside the window to this impossibly sexy young woman who sat opposite me in the train compartment. Now that I could see her in detail, I realised she was even more stunning than I had previously thought. Her skin was olive-coloured - beautifully tanned by the summer. Her long sun-lightened brown hair was perfectly straight and hung to one side of her face as she delicately tilted her head. I guessed she was about 22 or 23 years old but there was an independence and maturity about her that made her seem older, and certainly more alluring.

Although we both sat in complete silence I think she sensed that I was stealing glances at her from time to time. On a couple of ocassions I seemed to catch her surveying me in return. I don't think I am an unattractive guy. My body was in pretty good shape back then. I was tall and slim and kept myself clean and presentable whilst travelling. Although I looked a little young for my age. We must have been sitting opposite one another in silence for half an hour or so when it all began.

We were and had been alone in the compartment all this time, although I should note that during the previous thrity minutes a couple of other passengers had walked by our compartment as they passed along the corridor. Suddenly I noticed (and it really was all of a sudden, because nothing previously had indicated this was going to happen)that the girl had let her little white t-shirt ride up quite considerably above her waist. It was way too high to be accidental, but not high enough to be perceived as any kind of come-on, so I did and said nothing. Although I did keep on looking. Not continuously, but far more obviously than I had done before. I couldn't help myself. This gorgeous girl was revealing the most divine, soft brown-skinned stomach to me, and it contrasted so inticingly with the sky-blue of her little denim shorts, and the bright white of the t-shirt riding above her waist.

It was then that I suddenly thought to myself: maybe she was simply hot? Perhaps she was cooling down a little by uncovering her waist in the way that women sometimes tie a t-shirt up into a make-shift bikini top. But this thought was immediately abandoned when I watched what she did next. She suddenly (and quite obviously in a way designed to get my attention) reached a hand down to her navel and slowly unpopped the top button of her shorts. This astonishing gesture had two powerful results. First, it quickly woke me up to the incredible potential of the encounter; and second, it immediately revealed another priceless inch of her body to me. An incredibly soft looking tantalising glimpse of new flesh which had not been on view a few moments before. I no longer pretended to ocassionally look away. My gaze was now steadily fixed on the exposed stomach of this exotic goddess and the new keyhole-glimpse of what lay beneath her skimpy little shorts.

It was probably quite soon after - although it felt like a heavenly eternity - that her hand reached out again and unpopped a second button on the shorts. This time, the delicious contrast of the pastel-pink line of her panties came into view. I couldn't believe my eyes. This incredible young woman was undressing in front of me! My eyes instinctively flicked to my left as I suddenly contemplated the possibility that at any point another passenger could pass by the door and see what was going on. But as my gaze returned to hers, she lifted a hand to take her glasses off, and I saw straight away that she didn't share my concern in the slightest. On the contrary, there was a stunning look in this girl's adorable dark eyes as they stared back at me, and it immediately told me one thing clearly. She was impossibly turned on. There was a hunger in the way she was looking at me and this strange concentration that was both seductive and yet almost appeared possessed at the same time. She knew she was being naughty. It was turning her on and she knew quite clearly it was turning me on.

To be continued...