The Watch – Part 90:

Everyone had been evacuated from the train and the two people involved in the attack are now sitting in the back of Police cars, waiting to be sent to the station where they will be prosecuted accordingly. Once I was sure everything was going well, I slipped away to change back into my normal-self and re-join the group. I deactivated my powers and changed my clothes back into what I was wearing before, and all nonchalantly, mingled with the crowd. Walking through it until I found Amy, who was standing, looking at the place that I just was before I changed back, her eyes widened with shock.

‘I’m so glad I found you,’ I said to Amy in a relieved manner, making it sound as if I had been searching for her for a long time.

‘Where the hell have you been,’ Amy said, grabbing me and hugging me tightly. ‘You stupid idiot. What were you thinking disappearing on me like that? You could have gotten yourself hurt or worse.’ There was something about that tone of hers that made me think she suspected something, but it might be just over thinking things. ‘I was worried sick the moment you ran off.’ She was genuinely worried, which only meant she was genuinely scared. I didn’t mean for her to feel that way.

‘Sorry,’ I said, truly meaning it.

‘You should be,’ she said. ‘Don’t ever do that again. I can’t go through another experience like that again, OK,’ she was bordering becoming hysterical, so I hugged her once more, even tighter to tell her that I won’t be going anywhere from now on. After we broke apart for the second time, she had calmed down a bit, but still had that look of worry about her, and suspicion. Something didn’t quite add up, but I can’t get all wrapped up in those thoughts.

‘Did you see him?’ Amy asked.

‘I did,’ I said simply.

‘I generally thought that truck was going to hit the train, I mean, who didn’t. I was too scared to move out of the way. Then he appeared. It was amazing as to how close he left it before making a move. He pressed right up against my window; he couldn’t have gotten any closer without actually colliding with me,’ Amy explained. I could tell she was excited that she managed to get to see him in action so up close, and at the same time, so relieved that she was now standing outside, alive and well.’

‘I’m glad everything worked out the way it did,’ I said.

‘I’ll say.’

‘When I got to where all the confusion was, I didn’t see anything remotely interesting. Then he appeared, and I knew that there wasn’t anything I could do.

‘Well, I don’t care what happened down there because you’re OK and not hurt,’ Amy said with a smile.

‘And the same to you,’ I said. We hugged for about three seconds before ending that moment together, putting all our worries about one another to the back of our minds and moving on.

‘How long do you reckon we’ll be here for?’ Amy asked.

‘I’m not sure,’ I said looking around. ‘They have to be thorough with their investigation. ‘I mean, it shouldn’t be too long now,’ I said, ‘they’ve already caught the two people who were behind it.’

‘How do you know there are only two?’ Amy asked curiously.

Now I’ve done it. I thought of something on the spot and tried to make it sound as believable as I could.

‘They don’t seem to be searching for anybody else,’ I said, hoping that would be enough.

‘No, they don’t do they’ Amy said, looking over my shoulder to the group of Police Officers who were either talking on the radio, talking to their colleagues or talking to witnesses who were on the train. I made another mistake. I have to be more careful, but every time I try to be, I say something wrong. Maybe I shouldn’t try so hard and let things take their natural path. A Police Officer who looked to be the one in charge – but I was merely just guessing that one considering he walked from the car to the group of other Officers with a stride that was dripping with authority – and had a quick word with one of them who had just ended their conversation with someone over the radio. I’m too far away to hear what they were saying and I’m not good with lip reading, but I could guess that it had to do with wrapping this investigation up.

‘Is that it?’ Amy asked surprised.

‘I think so,’ I said just as surprised.

‘First, they don’t even do anything at the shopping centre and now they’re not doing a full investigation of this,’ Amy said. I knew where she was going with this, ‘I mean, it’s as if they’re obeying orders from high command.’ Something came together in her mind, making her realise something and her eyes bulge out of her sockets. I noticed her expression and said.

‘What’s the matter?’ I asked.

‘I’m going to take a very long shot and this is probably going to be so far from the truth that it is hardly worth mentioning,’ she said.

‘What is it?’ I pressed, wanting to know what made Amy is so worked up all of a sudden.

‘We discussed, earlier, that we thought that the investigation of the shopping centre didn’t happen because of the secret organisation had some kind of influence over the matter,’ she explained rather cryptically.

‘Go on,’ I said before the penny dropped. It was now my turn for my eyes to bulge out of my sockets and my mouth to drop to the floor with a thud. ‘You mean.’

Amy nodded.

‘That the organisation is having some kind of influence over this situation and that’s why the investigation hasn’t been going on for as long as it usually does,’ I explained as best I could with a jaw that was on the floor.

Amy nodded again.

‘I must say, as much as it does make sense, it is rather a long shot in a very dark room, but we can most certainly put that to one side and discuss that later,’ I said.

‘So you’re not going to call me crazy for over-thinking things, then,’ Amy said adopting another version of surprise.

‘From what we’ve discussed,’ I said, ‘you have to over-think things for anything that we’ve just witnessed to make any kind of sense,’ I said. ‘If that makes sense,’ I added.

‘It does,’ Amy said smiling.

***

It didn’t take long for the Police Officers to find a new train driver and, after double checking things, allowing him to climb aboard along with all the passengers and resume the journey. That never happens. Never in the history of locomotive incidents as big as this one were they allowed to just carry on. As weird as it sounds, this train is allowed to continue onwards to its final destination, passing through Manningtree along the way where we would be getting off. And as luck would have it, which is running high at the moment, our next station was next, so we didn’t have far to go before we could get off and walk to Mistley and carry out our own investigation of trying to figure out how Amy might have travelled in time.

As the train sped up, I couldn’t help but think of that secret organisation that may or may not exist. I mean, the more I do think about it, the more the evidence points towards their being one working behind the scenes and influencing certain situations where and when necessary. I knew that this wasn’t going to be anything solid, but it is rather a coincidence that something that would explain the existence of the secret organisation happened when I was there, which can mean two things.

One, the secret organisation does exist and is tracking my movement with the watch, or two, there are many situations that involve the influence of the organisation but I now notice them a lot more because I have the watch that allows me to broaden my horizons so much further than before.

Or there could be a third reason: All of the above.

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)