The Watch – Part 91:

The train pulled into Manningtree station. As Amy and I stepped off, we saw a bunch of people doing the opposite. All those people may never know of what happened before we arrived. The chances of it being mentioned on the news, if our suspicions are correct, are slim to none.

‘You alright?’ I asked Amy. After that experience, Amy appears to be calmer than I had expected, even though I didn't really have an expectation on how calm she should be. Amy doesn't seem to be tense, is all I'm trying to say.

‘As calm as I’ll ever be,’ Amy said, pleased that she was finally off the train. The weather wasn’t that different from home, but we did notice the significant drop in temperature due to this place being next to the river, but even so, if the wind blows in the right direction, we were able to feel the heat of today brush over us as we walked out of the station, down the main road, over the roundabout and along the road towards Manningtree itself.

‘That crossing was rather busy don’t you think,’ Amy said, turning back and seeing the roaring traffic stop at the roundabout as the gates for the level crossing closed. ‘They should add some traffic lights or something for there’s going to be an accident at some point.’

‘Maybe not traffic lights, but just a zebra crossing, just so that we pedestrians could cross without rushing.’ I said.

‘Oh, I don’t think a zebra crossing is going to solve the massive build-up of traffic at the bridge,’ Amy countered, ‘I think that if they put a set of traffic lights there, one side would be able to go, then the other, and everyone would be able to cross without hassle,’ Amy explained thoughtfully.

‘Makes sense,’ I said. ‘But there is already a give-way point at the bridge that cars have to stop at if another one is coming through from the other side. A zebra crossing will actually act as a set of traffic lights anyway as the traffic would stop to let pedestrians across, letting the cars from the other side go. If you put a set of traffic lights there, it would eliminate the usefulness of the roundabout as there would be a massive queue all around it and along the road waiting for the lights to change. But a zebra crossing would stop the traffic and keep the steady flow as well,’ I explained carefully so to not mix up my words. ‘Plus, it’ll be a lot cheaper than a set of traffic lights,’ I added as we were just passing under the arched bridge. A train clattered over it, creating a loud rumbling echo. A car stopped at one end to let a lorry complete with trailer pass underneath and turn into the industrial estate just afterwards.

‘It would be cheaper, I will agree with you on that one,’ Amy said, ‘but I just think it would be OK to spend some money if it means preventing accidents.’

‘I think that there would be more accidents due to the build-up of traffic caused by the traffic lights as everyone is trying to get through if they don’t want to go in that particular direction than if there would be.

‘That does make some sense,’ Amy said. ‘How about,’ she added after a second of thought, ‘they keep it the same that way everyone is used to how it works and there won’t be any accidents as people try to adjust to a sudden change in the road layout.’

‘I think that is a good compromise,’ I said.

‘I do, too,’ Amy said as we had just passed the industrial estate and coming up to the supermarket. ‘So where’s the misplaced sign that welcomes us to Manningree,’ Amy said, looking around as we had just passed a zebra crossing and entering what looks like the high street itself.

‘You know, I was wondering the same thing,’ I said.

‘We must have passed it as we were discussing how we could improve the road layout back at the roundabout,’ Amy suggested.

‘We must have, yeah,’ I said.

‘So where is the actual start to Manningtree, then?’ Amy said.

‘Just up here,’ I pointed towards a building that had a large golden bull hanging on one side for everyone to see. I carried on walking, only to notice that Amy wasn’t beside me anymore. I turned around and found her staring upwards at a building. I walked back and re-joined her.

‘What you looking at?’ I asked curiously.

‘That clock,’ she said simply. I stood beside her and looked upwards.

‘What about it?’

‘Don’t you see the massive mistake,’ Amy said.

‘I don’t.’

‘Look at the numbers,’ Amy said. ‘Count them off for me.’

‘OK,’ I said becoming even more curious. ‘One, two, three, four, five, six, eight, seven, nine, ten, eleven, twelve,’ I reeled off before looking at Amy with an expression that asked what I was supposed to be looking at. Then the penny dropped and I snapped my attention towards the clock face once more.

‘The eight and the seven’s the wrong way round,’ I said so much more astonished than I knew the situation needed.

‘I know, right,’ Amy said.

‘Come to the think of it,’ I said, looking through my memory, ‘I’m sure my dad said something about that clock some time ago, but for the life of me I can’t remember what he said.’ I thought hard, trying to remember something. ‘I think they took the clock down to refurbish it, spent five-thousand pounds on it, only to make that mistake,’ I said without certainty.

‘Five-thousand pounds well spent, I’d say,’ Amy joked. ‘A mistake that big, I wouldn’t be surprised if it has now become a tourist attraction.’

‘I should hope it has, for it really would be a lot of money down the drain,’ I said.

‘Come on,’ Amy said after we had finished looking at the clock, ‘we’ve got an abandoned station to get to.’

‘Right beside you,’ I said and we resumed our journey towards and through Manningtree.

‘See that Indian restaurant,’ I said to Amy pointing to a very crooked-looking building.

‘Yeah?’ Amy said.

‘That is both the oldest building in and the official beginning of Manningtree town,’ I said.

‘Cool,’ Amy said with awe, studying the way the building leaned to one side.

‘Now, if you follow me, I’ll take you to the end,’ I said.

‘Right behind you,’ Amy said.

We walked through the entire town of Manningtree.

‘Even here there’s a Tesco,’ Amy said, shaking her head.

‘No town can escape from its clutches,’ I joked.

‘You can say that again.’

‘No town can escape from its clutches,’ I repeated casually,

‘Very funny,’ Amy said sarcastically. ‘Remind me not to say that ever again.’ I just smiled.

We rounded a very sharp and narrow corner that a bus was struggling to get around, but at the same time swung around with confidence as it knew it could get around it without too much hassle. As we exited the corner, we were presented with the beginning of the walls. Just after them, a rich smell of sea water mixed with mud floated up to us and greeted us without too much power.

‘And that’s the end,’ I said.

‘Is that it,’ Amy said, looking back.

‘That’s it,’ I confirmed.

‘But that felt like it was only yards long,’ Amy said.

‘It doesn’t take that long to go from one end to the other,’ I said.

‘Blimey. I knew it was going to be small, but I didn’t know it would be that small.’

‘I had the same reaction the first time I saw it for myself,’ I said.

‘I suspect everyone did,’ Amy nodded.

‘I can quite believe that.’

‘And the walls do look stunning, if I am just saying it myself,’ Amy said directing her attention towards the scene that presented us. A train had just appeared from behind some trees in the distance, completing the look that would only exist in a professionally painted painting.

‘Come on,’ Amy said, ‘let’s move along and see if we could get a better view,’ Amy said.

‘You’re in for a treat,’ I said enthusiastically.

Loads of people were sitting either on the grass or on the benches provided, eating ice-cream, just having a nice conversation or taking a tonne of photos with their very expensive cameras that would be able to recreate the look of the real thing instead of some cheap reconstruction that would be an insult to the scene’s beauty. I have been here many times before with my dad as we drove or walked passed, but it never becomes old. Amy’s eyes were bulging out of her head with excitement as if they wanted to get a closer look at things.

‘Woah,’ Amy said, stopping in her tracks, ‘now that’s what I call a lot of swans,’ she said. In front of us, a massive group of swans were either walking about, taking off, just landing, asleep, or sitting down or grooming themselves. As everywhere else, a group of people were taking plenty of photos. The swans weren’t fazed by the group of people, which told me that the swans have been here for quite some time, and so have the people. We carried walking along the path, passed the people and the swans until we had the path to ourselves for a change.

‘See that small, humped bridge over there,’ I said, pointing to the other side of the road. It was a small bridge, with bushes neatly cut back to make way for the path so no one is having their clothes snagged on any of the brambles or stray twigs. Just behind the bridge was a small river with an uncountable amount of Lilly pads floating on the surface.

‘Yeah,’ Amy said.

‘That is supposedly where the Witch Finder General, Anthony Hopkins, tested to see whether people were witches or now. If they drowned, they weren’t a witch, and if they floated, they were one.’

‘Supposedly?’ Amy asked.

‘Well, many people say that the true location was back at the market place. I should have said something, but the clock distracted us. Anyway, yes, that humped bridge is supposedly having been the place, but many people do claim that the actual pace is back in the market place.

‘Fair enough,’ Amy said.

‘And his house, which is now a well-established pub called the Thorne, is just up there, before the hill,’ I explained pointing in front of us.’

‘You do seem to know a lot about this place,’ Amy said.

‘Well, when you’re dad’s long-time friend lives here, you tend to get to know the place from him and from travelling here a lot.’

Amy was about to say something when she started smelling something in the air. ‘What’s that smell,’ Amy said. ‘Smells like the country,’ she said.

‘That would be the Mistley zoo,’ I said, pointing in the same direction of the bridge, but just over it and in the background, where, in the distance a group of animals were running around happily.

‘That would be it,’ Amy said before continuing. ‘How far is it to the station?’

‘In the middle of the hill that’s just after the Mistley Towers,’ I said.

‘Which look like they have been here for quite some time,’ Amy said with awe.

‘There used to be a middle section, but for reasons that I can’t remember, it isn’t there anymore.’

‘I can see that. Another tourist attraction,’ Amy said.

‘It has brought a lot of people in,’ I said.

‘I’m not surprised in the slightest.’

We carried on, past the swan fountain that is no longer functional anymore due to reasons that I cannot remember. I think it was supposed to be refurbished but no one got around to it after they had drained the water.

‘They do like their swans,’ Amy stated.

Then we started the climb the hill. Past the brewery that gave off a very strong smell of malt.

‘You have reached your destination,’ I said as we have come across the now abandoned station that was in the video.

‘Right,’ Amy said enthusiastically, ‘now we can go about getting some answers.’

TO BE CONTINUED…

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)