by Nikki Young
“Mum’s car. Station. Ten to,” he said, or at least that’s what it sounded like. He still had his toothbrush in his mouth, so the words came out all spitty, along with white blobs of toothpaste, which Jess had to dodge as she pushed past him.
In her mind, Jess did the calculation. She had twenty minutes to get ready, which meant prioritising. Deciding cleanliness was preferable to breakfast, Jess dived in and out of the shower, then dressed for school, fumbling with the buttons on her shirt. It wasn’t until she got to the last one, she realised they were done up wrong, but there was no time to re-do them. Feeling uncomfortable, in tights twisted round the wrong way and wet hair dripping down her back, she grabbed her school bag and ran downstairs. Her mum was shouting at them to hurry and get in the car.
Declan threw an apple in Jess’s direction, which she tried to catch but missed, picking it up from the floor and shoving it in her bag anyway, knowing it would develop a horrible bruised bit. She added a banana and a cereal bar and hobbled out of the door after him, shoes half on and half off her feet. Risking catching a cold by going out with wet hair in wintertime and threatening to ruin her school shoes by bending the backs down was against everything Jess stood for and it was making her feel queasy.
She plonked into the car, almost tripping up as she did so, and slammed the door shut just as her mum set off out of the drive, as though they were leaving the starting line of the Grand Prix.
They hadn’t gone far when they reached a set of temporary traffic lights that seemed to have magically appeared overnight. For a moment Jess wondered whether they might be stuck on red.
Her mum shouted at them as if they were able to hear her. “Come on, change, will you? Are you even working? They’re not working, are they? There’s no one coming from the other side, I’m going through if they don’t change in a minute. Come on! Change!”
Neither Jess nor Declan spoke, which was unusual for Declan. Jess shrank down in her seat and thought she might die of embarrassment if her mum went through a temporary traffic light on red. She concentrated on re-doing her shirt buttons, taking advantage of the fact the car was stationary. Then, as the lights changed and the car sped through, it swayed, hurling both Jess and Declan to one side and then the other, causing Jess to bump her head on the window.
“Ouch! That hurt,” she said, rubbing at what was sure to be a bruise and feeling just like her poor apple.
“Sorry, Jess, you all right? Nearly there.”
She didn’t want to seem ungrateful—Mum was going out of her way to take them to the station after all—but Jess was relieved their journey was nearly over.
Declan and Jess jumped out of the car the moment it screeched to a halt outside the ticket office.
“Doors!” Mum shouted as they ran off, leaving the doors wide open in their rush to get to the train.
Doing a speedy about-turn, Jess and her brother hurried back, shutting the doors just in time, before their mum sped off again.
“Laters,” Declan said to Jess, as he took the stairs two at a time, up to the bridge that led towards the platform at the far side. Even though they went to the same school, they didn’t sit together on the train. Declan was far too cool for that, and besides, Jess wouldn’t want to anyway. She and her friends had their own usual spot on the platform and she was sure they’d all be waiting there already, wondering where she was. She was just about to set off towards the stairs, when the three of them came running towards her, puffing their way up the hill.
“You’re late too?” Jess said, stating the obvious, she knew, but the morning was starting to feel just a little too strange and it was unnerving her.
“What a nightmare, you won’t believe what happened this morning,” Nadia said, panting as she held onto Jess with one arm, bent over and trying to catch her breath. “Save it for the train. It’s here—look?” Tomma said. “Come on, let’s go.”
Typical of Tomma, he always took on the role of leader in the group, even though he was actually the youngest of the four of them. Jess didn’t mind though, and Ash was so easy-going he was almost horizontal. It was Nadia whom it bothered the most. She was just as strong a character as Tomma and didn’t like to feel as though she was being told what to do.
Not that she had time to argue. The four of them dashed towards the stairs and Jess tried to take them two at a time like her brother had but failed on account of being much less fit and having shorter legs. Tomma and Ash steamed ahead, as did Nadia.
“Come on, Jess, hurry!” Nadia said, waving her hand as if by pure magic she could lure Jess towards her.
“Down this way,” Ash said, directing them towards a hedge where they could get through to the platform.
Although it was a shortcut to the platform, no one ever used it because it went to the farthest end, which few trains were long enough to reach. The children didn’t have any choice though and, when they squeezed through, they were within reach, just about, of the very last part of the very last carriage of the train.
The whistle blew.
Chapter 3
The Steam Train
“Get in, quick!” Tomma said, shoving Jess in first, then Nadia, before jumping in behind Ash.
Almost a head and shoulders taller than the rest of them, Tomma could have easily passed for a couple of years older. His dad was the local rugby coach and an ex-professional player, and Tomma was built the same way, seeming to have grown almost daily in the last year.
Jess remembered when they’d been the same height, but now she found herself looking up at him and he didn’t look out of place at secondary school at all, not like the other timid little Year Sevens with their oversized blazers and rucksacks almost as big as them. Tomma had the confidence of someone who was comfortable in their own skin. Tomma, with the jet-black hair, along with those unusual almond-shaped eyes—something that hadn’t gone unnoticed by the other girls in their year. Jess had seen the way some of them looked at him and she knew it shouldn’t irritate her, but it did.
The door clicked shut as Tomma pulled it closed before flopping down next to Jess. Everyone was breathing hard, too shocked to speak, at least for the first few minutes anyway.
“Woo-hoo, that was awesome!” Ash said. “Didn’t think we were going to make it on here. Did you see what I did taking us down that short cut? Genius I am.” He sat back, hands interlocked over his stomach, looking as though he’d just won a Nobel Prize.
“Did you have a power cut last night too?” Jess said. She lived on the opposite side of the village to Nadia, Ash and Tomma, who all lived within two streets of each other.
“Yeah, my clock was flashing 3:42 when Mum came in and woke me up,” Nadia said.
Jess, in her laidback, relaxed position, suddenly sat up straight and stared at Nadia with her eyes wide. “Mine said that too.”
“I don’t need an alarm clock. Anit is always awake at 6.30, alarm or no alarm,” Ash said. He pulled a face, but everyone knew he doted on his baby sister, no matter what she did.
“Didn’t make any difference to me either. I had my phone in my room anyway,” Tomma said.
“You’re allowed your phone in your room? Lucky! The only thing I’m allowed in my room is study books. Might as well be locked in there until I’m eighteen,” Ash said.
He mimed a noose being tightened around his neck, making the noise of someone choking. Jess elbowed him in the ribs. Despite his strict family, Ash always managed to make a joke about his situation, somehow accepting of the way things were.
Jess shivered. It was only a power cut, but something didn’t feel quite right to her. She was also easily spooked by anything out of the ordinary. Tomma was looking at her as if she was crazy, but he, of all people, knew what she could be like; they’d been the closest out of the four of them. Until recently that was. Jess had noticed things between them had become awkward and could tell Tomma had similar feelings. Although she liked being around him, Jess felt shy in his company, yet whenever he wasn’t there, she mi
ssed him. She threw him a hurt glare and at least he had the decency to look sorry.
“I’ve been running around the garden trying to catch Anit’s rabbit,” Ash said. “Today of all days the stupid thing decided to do a runner. Mum was going hysterical because she said Anit loves that bunny and she’ll be devastated if it escapes.”
“Look at the state of this,” Nadia said, seemingly ignoring Ash as she pulled at her long brown curls. “I almost got blown up by my hairdryer. Then my brush got stuck and I thought I would have to come to school with it still stuck in, but Mum helped pull it out. She had to cut a bit of hair off though. What a nightmare!”
“I spilt cereal all down my uniform and Mum made me change,” Tomma said. “I don’t know why. I said it didn’t matter, but she wasn’t having any of it. She always insists we turn up smart wherever we’re going.”
Power cut or not, they had all had crazy mornings, causing them to be late and almost miss the train. Jess was glad she wasn’t the only one feeling a little ‘off’ that day and she began to relax, laughing along with the others, as they competed for who had had the worst time of it. But as she looked around the carriage, something struck her as strange and a feeling of unease began to creep back over her.
“This train is ancient,” she said. “And why are we the only ones on here?”
The first thing Jess thought of was the Hogwarts Express from Harry Potter and she blinked as she looked around. They’d bumbled in, without even thinking about it, and were now sat inside an enclosed carriage that had two benches, one opposite the other, the seats of which were covered in a scratchy carpet-like red material that was almost bare from years of being sat on. A musty smell lingered in the air and the carriage was dark and gloomy due to all the dark wood on the walls and doors. Outside of the sliding glass doors of the little compartment, was a narrow corridor that ran along the length of the carriage. There was an identical seating compartment next to theirs but that one was empty.
“You have got to be kidding,” Nadia said, noticing her surroundings for the first time too. She didn’t seem phased by it though, more irritated than anything else. “Have they brought this train out of the museum or something?”
She pulled her jacket closer around her, turning her nose up at the smell and shifting from side to side as she looked at the thread-bare seating.
“Why is there no one else in here?” Jess repeated, the silence of the carriage unnerving her.
Usually packed at that time of day—the school kids having to share the train with commuters—the friends never got a seat, yet there they were in a carriage all to themselves.
“We are on the right train, aren’t we?” Jess stood up and was about to step out of the carriage when Nadia pulled at her coat, forcing her to sit back down with a thump.
“Relax, Jess, it’s probably because we’re at the back,” Nadia said, rubbing Jess’s arm in an attempt to soothe her friend, even though it was likely to be futile. “Sometimes they add extra carriages. We’ve never been this far down before. You never know, this could be here every day and we just didn’t notice it.”
“Yeah, but it does look like it’s come straight from the transport museum,” Ash said. ‘I know because I went there in the summer. I’m not surprised no one else is on here, it stinks!”
“It doesn’t make sense. Something doesn’t feel right to me,” said Jess, standing up again.
Nadia scowled at Ash. “Nice one, now look what you’ve done. You’re freaking Jess out.” She gave him a look that warned him to keep his mouth shut and then turned her attention back to Jess who was nibbling at her thumbnail and looking close to tears. Nadia turned to Tomma for inspiration. If anyone could calm Jess down, it was him.
“Ah, well, who’s complaining?” Tomma said. “I’m just going to enjoy having a seat to myself for once.” He stretched out his long legs, resting his hands at the back of his head.
Nadia looked to the heavens and shook her head, muttering under her breath about useless people having no idea, before standing up and stepping out of the carriage to look around.
“It does seem slow though,” she said, as she peered out of the window. “And it smells like the steam railway I went to one Christmas when I was little, but don’t worry, Jess, I’m sure it’s all fine. We’re moving, aren’t we?”
At that moment, the train gave a loud ‘toot toot’ and the children looked at each other and frowned.
Jess was sure she could hear the ‘chugga chugga’ sound of an old steam train. She got up, stepping out of the compartment and into the corridor to join Nadia. The train had picked up speed but was only moving at a steady pace, not zooming along as it usually did. Jess tried the door through to the next carriage. It was locked. She tried to see through, but the glass was too dark.
Another loud hoot caused her to jump and she screeched, “Doesn’t do that normally,” before backing into the compartment and sitting down next to Tomma, almost knocking Nadia over in her haste.
“Stop panicking, it’s fine,” Nadia said, poking her head into the compartment as she leaned against the sliding doors. “So, it’s an old train, who cares? Still works, doesn’t it? I think it’s cool.”
Jess wished she were more like her friend. Nothing seemed to bother Nadia, unlike Jess who found everything difficult and stressful. Nadia would always throw herself into anything headfirst, without stopping to think about the consequences. Jess had to analyse everything to the Nth degree before she would even attempt it. She wondered if being so different was what made them such good friends.
Ash got up and went into the corridor, pulling down the top part of the door to stick his head out of the window.
“Ash, don’t.” Jess leapt up and tugged on his coat to pull him back in. Her heart was almost in her mouth. “What if we go through a tunnel and your head gets chopped off?” She’d heard about that happening before. It was the sort of big-brotherly wisdom that Declan was so fond of telling her, or showing her on YouTube and giving her nightmares forevermore.
“I’m just having a look, that’s all. It’s cool, you should see.”
Jess backed away and Ash laughed, though not cruelly.
“You won’t believe it unless you see,” he said, shouting above the noise of the engine. “It’s a steam train, all of it.”
Tomma jumped up, pushing Jess out of the way. He came to join Nadia and Ash and the three of them took turns to put their heads out of the window, making sounds of ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh,’ seeming not to care that it was freaking Jess out.
She sat back down on one of the benches and stared around at the empty carriage, thinking once again about the ghosts of the past that Mrs Kennedy had talked about in their history lesson. Who had travelled in this train and what were their stories? Had they put their luggage on the wire racks above the seats and sat looking out of the window as the world passed by? Were they going to Leeds? Or further afield, to York? Scarborough? Why today, of all days, when everything seemed to have gone wrong so far, did they end up sitting alone in this strange train? There were so many questions racing around in her mind that Jess didn’t even notice the others come back in.
It felt as though the train was alive, pulsing along the tracks, the movement providing a rhythmic beat that was both hypnotic and soothing. Nadia got out her phone and after staring at it for a few seconds, she shook it before holding it in the air and sighing.
“I haven’t got a signal, have you?”
The others checked theirs and they all showed ‘no service.’
Nadia threw her phone back into her bag and got out her book instead. Jess ate her snacks, absentmindedly staring out of the window again, back into thoughts of the past, only faintly registering the boys chuckling away at her side. But then the train hooted again, so loud it caused Jess to jump. The others laughed.
“Urgh, it stinks! Shut the window, someone,” Nadia said, holding her nose. Tomma got up and Jess tried not to cringe when he looked out of the window again.
“It’s the smoke from the engine,” he said, pulling the window up to shut it and coming back to sit down. “I can’t believe it’s a proper old steam train. Wait ’til we tell the others at school.”
“If we ever get to school,” Jess said. “What time is it anyway? This thing seems to have stopped.” She shook her wrist and tapped at her watch. The others checked theirs and found they had the same problem.
No phone signal, all their watches had stopped and they had no idea what the time was. Even so, Jess could tell that at the speed the train was travelling there was no way they would get to school on time.
Chapter 4
Where’s Our School?
When the train arrived at Hickley, the big old clock face that hung suspended from the painted-metal internal framework of the Victorian station was just beginning to chime. It was a quarter to nine, which meant the usual twenty-minute journey had taken forty-five and the children had just five minutes to get to school before registration.
“Oh great,” Nadia said, as she looked up at the clock. “What’s going on today? We seem to be late for everything.”
She adjusted the bag strap on her shoulder and was just about to look around when Tomma pushed through to take his position at the front of the pack.
“We’re going to have to leg it up the road,” Tomma said. “Come on.”
The slow, bumpy train journey, coupled with the stress of worrying about what was going on, had left Jess feeling a little sick. The thought of having to run up the hill to school made her feel worse, but she knew she had no choice and so she set off after the others. They were all in such a hurry that they barely noticed just how different their surroundings were, such as the Shire horse and carriage waiting outside the station, even as they stepped over a large pile of horse dung that made their nostrils curl.
They didn’t stop to wonder about how old-fashioned the cars were and why the roads were cobbled instead of tarmacked smooth; why women were dressed in long skirts, with matching jackets and hats, whilst men whizzed by in top hats and long-tailed jackets. None of that registered at that moment, as all their focus was on getting to school. The world around them was nothing but a blur.