The Watch – Part 88:

The walk to the station was uneventful. Basically, all that happened was we were discussing what we might find and Amy half walking, half skipping all the way from the house to the station. It was a twenty-minute walk and as planned. We arrived at the station, paid for our tickets, and the 8:10 train turned up right on time. We climbed aboard and found a good set of seats. Nowadays, due to everyone knowing that they’re not going to get a seat because of the train being so busy, they book their seats in advanced, which not only guarantees them a seat, but guarantees us a standing position by the doors as can’t find any seats that don’t have that little white ticket sticking out of the top. We went from carriage to carriage trying to find two empty seats. The problem was, you have no idea whether the person who has booked it hasn’t showed up or has already been and gone and no one has come and collected it, and it is a rather awkward conversation when the person who has booked those seats find you sitting there.

Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about standing or being interrupted as we found two seats, by the window, that weren’t booked, so we were able to make ourselves comfortable and relax for the entire journey.

‘When we get to Manningtree, we have to walk the rest of the way,’ I started to explain to Amy. ‘Before Mistley station closed, we would have been able to change trains and go from Manningtree to Mistley that way, but instead of taking what can be classed as a shortcut, we have to walk through the high street, past the walls and the towers, and then up past the brewery. I’ve been past the walls before and I can tell you that it is really quite picturesque.’

‘Really,’ Amy was interested in what else I have to say.

‘Also, do you know that Manningtree is the smallest town in England? Its entire high street is the town itself,’ I said.

‘I have heard something about that, yeah. Apparently, the signs have been moved further up, telling people that they’re entering Manningtree way before the high street.’

‘That may be so,’ I said, ‘but the official records still state that Manningtree is the smallest town in England. The signs being moved doesn’t mean a thing. According to many residents in Manningtree, it does get rather annoying that they have to explain just how small Manningtree actually is instead of being told via the signs, which have been moved.’

‘That can get rather annoying,’ Amy agreed.

‘Also,’ I continued. ‘In Mistley, there is a sunken boat that, when the tide is out, you can see it sitting in the mud. It has become a landmark for Mistley and many people do come down just to see it. And when the tide is up, there’s a buoy that floats on top of the water, indicating where the boat is so that other boats don’t crash into it.’

‘Sounds like Manningtree and Mistley have quite the history,’ Amy said rather delighted that she’s going there.’

‘My dad’s long-time friend has quite a collection of all the history about the town and its neighbouring villages, Mistley and Lawford. Manningtree station itself is rather a unique place.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘Well, it’s named Manningtree Station, but it’s built in Lawford on Mistley soil. They had to transport some soil from Mistley to help build up the foundation so that the station wouldn’t fall down in any way.’

‘Anything else?’ Amy said, eager to know more.

‘That’s all I have, I’m afraid,’ I said. ‘But I’m sure we’ll be able to find something new and interesting whilst walking through it.’

‘If what you’ve said so far, I don’t doubt that we wouldn’t,’ Amy said. ‘Now, I fancy a drink and a muffin, do you want anything?’

‘A muffin would be nice,’ I said. ‘How much are they?’ I said, reaching for my bag to pull out my wallet.

‘Don’t be silly,’ Amy said, ‘I’ll get them.’

‘You sure?’ I said quite surprised.

‘I am,’ Amy said and before I could try and persuade her that I would get the muffin myself, she stood up and headed into the next carriage, swaying from side to side slightly as the train rattled across the tracks at about 80MPH. The roads and houses and many fields flew past before I could focus on anything particular. I stared out of the window until Amy returned with a delicious smelling blueberry muffin and a cup of coffee for herself and an equally delicious chocolate muffin for me with a side order of apple juice.

‘Thanks,’ I said.

‘No problem,’ Amy said, sitting back down.

‘You sure that you…’

‘I’m sure,’ Amy said before I could finish my question. We ate our muffins and Amy drunk her coffee before resuming our conversations. Our conversation didn’t last very long as we noticed that the train was slowing down.

‘Maybe we’re coming to a station,’ Amy said.

‘But this train is going straight through. We shouldn’t be stopping at any stations,’ I explained. ‘It has to be a signal or something.’ The train came to a complete standstill and everyone on the train waited patiently for it to get going again or for an announcement to explain this sudden action. Could be anything.

Then there was a sudden, loud noise that shot panic through everyone’s bodies. We turned to see if we could notice anything about what was going on, but all that we saw were a couple of people standing up and rushing to the front of the train. Something moved in my peripheral vision, catching my attention and making me look out of the window. Something was moving towards the train. It was too far away to see exactly what it was, but there was one thing about was for certain: It wasn’t any help. The closer it came, the larger it grew, and it didn’t show any sign of stopping. Was it going to ram us off the tracks? The fact that it was getting closer and closer without any indication of pulling on the breaks told me everything that I needed to know. I had to do something. From the looks of things, it was going to plough straight through this particular carriage. I stood up and shuffled my way out into the main walkway between the seats.

‘Where are you going?’ Amy asked, alarmed that I even got up. She had a worried expression.

‘To see if I can help,’ I said, hoping that would be a valid excuse considering a bunch of people had gone down there to see if they could put a stop to whatever was going on.

‘But you’re not a member of the team,’ Amy said hurriedly. ‘They’re not going to let you get anywhere near.’ I didn’t waste any time arguing with Amy. I’m not going to see this train derailed. I didn’t know what was happening, but I knew that my watch would be able to give me the necessary help in order to put a stop to it without causing any real harm or damage.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)