MEMORIES AND DREAMS – CHAPTER 1
This is a story when something dreadful happens and Charles and Molly only have their memories and dreams to get them through. Hope you like and not sure yet how long it will be but if people enjoy definitely have a lot of ideas.
Charles had boarded the train to London as he needed to head into the MOD as he had some intensive work over the next few days. There had been new information about the threat from ISIS and he had to go and review the information with his team and report back to COBRA yesterday. Everything COBRA needed was yesterday as information in the world changed in rapid time but he enjoyed this side of the desk part of the job.
Christmas festivities were over and he had enjoyed spending the most wonderful Christmas with his wife, three children and family. He was definitely a happily married man and that is something he never thought would be on the agenda after the breakdown of his marriage to Rebecca. Thinking of his family made him realise how tired he was with lack of sleep that only came with being new parents. Could he claim doubly tired as there were two of them and they were like a tag team? When one was ready to drop off it was then time for the other to wake up.
The train went straight into London Paddington and he knew he could definitely do with an hour plus power nap. Charles noted the train was relatively quiet for a Tuesday mid morning but the steady motion of the train as it sped to London was too much to resist and he closed his eyes and leant his face against the window.
The screech of brakes and the feeling of waking and crashing of metal woke him suddenly. The carriage he was on was leaving the track following the route of the others and he was thrown one way and the other as the carriage crashed onto its right side. He felt a jolt in his sternum as he was thrown forward and then another in his back as he made contact with the edge of the table. He heard a few screams and once he was able to assess whether he could move and had not broken anything he managed to start to clamber over the seats.
He heard shouts of come this way and he made for the voices. He saw a young lady with blood stained long hair cradling her baby.
"I will take the baby if you can move forward." He smiled at the lady reassuringly. "My name is Charles. What's yours and this little fella?" He asked indicating about the whimpering little baby in her arms.
"Rachel and he is Jack." The blonde clutched the left side of her temple as Charles could see blood pouring from a nasty gash.
He quickly undid his tie. "Give me Jack and wrap this around your head until we can get out of here and get some first aid." Rachel passed the squirming bundle to Charles and he reached to hold the blanket wrapped little boy. They moved forward slowly as they had to climb over the seats which made their movements slow and some of the chairs had dislodged which made it even more precarious.
Charles could see about five other people ahead of them making for their way towards the nearest exit. Someone ahead had managed to open a door and he could see people starting to climb out.
"Nearly there Rachel," He called as they made their way slowly ahead. Jack was very light and he was staring at Charles with big blue inquisitive eyes. Charles estimated him to be about four weeks and compared to the twins he was very light.
"Is Jack ok?"
"Yep he is doing great." Charles smiled at Rachel's concerned look. "He is an alert little guy."
They had reached the door and a big blond guy called Patrick was reaching out a hand to help Rachel out and then he took little Jack from Charles. Charles clambered through the door next and there was nobody behind. He could see the front three carriages had derailed and where perched on their right side at varying angles and the walking wounded were making their way up the embankment. He started to follow but then felt someone grab him from behind and then he remembered nothing.
….
Baby giggles would make anyone smile. Molly laughed as Katie made squeals of delight as she blew raspberries on her tummy. Lily was lying on the rug next to her sister, kicking her legs and joining in the chorus as her mummy reached across to her. The girls were at a lovely age. They were four months and laughed with enthusiasm, listened intently when Molly and Charles had their chat with their girls. Katie added her own voice during these conversation but Lily was more content to look intently at her parents. Almost as if she understood every word.
"Molly! Molly! Where are you?" A concerned Margaret James could be heard from the hallway and it was very high pitched and anxious.
Molly jumped to her feet and called back to Margaret."We are in the living room."
Margaret entered moments later with the look of a person being the bearer of not good news. The normally elegant, youthful lady looked haggard and seemed to have aged instantly.
Molly did not even need for Margaret to tell her to sit down as the look Margaret conveyed made Molly go weak at the knees and slowly sit on the sofa.
"W w w w..What is it?" Molly's voice was barely audible, knowing that she had to ask but knew from the look on Margaret's face that she did not want to know. It was not the look of anything good.
"There has been a train crash." Margaret started slowly. Finding it difficult to locate the words. She slowly sat on the sofa next to Molly. Molly felt her hand lifted and Margaret's hand was cold as it stroked hers. "It was the 10:30 Bath to London Paddington train…. Charles' train." After just getting the last word out, her voice broke and the tears streamed down her face. "I called Richard and he is on his way to the scene."
"Nooooooooooo. Nooooooooooo. Not Bossman. Life would not do that to us …not now." Her whole answer was a high pitched shrill scream of words that scared the babies and they both started to cry at the distress in their mother's voice. Molly turned to the girls and slid down onto the floor. Picking first Katie and then Lily into her arms as she stretched her legs out. "Ssssssssh girls …..It's ok. Mummy did not mean to scare you." She rocked them back and forward until they settled and then took a glance at an ashen Margaret. "Not Charles. He has too much to live for."
Margaret tried to smile at Molly but could not feel it. She put her arms out to take Lily and settled back onto the sofa rocking her back and forth. Time went by without any meaning. It was difficult to tell whether it had been minutes or hours. The TV news channel had a live word stream running at the bottom of the screen. "Breaking news. 10:30 Bath to London Paddington train crash. On site reports saying that there are survivors."
The news channel was waiting for a live new feed at the scene and Molly and Margaret were just watching the news feed with the now sleeping girls held in their arms. They seemed frozen in position and apart from blinking and breathing there was no other movement.
"Four tours of Afghanistan and getting through the gunshots. He is tough. He is always my rock. I won't believe he is not coming home." Molly gently ranted over and over again.
…
Richard spoke again to Chief Superintendent Miles, a tall distinguished peppered haired policeman leading the train crash inquiry. There had been no Charles James in the walking wounded and from the six bodies they had pulled from the wreckage no positive ID.
Charles was not to be found on the train and the sniffer dogs had been scouring the train and surrounding area to make sure that no bodies were trapped or had been thrown from the train as it crashed. Richard ran his hand through his greying curls and sighed. Margaret had seen Charles on the train as he had forgotten his jacket and Margaret had rushed to make sure that he had it. He was in the third carriage and that looked like it had the least damage of the three derailed carriages.
"My wife saw him on the train as it left and it had not stopped before it crashed so he has to be in the hospital or still on the train." Richard spoke with an authoritarian tone that got the point across that they still needed to account for one more.
Richard walked around the hospital waiting area with the Chief Superintendent Miles and shook his head as they walked around the various walking wounded from the train. Where was Charles? Richard could not bear the thought that his son was still lying on the train trapped or had been somehow crushed as it rolled.
"Excuse me officer." A pleasant woman's voice broke Richard's thoughts. "There was a man called Charles on the train. He helped me carry my baby...Jack. He gave me his blue Harvey Nick's tie to stop my head bleeding. Look I have it here. I have not seen him since we got out of the train." She was a pretty blonde with a bandage around her head and holding a small baby wrapped in a blue blanket.
"My name is Richard James." He spoke directly to the lady before CS Miles could get his words out. "What did Charles look like?" Tall, brown curly hair and brown eyes. Well spoken. Wearing a dark grey suit and the blue blood stained tie.
Rachel had described Charles in fine detail and there was no doubt she had met him. CS Miles looked at Richard and then called the police officer's on the scene. He described Charles encounter with Rachel and said that they need to comb the whole area again as there was still an unaccounted person from the crash.
…
The telephone ringing was a shrill alert to the trance Molly and Margaret were in. They looked at each other and Margaret handed Lily to Molly and went to answer the phone.
"Richard." Margaret's voice was anxious and she listened intently to the caller. "I don't understand." The caller continued to relay information to Margaret and she ended the call minutes later.
Margaret slowly walked back to the sofa and her face did not give anything away as there was still the distraught look but a look also of confusion.
"Margaret is he alive?" Molly's anxious voice broke the silence.
"They have not been able to find him." Margaret sat down and looked at Molly. "A woman called Rachel was able to identify meeting Charles as he helped her with her baby boy and gave her h is blue tie to help her head wound. But he has not been found. The police are not sure if he had a head injury and has wandered off confused. If not they don't have any explanation to where Charles is?"
"Margaret that does not make sense!" Molly looked bewildered and could not make sense to what Margaret was telling her. "Where is Charles? He has to be there especially if Rachel saw him and he helped her. How can he be missing" I don't understand!"
The doctor had to come later and sedate Molly while Margaret and Richard fed the girls with a mixture of formula and expressed milk. The police were not sure what had happened to Charles but Richard had already had his suspicions and had already called the necessary people.
I hope this did not cause too much angst and I hope that people will R&R. It was great to hear all the lovely writers that are all a part of mumsnet. More to follow