Author's note: I've altered the way I'm showing the railway magic's "voice" inside Jeanie's head by emboldening it.
Chapter 29
Gemma flicked on the landing light as she rushed to Jeanie's bedroom, and saw her sister writhing violently and muttering some form of incoherent protest about something in her sleep. Her quilt had long since been kicked off by her treading feet and was bunched up on the floor in between her bed and the far wall. She'd gone to bed in her underwear and, Gemma thought to herself, must be freezing cold!
"JEANIE, IT'S ME, GEMMA! IT'S ALL RIGHT!" she called out as she sat down on the bed beside her, wrapping her arms around her to try and calm her down, fending off Jeanie's flailing arms as she did so. She let out a pained "Oof!" when an errant elbow banged sharply against the side of her head, then she tried some softer cries of "Jeanie, wake up! You're safe! I'm here for you!", which competed against the rapid gasps of her now-panicking sister as she, in her nightmare, perceived some form of physical entrapment, increasing her need to escape whatever peril she was dreaming of.
Then she had to call out her sister's name several times as she struggled to hold on to Jeanie before she finally began to calm down, tentatively releasing her hold on her and softly stroking her forehead as she whispered that it was okay and the nightmare was over. Instead of waking up, though, Jeanie turned over onto her side, away from her and the light shining in from the landing, curling up into a ball and murmuring sadly that she was too young to die. Her breathing, now sounding more regular, did little to salve Gemma's concern for her as she pondered over what her sister just said about dying. Dear God, she thought to herself, What the hell's she been doing with herself?
Looking down at her now-sleeping sister, Gemma wondered if she ought to rouse her from her sleep to check that she was actually okay, but then she recalled hearing somewhere that waking up somebody from a nightmare was a really bad thing to do, or was that sleepwalking? she asked herself. Deciding to do nothing but just sit there for a moment and watch in case she started up again, she felt somewhat relieved as her sister's breathing remained steady. She tried to recall exactly what she'd had been saying, but couldn't make any sense of it. Believing the episode to be over, she got up and went around the side of the bed to pick up the quilt and cover her over so she wouldn't get cold as she slept.
Then, sighing to herself, she then went back out onto the landing, her hand poised for a few moments over the light switch as she debated whether or not to leave the light on in case her sister woke up, but switched it off before going back into Jeanie's room and climbing into bed next to her. It was a single-size bed and so she carefully aligned herself against her sister's curled-up form, reaching an arm over until she found her sister's un-bandaged hand and held onto it. She'd wait until after breakfast before questioning her about her nightmare, and so closed her eyes to try and get back to sleep, wondering at the same time if the poor girl had maybe been involved in some sort of near-fatal accident or something in work, and if she had been having other nightmares before this?
Gemma was only four-years old when her mother had been knocked down and killed by a car whilst crossing the road, and when her widowed daddy had re-married not long after, it had taken her a while before she began to accept her "new" mammy. When Jeanie's elder brother, then Jeanie and then her younger brother had come along, each new addition had helped to strengthen that developing bond, but she had never forgotten her "first" mother, and, later, as she grew into her teens, still helping to bring up her three step-siblings, her relationship with them became more maternal than fraternal, and she began to think of herself as their mother in place of the one that had "gone to live in the sky", as her father had told her at the funeral when she was younger.
That bond was further strengthened when her step-mother broke her ankle after falling off a ladder whilst cleaning the upstairs windows, and her father asked her to help him with the threesome until her foot was better, and, since then, she was often the one they turned to for help or advice as they grew up. Unfortunately, this led to arguments between her and her step-mother, ending up with her looking to leave home as soon as she was able.
After leaving school, the job she found in a solicitor's office in Knapford, and still enjoyed, paid well enough that after a couple of years she had saved enough to rent the house she was currently living in, and, with the second bedroom done up for guests, her sister and two brothers could take it in turns to visit for a week or so, and this time, it was Jeanie's turn to stay with her. However, as the last few minutes had proved, her younger sister was in dire need of help, and Gemma's last thought before falling asleep herself was that she hoped, come morning, Jeanie would open up and tell her what was worrying her and why on earth had she taken a job in an industry that she knew absolutely nothing about!
ooo
Hiding inside the old weighbridge shed, the young boy was huddled in a corner behind some musty-smelling boxes and the large, broken-down scales. He'd seen the lady engine's arrival at the yards and a long-forgotten memory had jumped into his head, a memory of when he'd woken up after the coal wagon had cut off his legs and he was inside a big cave with his arms tied to two railway lines and strange men wearing robes with hoods that hid most of their faces, and they were talking to each other and pointing at him as they spoke.
The mangled stumps of his legs had stopped bleeding but they were still hurting him, and he was crying because he wanted to go home to his mammy and they wouldn't let him, and then the engine came into the cave as well but she didn't have a face then, she was just an ordinary engine, and... and then a monster came into the cave and it was staring at him with its coal-black eyes and he couldn't run away because he didn't have any legs any more and even if he did he couldn't run away because he was still tied to the railway lines, and then the monster came nearer to him and as the strange men started shouting words he couldn't understand, the monster opened his mouth and fire came out and... then he was being pulled by another truck just like him, and there was something stuck on behind him and he knew somehow that it was another truck just like him, and all the trucks were laughing and saying silly things about how they were going to play a trick on the shunting engine, but he wasn't laughing or singing like the other trucks because he still wanted to go home to his mammy, but his mammy wouldn't know him now because he didn't look like her little boy any more, and he knew he would never smile ever again, and the other trucks always made fun of him and said that he was an unhappy truck and that that was going to be his name forever and ever!
ooo
Thursday morning arrived and, at nine o'clock, Lady was at Knapford Station conferring with Sir Topham, Mr Percival, Burnett, Lawrence Harrington, Sam Browning and Dave Robbins. They were finalising details of the plan that she and Idris the dragon had decided on to restore the former engines and rolling stock. Sir Topham and Burnett would be with her and Idris in the steamies' engine shed at Tidmouth where the ritual would be taking place. Ivor, his driver Mr Jones and Mr Dinwiddy, seeing as they'd already learnt of the magical railway's creation, would be allowed to watch as a reward for helping to rescue Lady. Mr Percival and the other managers would be at their respective places of work where the majority of former engines and rolling stock would be taken to wait for the ritual to take place. They would all be given Direct Orders to ensure good behaviour and that none of them wander off during the evening as they would have to actually be on the tracks in order for Lady's magic to reach them. Sir Topham would also have to arrange security for the night, namely, staff members and fitters whom would ensure no members of the public would trespass anywhere near the marshalling yards, scrap works or repair sheds.
Lady then told them she needed only one engine for the ritual to work and, for personal reasons, that engine would be Thomas. The only others to have anything to do with the engines' return would be people like Wynford Watts at the miniature railway in Arlesburgh, Sir Robert Norramby at Ulfstead Castle, and a handful of others with private railways on their grounds, all of whom were already registered as being connected with Sodor Railways in a consultative role so as to ensure the confidentiality clause and thus secrecy of the railway magic. The engines, coaches and wagons that worked in other locations around the island would travel the following morning to wherever it was they worked from, and, hopefully, normal services would be resumed as soon as possible.
ooo
Across the other side of Knapford, Jeanie opened her eyes, becoming rigid in alarm as she realised that someone else was in bed with her. Quickly turning her head to look behind her as she twisted her body out from the other's embrace, she let out a sigh of relief when she saw her sister's face a few inches from her own. "Ge—Gemma? What are you doing here? What time is it?"
Woken up by her sister's sudden movement, Gemma sleepily replied, "Keeping you company."
"Oh, that's... kind of you, thanks! Why, though, may I ask?"
"You had a nightmare last night and you woke me up," Gemma said quietly as she sleepily blinked her eyes. "Do you remember any of it?"
"Oh... yeah! I... I do remember something... Oh fuck!" swore Jeanie, rolling herself over to completely face her sister. "Oh, Gemma, it was fucking horrible!"
"Well, it's half past ten according to the clock behind you," Gemma told her, after raising her head up to see over her sister's, "and whatever it was you dreamt of, Jeanie, it made you scream so loud you woke me up. Christ, girl, I thought someone had broken in and was attacking you the way you were screaming! What the fuck were you dreaming of?"
"There... there was a-... I was standing on the platform of this railway station, I don't know where it was, and lots of coaches were flying past me and all these grey faces were looking at me from out of the windows as they passed by, and then I was, like, sitting inside one of the coaches all on my own and there were these voices coming from all around me, and they were saying I was going with them over and over, repeating themselves. It was like 'you're coming with us, you're coming with us,' on and on in time to the wheels going over the tracks, you know, like 'clickety-clack, clickety-clack,' and... and I couldn't stand up 'cos I was stuck to the seat and... and I just had to sit there while all these voices we going on and on saying the same fucking thing over and over again!
"I couldn't see out of the windows 'cos it was all black outside, like it was night-time or I was in a tunnel, and all I could hear were those voices and then everything started spinning round... and then there was this loud roaring sound like a giant lion was outside, and then the roof of the coach was gone and it was daytime outside and then I saw this giant dra-" Jeanie paused just then, realising just what she was about to say, but, at the same time also realising that it wouldn't sound too out of place seeing as it was just a nightmare she was describing, "... and this fucking huge red dragon stuck his massive head inside the coach and grabbed me in his jaws and pulled me out."
"A... dragon?" asked Gemma incredulously. "What the hell made you dream of a dragon?"
Jeanie, recalling the talk she'd had with Lady, knew she couldn't tell her the truth about Idris, but she did know what she could say. "Remember how I said we were diverted all around Wales before we got back here? Well, the Welsh are quite proud of their flag, you know, that green and white one with a red dragon on it, well, we saw it or a dragon's head in practically every town we passed through, and my brain must have remembered it and made it into a real one in my dream. I... I remember shouting to it that I was to young to die..." she finished off quietly, her eyes cast downwards.
As she stared at the bed sheet between her and her sister, Jeanie recalled how she'd felt that time when she'd first seen the dragon in the sky above her before it swooped down at her. The terror she'd felt when that happened was so different to the feeling of perfection she felt soon after when it, no, he had "spoken" to her in her mind, and she frowned, confused by her contradicting feelings about the creature. "What happened then?" she heard Gemma ask.
"I... I don't remember," she said. "It went all... hazy-like, and I thought I could hear someone calling me, but the next thing I knew I was waking up here with someone holding onto me. Fuck, Gemma, I didn't know it was you! I thought... I didn't know what to think!"
Gemma saw the look of fear of something that still lingered in her sister's eyes and thought it best to distract her, and so asked, "You want boiled eggs and toast or Ready Brek for breakfast? We can talk more when you've got something in your belly!"
"Oh, just the Ready Brek, please, and a cup of tea would be nice. I'm bloody starving!" The idea of warm porridge filling her stomach brought a little cheer to her face and, seeing it, Gemma smiled as well before getting out of bed to go and get dressed, when she realised that her sister hadn't agreed to talk about her nightmare.
Twenty minutes later, Gemma was placing two bowls of steaming hot Ready Brek on the table as Jeanie came into the kitchen wearing a dressing gown over her underwear and with socks over her feet. She was clutching a notepad of some sort close to her chest with her good hand.
"What have you got there, Sis, your secret diary?" Gemma cheekily asked.
"No, silly!" Jeanie said back as she sat down at the table, placing the pad in the middle of the table. "It's just some sketches I made during the trip I went on."
"Oh, and what did you draw, then, scenery and things?" Gemma asked, curious.
"Yeah, but not just scenery. I also drew the engine that was pulling us and the brake van I was staying in. I, er, also drew the, um, men who were driving the engine, amongst other things."
"Ooh!" her sister exclaimed excitedly. "Can I see them? Were they muscular, good-looking guys?"
Instead of answering, Jeanie just picked up her spoon with her good hand and sprinkled some sugar over her breakfast, mixing it in her porridge before raising a spoonful up to her mouth and testing its temperature with her lips. Satisfied it wasn't going to burn her tongue, she swallowed it in one go, and let a sigh of contentment. Whilst having a wash before going downstairs, she'd decided that the only way she could talk about all she'd gone through the last week was to, well, speak as much of the truth as possible without actually talking about anything magical, and alter things to cover anything that would be awkward to explain.
She reckoned that, if she was careful, she could just pretend that it was real, in a sense, allowing for the fact that some of the people she'd drawn weren't actually real people at all, and the only engine on the island she'd seen to make a sketch of was in fact Edward... and then Lady and Ivor after she'd met them, of course. Right now, though, she had to think for a moment to recall if she'd drawn anything incriminating, but decided to just play it by ear. She was beginning to feel really bad treating her sister like this and keeping secrets from her and not being able to say anything about the magical railway. The warning from Lady had frightened her, but she believed that if she was careful, she should be all right. Showing her sister the sketches she'd drawn was, she felt, a way of mitigating that awkward feeling, and if the situation got out of hand, well, she could just... well, lie. "See for yourself," she then said quietly, gesturing with her empty spoon towards the sketchpad.
Gemma sat down at the table and picked it the pad, then turned over the cover page. The first drawing was a pencilled head and shoulders of a plump, bald-headed man with "Sir Topham Hatt" written at the bottom of the page. "Hey, this is quite good, Sis," she said, glancing over to Jeanie. "He looks rather serious, doesn't he?"
"He was, most of the time," said Jeanie, still with a mouthful of porridge, and after swallowing it, added, "but he did laugh now and again. Not many times, though. He's had a lot to worry about lately, what with the, er, signalling system being down and no trains running on the island."
The next few pages contained very elaborate sketches of Knapford station and the marshalling yards at Tidmouth, then started several drawings of people. "Who are these, then? Passengers waiting for a train that never showed up, eh?" Gemma asked, holding the pad up to show one of the drawings to Jeanie.
"No, some of them are of the, er, railway staff, you know, the drivers, fitters, that sort of thing. There wasn't much for them to do with no trains operating, so they spent most of their time in the station café."
"If there was no work for them," said Gemma pointedly, "then why didn't your boss or whoever was in charge send them home or something?"
"He couldn't. It was... it was a condition of their work contracts, or something like that."
"Oh. These ones here are dressed rather oddly, aren't they? Gawd, look at those coats they're wearing!"
Jeanie shrugged, picturing in her mind the scene she'd drawn of the former engines as they milled about on the platform at Knapford. "That's just the way they were dressed. Some of the people in that drawing are, er, foreign trainspotters."
"Bet they were pissed," said Gemma with a chuckle, "when they got here and there weren't any trains running!"
"Yeah," said Jeanie quietly, thinking that the former engines had a damn good reason to feel pissed off.
"I haven't seen any engines in here yet. You did draw some of the engines, did you?"
"Er, yeah, some of them. The others were, er, locked up somewhere, and I didn't get to see them."
"Shame. Where's this place?" Gemma then asked after turning over a page. "This, what, tower or whatever it is on top of a hill?"
"That's Glastonbury Tor. It's not far from where we had to collect the, er, special part we had to get."
"I've heard of that place. So that's what it looks like," said Gemma to herself more than to her sister before turning over another page and asking, "Who's this 'Thomas' guy? He looks a bit like Inspector Frost on the telly, but with dark hair."
"He was Edward's driver. Edward was the name of the engine we had. Remember I said they had this thing for naming all their engines after people?"
"Yeah. A bit weird, that, I reckon."
"It's not! I think it's rather quaint," said Jeanie defensively. "It's... it's nice! It shows they care about the engines!"
"Quaint?" said Gemma mockingly. "Oo-er! Whatever! I take it this 'James' guy is another train driver, yeah?"
"Yeah, you could say that, but he was there as Edward's fireman."
"His hair's a bit scruffy, isn't it?"
"Nah, that's just the way it was that day. It was a bit wet and windy if I remember right, and cold. He's rather proud of how he looks, actually. They all are, the drivers, I mean. They all had coats the same colour of the engines they drive. Thomas' was blue and James' was red. Others had green or black or purple coats."
"Gawd," said Gemma, "it must have been like you were in rainbow-land or something seeing all colours everywhere!"
"Yeah," agreed Jeanie, smiling at a particular memory.
"Ooh, an engine at last! Aw, Jeanie, I know you said the engines all had names, but I think you spoilt this Edward one by putting a face on it."
"Er... I, er, I did that because of the name thing, Gem. It's how I think he, I mean, it would look if... if it was an 'Edward' in real life."
"Huh! You're mad, and I still reckon it's weird. Didn't they have names like 'Flying Scotsman' or... or 'Sodor Express' or something?"
"Not really, though some of the diesels just had numbers, and there was one there that was called Diesel Ten," said Jeanie, remembering the stern-looking green-clothed former diesel, "and anyway, it's not weird to give them names! People name ships, don't they?"
"All right, Jeanie, don't get your knickers in a twist! I was only joking! Sorry!" apologised Gemma.
Jeanie deigned not to reply and just continued eating her breakfast. As she dwelt over the last few minutes, she realised how "quiet" her mind was. She hadn't been bothered by any conflicting arguments or warnings from the railway magic in her head, and the more she thought about it, she became even more sure that any hesitation she made whilst talking to her sister was through her own action, and not from either of the magical aspects that Sir Topham and Lady had given her. She told herself that she'd have to think more about that as the day went on.
"Cor, this engine looks really old. 'Ivor', eh? Why didn't you put a face on him, it, then? Shit, Jeanie, now you've got me thinking they're real!"
Jeanie's smiled wryly at what her just said to her, then replied, "I couldn't think of what an 'Ivor' looked like, to be honest." Whilst talking, she had been using her spoon to make a row of "channels" through the shallow layer of porridge that remained in her bowl, watching them collapse back in on themselves before the spoon reached the other side. "That was an engine we met, er, saw in North Wales. His driver's on the next page, I believe."
Gemma quickly turned the page over to look and, amused by what she saw underneath the drawing, said, "'Jones the Steam'? What sort of name is that?"
"It's not that unusual in Wales, apparently. The Welsh often link people's names to their jobs. They call him Jones the Steam because he drives a steam engine. He, Mr Jones, that is, explained it to me. His boss is called Dai Station because he's a stationmaster, and they had an 'Owen the Signal' who lived in his signal box, believe it or not, and they'd have other things like 'Edwyn the Milk' for a milkman or 'Joan the Shop' for a shopkeeper; it's just what they do there. He even had a relative called Evans the Song who ran the local choir. He's a really nice guy, is Mr Jones. Edwyn Jones was his full name. Oh, Gemma, you should have heard him speak! He's got the most lovely accent!"
"What did he sound like, then?"
Jeanie pursed her lips in thought for a moment, her mind running through several comments she'd heard him make, then she nodded to herself as she selected one of them and readied herself, making a slight jib with her mouth in order to try and get the accent right... "Now then, Ivor, we'd better get going before Dai Station starts complaining that we're late again!"
Gemma rocked back in her chair, creased with laughter at her sister's effort at a Welsh accent, setting Jeanie off into a fit of the giggles as well.
"No... seriously," said Jeanie after she'd calmed down, "it was really nice hearing it. It... it's different to the way everyone speaks here on Sodor."
"If you insist!" chuckled Gemma as she turned the page over. "Ooh! They had tramps there as well, yeah? 'Mr Dinwiddy', eh? Gawd, Jeanie, you have no shame at all! You actually asked a tramp what his name was!"
"He's not a tramp!" said Jeanie haughtily. "Christ, Gemma, if you only knew how wealthy that guy was! He owns a fucking gold mine, for fuck's sake, and the mountain it's in... on!"
"A what? A gold mine and a mountain? No way, Sis! You're having me on, aren't you?"
"No, I'm serious! We met him on our way to get some coal. He was standing next to the track after his wheelbarrow had broken and he had this sack with him. We found out later that there were three lumps of actual gold in it, all of them as big as your fist, they were!"
"Fuck off!" said Gemma disbelievingly.
"No, it's true!" insisted Jeanie, then, in a more serious tone, said, "He really does own a mountain next to the track we were on. His father left it to him in his will God knows how long ago, but yeah, Mr Dinwiddy is really scruffy, like, and I reckon he's the oldest man in Wales, but he's really fit for an old man, though! He's also as mad as a hatter!"
"I suppose he'd have to be fit to live on a mountain," said Gemma appreciatingly. "Maybe he's like one of those eccentric millionaires you see on the telly!"
"Hm-mmph!" chuckled Jeanie, agreeing with her sister. "Yeah, he's eccentric all right, but I think he's also one of the kindest, most caring people I've ever met, even though he's bat-shit crazy and he did my head in a lot of the time!"
The next few drawings were of more scenery Jeanie had seen around Llaniog: fields with hills in the background, a mountain range, some pretty cottages, the lift shafts of a distant coal mine on the horizon, then Gemma saw something that made her let out an appreciative "Oooh!"
"Hmmm, 'Lady'," she said in awe, gazing in admiration at the small engine that her sister had drawn. "That's... yeah, that name is just right for this engine, I think. You've given her a really pretty face, as well. Did you see her, it, I mean, in Wales as well?"
"No. She's, er, here on Sodor, actually. She came back with us... and Ivor did. We needed them both to get us back because Edward, the engine who took us there, broke one of his coupling rods."
Gemma stared curiously at her sister. "If you didn't see her in Wales," she said, "then how come she helped bring you all back from there with what's-his-name... Ivor?"
"She, er, we met her after we left Wales," replied Jeanie after a pause in which she recalled the mind-spinning trip they'd made through the portal inside the old tunnel that took them to Muffle Mountain. "Ivor was really struggling with all the weight he had to push and she helped us after we met her."
"You really did have problems, then," said Gemma looking back at the sketch of the pretty little engine, not aware, though, of the engine's magical nature.
"You can say that again," said Jeanie, nodding slowly as she stared into space, her stomach beginning to churn as she remembered what she'd drawn on the following page, the one that her sister was just about to look at...
"You fucking idiot!" said Gemma, then, not without a little bit of anger in her voice, as she turned the sketchpad towards Jeanie, thrusting it just a few inches from her face. "No wonder you had a fucking nightmare, you silly cow! What the hell made you want to draw something like that for?"
Jeanie could only shrug her shoulders as she stared at the black eyes of the creature she'd drawn, its wings held aloft as it stood in front of her with one foreleg raised up from the ground and stared back at her with its jaws half open to reveal its sharp teeth, teeth that Jeanie had often imagined biting through her neck and then ripping her head off her shoulders with little or no effort. "I'd, er, forgotten I'd done that, actually," she said rather sheepishly. "They had pictures of dragons and dragons' heads on nearly every fucking shop or lorry or van we saw! Fuck, Gemma, it's like they're fucking obsessed with dragons, but I wanted to draw what he really, er, what one would look like if they were real!"
Gemma sighed, shaking her head slowly from side to side as she took back the sketchpad and turned over the page to look at the next drawing, expecting to find something else that would explain her sister's nightmare, but the page was blank, and so was the rest of the pad. Closing it and placing it in front of her on the table, she said, "Well, Sis, I'm really impressed. Not only have you captured some of the beautiful scenery of Wales and it's people, also some historical steam engines, but you also invited into your head a creature from hell to haunt your dreams and give you a fucking nightmare! So, are you going back to work there, or what?"
"I'm going back tomorrow, probably... Yeah, tomorrow morning, though I want to get my head right before I decide whether to stay there or not. Today, though, I want to slip into town and get some oil paints and stuff. See what I can do with these sketches. Hey, where's my cup of tea?"
"Hey, I forgot, okay?" said Gemma in mock indignation as she stood up, and satisfied that she now had a reason to explain her sister's night-terror. "I'll do one right away, my Lady," she then said, curtseying to her sister, "besides, you distracted me with your drawings! Seriously, though, Jeanie, is everything all right with you, and this job you're doing, do you think it's the right one for you? I mean, all this railway stuff is obviously new to you and all that, but don't you think that it's all a bit too much? I thought you had your heart set on an advertising job or something you could use your degree in art and design with?"
Again, Jeanie stared into space, asking herself that very same question – was she in over her head? Over the last few months, she'd applied for jobs all over the island since finishing in uni, only getting back rejection letters from some of the would-be employers she'd written to, and all of them saying the same thing, that they were looking for someone with previous experience. How could she get the experience they wanted her to have if they didn't employ her, she'd disappointedly asked herself whenever she received the bad news, and it seemed to her as though she was caught in a vicious circle with no-one willing to take on someone with nothing to show them other than a university degree and a desire to learn. Then, one day, she'd stopped her car to help someone and found herself drawn into something out of The Twilight Zone, something that was so unbelievable yet so fantastic and amazing, and drawn into a world of previously unimaginable wonders, or was it a nightmare of insanity-inducing mystical forces that would end up having her committed into a mental institution for the rest of her life?
She looked up to suddenly find her sister standing in front of her with her hand on her shoulder, and she hadn't even noticed, that's how lost she was in her own world of self-doubt. "I... I don't know, Gem, I just don-" but instead of words completing her sentence, what came out next was a sob just before she burst into tears of self-pity: pity for stopping in the first place to aid an old man in need of help, pity for her desperate need for a job that made her say yes to Sir Topham's offer, pity for what she'd seen that naked woman go through in order to become the magical engine who's own recent plight had destined the engines on Sodor to their own world of nightmares, pity for the claustrophobic trauma she'd gone through when stuck in the old tunnel and never knowing if she'd ever get to see her family again, and pity for putting herself in a position where she had to lie to her own sister in order to protect something that was... well, unimaginable. She sensed, rather than noticed her sister crouch down beside her and wrap her arms around her and comfort her as she let out her grief at all she'd gone through over the last few days, crying even louder then as she realised that should she actually admit what was wrong with her would be to invite even more despair when they carried her off to a mental institution and she tried to explain everything to disbelieving doctors and psychiatrists.
"Come on, Sis," she faintly heard Gemma say to her, "let's get you back up to bed!"
ooo
By dinnertime, all the engines and wagons were accounted for, apart from one of the former trucks and Diesel 10, and Sir Topham had just rung Mr Pugh, the coal-mine owner, to ask of his whereabouts, only to be told that the former diesel wasn't there, but there had been a roof-fall in an abandoned tunnel near to where he was supposed to have met the broken down engine, and it was possible that he'd been caught underneath it. The local railway company would be responsible for clearing up all the rubble and making the old tunnel safe again, Pugh had also told him, and when they got round to it, he would contact Sir Topham to let him know if they indeed found his body under the fallen roof.
As Sir Topham pondered over the mine-owner's words, he wondered briefly if that was indeed the case, would it be a mangled body they'd find or a rather-dented diesel engine? He'd have to ask Lady what she thought of the matter, but it wouldn't be until after she reconnected her magic to the engines or should that be former engines? and transformed them would she be able to know whether or not Diesel 10 was somewhere on Sodor or still in Wales.
Going back over a conversation he'd had with her just after lunch, and when she'd told him she was aware that he and Burnett had already learnt some of the truth behind how the talking engines were created, she'd asked him just how much he know of the railway magic. He'd been honest, naturally, and told her that he'd learnt some rather shocking things from the papers his grandfather and father had left him. She'd then asked him if he'd spoken of it to any others, to which he, of course, replied no. She'd responded to that by telling him that it was Company Business and that she herself would hold him accountable should that information leak out anywhere, but, he mused, from what Burnett had said, she had originally asked, no, pleaded that he open the box in the chest that contained all that information. Just what exactly was she worried about? he asked himself.
She'd then gone on to say that, whilst it was necessary, being the owner of Sodor Railways, for him to be there, Burnett could also watch the ritual if he so wished, though it would most likely be quite upsetting for them both. Sir Topham worried about that, but having already seem something a few nights back on those old film reels of what such rituals required, he believed he at least would be able to stomach it.
They'd then talked about Jeanie Watkins, and Lady had commented that it was very convenient for them that she was taking some time off from work and would miss seeing the ritual. When he'd asked her why she'd said that, she'd reminded him that the young woman was still a security risk. Lady had then stressed to him that he be very careful with how he dealt with her in future, for should she be fired for any reason, although she would lose the two aspects of railway magic they had both given her, because of the lack of complete integration between the railway magic and her own mind, she may very well end up still being aware of the talking engines, and able to talk about them to outsiders. Right now, even, having it in the form she did and employed by Sodor Railways, she may, whether by design or accident, still reveal something she shouldn't.
They'd also discussed Lady's magic sharing on the night they returned, and Sir Topham was quite perturbed to find out that she'd somehow "softened" the traumatic effect Jeanie had suffered as a result of the dragon's little "performance" with him, and he wondered just what Lady had meant by that. To him, the fact that the magical engine was able to affect people's minds in some way was quite worrying to him, and he wondered if his mind, too, had been "affected" by her in some way, but then his own connection with the railway magic had assured him that what the magical engine had just told him was quite acceptable, and so he went on to ask her about the forthcoming ritual instead.
They'd gone over the importance of ensuring that all the former engines, coaches and wagons being spaced out appropriately on the railway tracks so that there'd be no accidents caused by carriages or trucks suddenly appearing too close to each other. Lady would be sending her magic to them via Thomas and throughout the island's entire railway network, and, for example, should any of the former troublesome trucks feel that it would be a good idea to sneak off somewhere, they would lose their one opportunity to be changed back into a truck. That would be quite dangerous, Lady assured him in no uncertain terms, and he would have to use his authority as their owner to ensure they obeyed every instruction the managers or railway staff gave them.
He'd asked her if they had to be in the same place they were when they had changed into people, but Lady had said no, they only needed to be some place where they wouldn't be seen by the public, which was why they were doing it late at night and, in the majority of cases, at the various work yards.
For the rest of the day, Sir Topham was kept busy finalising arrangements with the coach and bus companies that were collecting the former trains. He sighed heavily at the exorbitant surcharges they were charging him for the short notice he'd given them, but he knew he'd have to accept the extra cost if it meant he was going to get his railway back again! Another concern he had was that some of the fitters overseeing the transportation had commented on how there was a marked change in some of the former engines' personalities, although the majority of the former coaches and trucks were acting pretty much as they had been since the day of the Event, as they'd come to refer to that particular day. Where they once acted like lost children, frightened but excited by their new surroundings, now, for the most serious cases, it was as though they are going to their own funeral! It was strange, Sir Topham thought to himself, for he'd assumed they'd all be quite pleased to know they'd soon be back as they were. He smiled, then, as he felt the familiar tingle of the railway magic assuring him that all was well with the world.
ooo
Later that afternoon, Gemma was trying to concentrate on an old black and white romance film on BBC 2, despite her mind constantly interrupting with worries about Jeanie, and she was taken aback when she heard her sister come down the stairs, she then came into the living room dressed ready to go out and with a solemn look on her face.
"How are you feeling now?" Gemma asked her, muting the TV with the remote control.
Nodding her head a couple of times, Jeanie replied, "A bit better. I've been thinking. I need to be more positive with myself if I want to get better again, so I'm going to work tomorrow morning and having a serious chat with Sir Topham, and either I'll resign or he can sack me, and then I can get on with my life, but there's some stuff I need to get out of my head first."
"What do you mean?" asked Gemma. "What sort of stuff?"
"Those drawing I made, I've been thinking about them, especially the one I did of Idris... I mean the dragon. I wan-"
Gemma closed her eyes in despair, then looked up angrily at her sister. "YOU GAVE THAT DRAGON A FUCKING NAME AS WELL? FUCKING HELL, JEANIE!" then, more calmly, she asked imploringly, "Sis, seriously now, please, tell me what's wrong with you?"
"I... I've got... these things in my head," said Jeanie, staring down at the laminated flooring beneath her trainers, picturing little trains running back and fore along the grooves between the false planks of wood, "and I need to get them out before I can get better," she added. "I... I read somewhere that one way to deal with... mental problems is to draw things, to make them solid... objectify them to make them something you can then, I don't know, throw away or something, and that's what I want do with those sketches I drew, and... and I... I want to talk about them."
"THAT... that sounds quite sensible, Jeanie," said Gemma, the scowl she had softening into a look of approval. "It's a lot better than pretending trains are real people. What sort of stuff... things are you talking about?"
"Things I've seen, some of the... people I've met, and I don't know how much I can say about them right now. There's... there's a promise I made to... to someone, and I don't know what'll happen if I break that promise. I need time to-"
"Tell me, Jeanie," cut-in Gemma, interrupting her. Oh, God, thought Gemma as she quickly stood up and clasped her sister's hands, raising them up to her chest, she's been abused by someone! "Who did you make a promise to, and what did you promise?" she asked. "Was it one of the drivers? Did he touch you or something?" I'll fucking kill the bastard! "Did he... did he ra-"
"No, Gem, no, no, NO!" said Jeanie forcefully as she shook her head in denial. "It's nothing like that at all! It's... it's hard to explain to someone who doesn't know about it... them."
"Then help me, Jeanie, please?" begged Gemma. "You're not making much sense, and I can't help you if you don't tell me what's happened to you!"
"Phuh! You'd never believe it in a million years, Gem, not in a million years!" said Jeanie, chuckling as she spoke, and now for the big test... She then took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly before speaking again. "Gemma, I've... I've found out something... something about the railways here on Sodor." There, I've said it, she thought to herself, and waited for the pain... but it never came, and all she could feel was a sense of discomfort in the back of her mind. Her mouth half-open as she waited a few moments for that discomfort to manifest itself into something much worse, but, again, all she could perceive was no more than a sense of watchfulness, as though the railway magic was taunting her, waiting for her to make on false step, say one wrong word then... but Jeanie was feeling full of herself, and she had to say something! "Gemma, do you trust me?"
Taken aback slightly by the unexpected question, Gemma replied, "Yeah, of course I do, you know that! Why do you ask? You haven't stolen anything, have you?"
"No, 'course not!" said Jeanie. "It's... it's more about-... look, if I told you I've seen something really unusual, what would you think?" Do you realise what you're saying?
"I don't know, depends on what it is you saw, I suppose," said Gemma, wondering where this was leading to.
Jeanie wrested her hands from her sister's and took hold of them in exchange. She won't believe you if you tell her.I know she won't, but I need to try! I've felt so alone in all this, I really need to talk with someone about it, someone not connected with the railways! "Gemma, if... if I told you that there's... things going on in the world that we'd never, ever think of as being true or possible,... I... I-" but Jeanie couldn't continue with what she wanted to say, not because the railway magic had stopped her or anything, but because she didn't know how to explain what she knew without making herself sound out of her mind, and giving her sister a good reason to phone for the men in the white coats to come and collect her!
She closed her eyes, letting out a gasp of frustration with herself. She'd actually started to say something but couldn't, and all because no matter which way she explained about magic and talking steam engines being changed into people because a pretty magical engine had fallen ill and how she'd met a real dragon that was telepathic and then went through a magic portal to America to rescue that same magical engine before returning to Sodor through another magic portal so that the human-trains could be changed back into real trains again, she knew deep down that her sister would just simply refuse to believe her!
Sighing loudly, she let go of Gemma's hands and stepped back. "I want to explain things, Gemma, I really do, but I think it'll be easier if I go slowly. I really want to do this, Sis, I really do, but I need you to have some patience with me, yes? If I go now, I'll catch the shops before they shut, and I can get that art stuff I was talking about earlier. I... I want to see if that idea I had will work. I won't be long," and with that, she headed out of the living room towards the front door.
"All right, Jeanie, but I'm coming with you," said Gemma, not happy with this sudden change of affairs. "I think we both could do with a break!"
"So, I'm not old enough to go out on my own, then?" Jeanie suddenly demanded quite testily, glaring at her sister. "What, you think I'll get knocked down crossing the road or something?" but, horrified by the look of hurt that appeared on Gemma's face, and the realisation of what she'd actually said, horrified and deeply shamed her. "Oh, fuck! I'm sorry, Gemma!" she cried out, seeing her sister turn away from her and cast her head down towards her feet, offended by the unwarranted and painful reminder of her mother's death.
"Oh, Gem... Sis! I... I didn't mean it like that! I'm so, so sorry!" she continued, her voice shaking with remorse, and quickly went back to her sister and wrapped her arms around her tightly and hugging her. "I... I've been doing that a lot over the last few d-d-days," she stammered, trying not to sob. "S-s-snapping at people for no reason. I... I wish I could tell you what's going on, Gemma, I really do, but... but the contract said I can't, and Lady told me- Gemma, I'm so, so sorry for saying that, I am. I really wish I could tell you, Gemma, I really do, but I don't know what'll happen to me!"
The two sisters stood together in silence, the elder replaying the bare handful of childhood memories she still had of when her mother was still alive: playing in a park with a beach ball that was too large for her to wrap her small arms around in a game of catch, her mother fussing over her when she'd tripped after getting onto a bus and banging her head on the edge of a seat, the multitude of pretty coloured lights she'd been fascinated by during an late-evening Christmas shopping in town, standing with her father as they scanned the night sky trying to find the star where her father had said her mother had gone to live in instead of their house after the car had knocked her down, whilst the younger sat beside her wishing with everything she had that she could go back in time and not say those damned awful words.
"Give me five minutes to get ready," said Gemma, breaking the awkward silence, her voice not giving any hint of the sadness she was feeling as she wiped tears off her cheek. "I think you're suffering from severe psychological stress, Jeanie," she added gravely, "and if you promise me that you'll make an appointment to see a doctor about it, I'll forgive you, but when we come back, you are going to tell me about this other promise you said you made to someone, yeah?"
Jeanie looked into her eyes, feeling sick at how much she'd upset her sister, and said, "Yeah, I... I promise."
ooo
Idris returned to Knapford later around teatime and spent some time with Ivor and Jones the Steam, getting them up-to-date with the latest news from North Wales, and a request from Dai Station that they get themselves back to Llaniog as soon as possible or there'll be ructions!
Mr Dinwiddy had spent the day touring some of the old mines dotted around the island, and had just arrived back from the old mines near Toryreck, muttering to himself on how anyone looking for gold there would probably have poisoned themselves from all the lead which, historically, was their main output. Almost immediately, he sensed the tension in the air as the stout railway owner and several of his employees rushed about the station checking everything was going as planned.
All in all, the old man reflected as he sat on one of the platform benches swinging his legs under him as he watched everything going on around him, he'd been having a wonderful time just recently. He'd met some very odd people that were really steam engines, he'd been on a scary trip through the old tunnel that had taken him across to the other side of the world, and he'd help to save a magical engine that, miracles be told, turned out to be the very same naked woman he'd seen many, many years ago when he was a young boy exploring an abandoned tunnel near his home, and he'd even talked with her, and to cap it all, he'd seen magic!, and later tonight, he'd be seeing even more magic being performed, something really spectacular, and he giggled in excitement!
ooo
Walking through town earlier, Gemma had felt like she was walking on eggshells as she and Jeanie talked together while they shopped. Gemma used the opportunity to get something for their tea whilst Jeanie spent some time in the local art and crafts shops near the market, and just catching the chemist's before they closed for the day to get a fresh bandage for the cut on her hand. The cut itself was scabbing over nicely, but she wanted to make sure that the bandages were as clean as possible to avoid any dirt or anything infecting it.
While Gemma was in the supermarket, she ruminated over what her sister had been telling her, but apart from some confused ramblings about what it meant for people to acknowledge their humanity, with an oblique reference to artificial intelligence, she hadn't revealed anything spectacular to her, talking mostly in cryptic terms about how people saw the world. She had then gone on to speak of a man she met at Glastonbury who was using dowsing rods to locate ley lines in the ground around the tower, something she herself had thought rather kooky whenever she'd read about that sort of thing in newspapers or magazines, but her sister had been quite enthusiastic about it, getting really excited when she told of how her companion Thomas had fallen over when he'd crossed one of the so-called dragon lines, as she'd put it! Fucking dragons again! she'd thought to herself, and scoffed over the falling-down bit, telling Jeanie that he'd probably tripped or something and it was just a coincidence when it happened to be where one of those ley lines or whatever they were called was supposed to be!
Her sister, unperturbed by this, had then insisted that she had good reason to believe it as being true, and that she was aware of something quite mind-staggering to have that reason, but despite Gemma's probing for her to explain herself, Jeanie had refused, only saying that she's "got to do this in baby-steps", whatever that might mean.
During the walk home, the two women, by Jeanie's request, had been silent, bar the conversation going on inside her head!
I need to tell her something! I've been so alone this last week. You know what could happen to you. Yeah, I know, but I don't have to tell her everything, or things like the fact that the engines can talk, she'd never believe something like that! Then how can you tell her anything? You may still have your free will, but that doesn't mean that we're not here. I know that, I'm fucking stuck with you, but if I resign or get fired, there's a chance you'll be gone, both of you! Maybe we won't be gone; you heard what Lady said might happen to you. Yeah, but I've told her about Thomas being affected by the dragon lines, and nothing happened to me then, did it? No, but that could have happened to anybody, after all, real people can be affected by earth energies as well. What? How? I thought it was only because he was part of the railway magic! How can it affect normal people? I mean, they're not trains or anything, so they shouldn't be affected by it, should they? There's so much you don't know, which is why you were asked not to talk about it. Think of the damage you can cause. But I'd only be telling my sister, and I don't even know what I'll be telling her. I just need to tell her something! I can't keep all this stuff in my head any longer! You saw the way it affected me earlier and what it made me say to her! I never want to do anything like that to her again. Then don't say anything, then. You should be able to control yourself better now that we are balanced,but Jeanie wasn't having any of this...
But I don't want you inside my head, balanced or unbalanced! I want you both out of my head, which is what I'm going to talk about tomorrow with Sir Topham. Doing that won't help you much. If your contract with Sodor Railways is terminated, there's a chance we might stay with you. Yes, there's a chance you might be free of us, but because you'll still have memories of the railway magic, we may still find a way of controlling you. I don't fucking want you to be controlling me. You're... you're not part of me, and you're not me! You're just things that were put in my head against my will! No we're not. You agreed to it when you accepted Sir Topham's offer of a job. I fucking did not! No fucking way! You accepted what he was saying when he was telling you about it, that you'd be fascinated by it. Well, yeah, it was fascinating, especially when Lady spoke to me in my mind and when I finally got to see her face. I thought it was brilliant! No, you still don't understand what we're telling you.
Jeanie got the vague impression that the railway magic inside her mind was shaking it's head sadly, rather like a parent would do when a child had done or said something wrong. Uh? Then you'd better explain it to me, hadn't you! and then a memory of when she found for the very first time inside Sir Topham's study in Hatt Hall started to play in her mind, and she lived again through the moment when the posh man had told her...
'... but you'll find that what I will be telling you to be so fascinating that you'll not ever wish to leave the job', and then another memory replayed itself...
'You'll be finding what I say at first to be quite unbelievable, but the more I tell you, the more you'll become fascinated by the magic and accepting to it all. There's no need for you to worry, Jeanie, you haven't been drugged or anything. It's just your reaction to the magic beginning to work in you.'
Yeah, that was true enough, I was fascinated by it all, so? You still fail to understand. Then tell me what I don't understand, you pair of fucking... head-invaders! The word fascinate comes from the Latin 'fascinare' - to cast a spell on. You think it simply means that you are very interest in something, or something is wonderful to look at, but in it's original form, it's a Word of Power, a Word that means, to be crude, to bewitch or to enchant. You accepted that bewitchment when you accepted what Sir Topham was telling you. THAT LYING, TWO-FACED BASTARD! HE FUCKING TRICKED ME! No he didn't; he simply told you the truth of the situation. He didn't trick or lie to you, Sir Topham was, and is, an honest man.
Then, one final memory presented itself...
'To cut a long story short, if you accept my job offer, I can explain everything you need to know. If you then don't want to work for either myself or the Railway Company, you can give me immediate notice in writing and you'll immediately be free to leave, no strings attached, well, except for the confidentiality clause.'
Jeanie recalled the simplicity of the contract she had signed. All it had said was that the signatory promised not to reveal any confidential information or Company Matters passed on to him/her by any means that related to Sodor Railways.
Furious with herself for being caught out like that, and with the whole thing that was the magical railway, she seethed within herself, looking for any way she could find some sort of get-out clause, but there was nothing. The very simplicity of the contract contained everything the railway magic needed to control her during and after her employment by it.
Did... did he know he was bewitching me? No. He was simply acting on behalf of the railway magic when he offered you the job. So it was you that tricked me, then, you fuckers! We didn't 'trick' you, as you put it; we simply told you how it was, we told you the truth and you accepted it. Ah, but I'm different, aren't I? You're not, what was it, now... yeah, you're not 'assimilated' into my mind, are you? Sir Topham only gave me his part of you because Lady was, like, 'not connected' or something, and so you and my mind didn't connect properly! That why I was so fucked up by it all, wasn't it? That... is true. And even when Lady gave me her magic to balance you, you still weren't 'connected' with me! Hah! Take that, you bastards! I reckon even if I did finish working for you, then you can't kill me or stop me from saying anything about you because I've still got my free will. I know because Lady told me so!
Smiling and nodding to herself as she walked back home beside her sister, Jeanie became determined to solve her problem by herself, but she knew she had to be careful how she did she explained everything to her sister or she'll just refuse to listen to what seemed to be the ravings of a nutter! You're meddling around with powers you don't understand. You're going to regret doing this.
When they arrived back at the house, Jeanie turned to her sister and said, "Gemma, I'm going to tell you some stuff that may sound rather odd, but let me explain some things before you call me mad or off my head, yeah?"
Gemma looked at her younger sister, thinking that what she had just said sounded crazy without having to hear any explanation from her, but if it meant that it was going to explain why she was acting the way she was, then, yeah, she'd listen all right, but if her sister was sounding as though she'd gone off her rocker, then the only real help she could offer her was to make sure that she did get to see a doctor, or psychiatrist or whatever. Nodding her head a couple of times, she said, "Okay, I'll listen, but only if you promise to let me help you?"
"Just being there to listen to me will be a big help, Gemma. Oh, and I'll also show you something that some... one I met taught me, and I think it'll convince you that I've not really gone mad, yeah?"
"Whatever," said Gemma as she reached into her handbag for her front-door key.
ooo
The night was peaceful and the only sounds to be heard apart from the occasional screech of a hunting owl or the bark of a scavenging fox in the nearby forest were the footsteps of Thomas, James, Henry and Percy as they walked towards their engine shed where Sir Topham and the others were waiting for them. Lady was outside the shed but facing inwards on the rightmost track that led to Thomas' usual resting place when he was an engine. Also outside was Ivor, on the track next to her, and he, too, was facing inwards so that he could watch the ritual. Sitting between the two engines was Idris, his wings folded behind him and his head cocked to one side as he watched the four former engines approach. On Joined to Ivor back end was wagon of anthracite they'd brought with them from Pugh's Pit. Between them and the coal wagon were Sir Topham, Jones the Steam and Mr Dinwiddy who were all standing in a group talking to each other whilst Burnett Stone was inside Lady's cab talking to her. As the four former engines got within a few feet of the three humans, Idris went over to the coal wagon, leapt up on top of it and busied himself munching down several mouthfuls of the hot-burning Welsh coal.
"I'm nervous!" exclaimed Percy to his friends.
"Not as nervous as I am," muttered Thomas as he looked across to his friend, "after all, I'm the one Lady's using to change us all back into engines. I hope I don't do anything wrong!"
"I wish Edward and Gordon were both here," said Henry mournfully.
"So do I," said James. "Gordon was with us when we first became like this, it only seems right that he should be here when we all change back!"
"And Edward should be here to see us after all he did for us in getting the special water and the Welsh coal," added Thomas.
"Yeah," agreed James. "It's a pity he broke his coupling rod, though!"
"Thomas," said Sir Topham. "Lady has assured me that you will be just fine and that there's nothing for you to worry about."
"I'm not worried, Sir Topham, Sir," said Thomas, "but I am very nervous!"
~I have all my trust in you, Thomas,~ said Lady, ~and I know you will do exactly what is needed.~
"PpRP!"
"Yes," said Jones the Steam, nodding his head, "and good luck from us as well." The short welshman then turned to his engine and said, "That was very nice of you, Ivor."
"Th-thank you, Mr Jones, Sir, Lady," said Thomas, feeling bolstered by both his owner's and the magical engine's belief in him as he entered the engine shed, "and thank you, too, Ivor! I-I'll do my best!"
ooOOoo
