Something Most Foul

by tonygestaple

Crossover. Thomas and his Friends wake up one morning to find that Something Most Foul has come to the Island of Sodor. A cry for help leads them to new discoveries that may change their lives forever.

37. Chapter 37

Thank you for your patience whilst waiting for me to update. Real Life has been eating away at my writing time since last November and I'm having little time to write, however, I ask that you don't give up on me - this story IS still breathing, lol!

I've stated previously that this story is about the people as well as engines caught up by the Event, and so this update is the start of the next phase of this story, and in the same way that a meal ought to be savoured and not rushed, neither should this lunch-meeting scene, hence its length, lol!

To get what I wanted from it, I didn't want it interrupted by the other story arcs and taking your mind away from what's going on, and knowing as you do of my preference for long chapters, I thought, why not do a one-off, and so here it is, split into smaller parts in case any of you need a toilet break or feed the cat/dog or nip outside for a smoke, whatever! Anyway, I'd appreciate your thoughts, reactions, problems, plot-holes, etc on this scene, please, on a postcard to the usual address, lol!

Despite the song by Genesis insisting otherwise, ripples DO come back, and sometimes, they bring with them unwanted repercussions that can forever upset the previously still waters. Gemma's reaction to what is going on with her sister is one such ripple, and the returning repercussions for poor Jeanie? Well, sit yourselves down with me at the table I've reserved for us all at The Mariner Restaurant and find out...

Chapter 37 - Part One

As Gemma followed "Seaman" Franklin through the restaurant, she looked around the large room, taking in the décor and table-layout designed to give its customers the impression they were actually inside an old-time sailing ship. The restaurant seemed to be quite popular, she figured, judging by the many occupied tables as the place was absolutely heaving with people. Couples, families and several larger groups were currently tucking eagerly into their meals, and going by the steady buzz of conversation going on all round her, they seemed to be quite happy while they did so. She frowned for a moment when she realised she could hear water swishing somewhere in the background, and after a moment, reckoned there must be a CD or something playing the sound of ocean waves through hidden speakers spaced all around the room. As long as I don't start to feel sea-sick, she thought to herself, what with the way her nerves were playing up.

Above her, long timber beams supported the wooden plank-effect ceiling, and spaced out along them hung several authentic-looking lanterns, but a more closer look as she walked under one told her they had ordinary electric bulbs inside instead of the thin oily wicks she recalled from seeing Mutiny on the Bounty on the telly many years ago. She was quite glad they weren't swinging about as they would do on a real ship as she'd likely bang her head quite painfully on one if they were any lower. On the timber-lined walls between the "porthole" windows were prints of various naval battles from the olden days, and portraits of historically-famous sailors, and casting her mind back to long-forgotten history lessons in school, the only names she came up with to possibly match them were Sir Frances Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh and Horatio Nelson, though she had no idea if she was even right in her guessing as to which one of the first two matched their portraits, but she was pretty sure that the one with an eye-patch and a missing arm was in fact Lord Nelson.

Muttering an apologetic, "Oops, sorry!" as she almost bumped into Seaman Franklin when he stopped at a wood-sided booth, one of several lining the side of the room, she noticed sitting with her back to the wall inside was a dark-skinned, bespectacled woman dressed in a dark blue business suit and with her long, black hair tied up into a neat bun with just a short length hanging down over her shoulder. Gemma was quite used to meeting and dealing with important people through her work in the solicitor's office, and the woman's professional demeanour seemed to be just as she'd imagined psychiatrists to look, and now as she was about to involve one of them in her sister's life, she began to wonder if she was actually doing the right thing or was in fact about to make a really terrible mistake.

The seated woman was currently drinking something from what looked like a wooden beaker, and as she placed it down on the table, Gemma saw her glance quickly from Franklin to herself before returning her gaze to the patiently waiting man whom, after bowing slightly towards her, said, "Your guest has arrived, Doctor Tambe."

The woman nodded her head in polite acknowledgement, and replied in a dry tone, "Thank you, Leonard. My friend and I have some catching-up to do first, so I'll call a waitress over when we're ready to order our meal," giving him a tight-lipped smile once she'd finished speaking.

Hearing the monotone voice, Gemma thought amusedly, That's the Divya I knew in school, all right - all dry and serious and about as lively as a brick on the ground!

Along with her other classmates, Gemma had become quite used to the skinny Indian girl's inscrutable politeness and formal manner of speaking, and it was behaviour so characteristic of the girl that they'd often teased her of having swallowed not just a dictionary, but also a book on English Grammar. There were exceptions to this norm, however, when she'd been put under stress or become highly emotional after an argument over something, but one of the things that Gemma and her friends liked about her were the rare occasions when she voluntarily used foul language in an amusing or shockingly-rude non-sequitur during their whispered chats during lessons that often got them in trouble for laughing loudly and disrupting the class.

Now, seeing the grown-up version of that skinny, precise-speaking girl, Gemma couldn't help picturing her wearing a white lab-coat over her dark suit and sitting in a leather arm-chair with a notepad resting on her knee as she asked her patient to describe their relationship with their mother or father. As she smiled at the amusing thought, she almost collided with Seaman Franklin again when he turned to return to his post, forcing her to quickly go back a couple of paces to make room for him to pass. Shit, she thought. What a way to make a good impression of myself! She muttered another apology to him, and at the same time, noticed Divya stand up and step out from behind the table.

"It is a great pleasure to see you again, Gemma Watkins," she said as she walked towards her, the beaming smile on her formerly stoic face instantly transforming it into one of open delight as she welcomed her guest with open arms.

Though somewhat relieved now she was doing something to help her sister, Gemma hoped with all her heart that she wasn't going to royally fuck things up today, and seeing the pleasure on Divya's face, she started to feel guilty for using her sister's odd behaviour as the sole reason for them meeting up today instead of their past friendship. I'd better be careful just WHAT I say to her, she told herself. I know Jeanie's not well, but the LAST thing I want is Divya to think she's going loopy or something. Christ, she might even get her locked up!

Gulping back a nervous lump in her throat, she bent down to put her bag on the floor before raising to returning the shorter woman's embrace, forcing out a weak smile in order to appear calm and in control of herself, and wished the ground would swallow her up when she heard herself blurt out, "Y-You, t-t-too, Divya! Thank you s-s-so much for seeing me t-t-today...I'm SO worried about J-J-Jeanie I...I just don't know what to do!" Shit! I sound really desperate! she thought, horrified, berating herself for how silly she'd sounded, and quite unable, as they stood there cheek-to-cheek, to see the frown that had appeared on her friend's face.

ooo

...and THERE it is! Divya thought ruefully to herself. When Gemma had phoned her the other day and explained the problem she was having with her sister, she'd recalled a memory from her childhood of her father with his raised finger waving in the air as he bombastically preached one of his infamous "family sermons" at her: 'When a long-forgotten friend unexpectedly knocks at your door, do not be surprised if they bring their baggage with them!'

Since leaving school and entering Oxford University to begin her medical education, she had foregone distractions such as meeting up with her old school friends again at parties and social functions, and instead, for the next thirteen years, focused solely on becoming a qualified psychiatrist. She had made some new friends during those latter years, though, mostly all of them future doctors, of course, but this was one of the rare times when she'd willingly met up again with someone from her past.

There had been something in the description Gemma had given her about her sister's behaviour that had given her cause for concern, and so she'd agreed to this meeting today during her lunch break. She had also seen the request as a helpful distraction despite feeling exhausted after one of the most intense and frustrating weeks of her career, for quite a few new patients had been referred to the clinic by several of the doctors scattered around Sodor and almost doubling her workload as one of her colleagues had been off with a stomach bug. So extraordinary had been their symptoms, she'd had to work on every evenings this last week, and even gone in today so as to keep on top of things. It would have been nice just to sit and chat about old times as we ate our food, she thought to herself, but instead, even my lunch break had to become work!

Rebuking herself for her uncharitable thought, she admitted to herself that she had been all too aware of the reason for them to meet up today, and having been quite fond of Gemma when in school, she forced a smile back onto her face. This was neither the time nor place to transfer her own stress onto a friend she hadn't seen for well over a decade, but it was obvious her friend was in a highly emotional state. She hoped Gemma's sister's behaviour may just be a terrible coincidence and have no connection to her new patients, but, at the same time, it did give her cause to believe she'd maybe get confirmation of a suspicion she'd had all those years ago about her friend's behaviour towards her younger sister, one of the things that guided her towards psychiatry as a medical career.

Back in school, she'd witnessed many interactions between the two sisters where her friend had dominated over the younger girl, and believed it to be something more than simply that of an elder sister looking out for her younger sibling, and there'd been other signs as well: the many occasions when Gemma disparaged her stepmother's advice and insisted that she, a mere teenager, knew better, there'd been the frequent arguments she'd had with her father's second wife, and now, years later, Divya felt her professional curiosity overcoming her sadness that their reunion was due to an ulterior motive.

Soon, she'd find out if her belief back then that her friend had assumed the role of "foster" mother to her younger sister was, in fact, true, recalling times when she and her other friends had teased Gemma for being over-protective and acting like a "mother hen" to Jeanie. Indeed, if her memory was correct, and she was pretty confident that it was, it was also something that Gemma had never denied.

Now, after hearing the desperation in her friend's voice, she came to the decision that it would probably be not one, but two people needing help with their mental issues, if Jeanie actually did have a problem, that is, but bearing in mind Gemma's history of over-protectiveness to her, it could mean that anything she said could well be exaggerated, and she hoped for Jeanie's sake that her former classmate was actually making a fuss over nothing.

Dispelling the thoughts from her mind, she chose to accept the moment for what it was - two people meeting one another after a long time apart, and tightened her embrace to reinforce that feeling before finally relaxing and stepping back slightly, holding on to Gemma's hands as she did so to look her over.

"Well, my old friend," she said, still a hint of sadness in her voice as she saw just how much stress and worry Gemma was struggling to hide, "first of all, we'll start with YOU!"

Raising her friend's arms up into the air and mock-examining her, Divya said, "If I may be so bold, Gemma Watkins, time has turned you into a very fine woman indeed!"

ooo

"Th-thank you, Divya. Y-you look good, too," Gemma replied awkwardly, blushing at the compliment she'd just received as she thought the skinny girl she'd known back in school not having really changed that much appearance wise, except for being a bit taller, and, well, slender now rather than skinny, and the early onset of wrinkles beside her eyes made her look older than she really was, yet, they did add a certain "maturity" to her features, vaguely recalling Divya her once that her mother and grandmother both had that very same wrinkle problem and that it was genetic. Her cheek bones were still quite prominent, though, but despite all that, she still had that smile that showed off her perfectly even, white teeth that lit up her otherwise plain face.

"You-you've certainly grown taller since school, you have!" said Gemma, allowing her arms to relax, though still holding hands. "You used to only come up to my shoulders, remember? Almost as tall as me, now!I... I'm sorry for all that just now, but it-its a massive relief for me to finally speak with someone who-"

"Never mind all that for now," said Divya, cutting her off. "Let's get you sat down before you FALL down," and let go of one of her hands to pick up her bag before guiding her to sit facing the wall, putting it back down next to her chair.

"Th-thank you," said Gemma, reaching down to the bag and moving it about an inch closer for comfort's sake and reassurance. "I'm all...I don't know, flustered, right now, I suppose. I can call you Divya, can I, or should I be calling you 'Doctor',now, seeing as you're a professional woman?" she asked, smiling nervously, not sure of the correct social etiquette between them right then.

Grinning, Divya chuckled at her. "There's no need to be so formal with me, Gemma Watkins,after all,we're old friends, are we not?", and Gemma felt her friend gently squeeze her hand, so she reciprocated by squeezing back.

"Yes, of course we are, Divya, but I'm a friend in need at the moment, and I feel really bad for us meeting in this way..."

"Again, don't worry about it, Gemma. Here...", and Gemma watched as her friend used her free hand to pour some water from a jug into a second beaker. "Take a sip to calm yourself, and then we can catch up on the high points of our lives before we talk of more down-to-earth matters."

"When I mentioned this place on the phone," Divya said, then, "you told you hadn't been here before, is that correct?"

"No, I mean, yes!" said Gemma, still a bit flustered over how to speak safely about her sister. "Yes, I haven't been here before, and no, I'd never heard of it before you told me," she carefully explained. "I checked it up on the internet, though, and yeah...", she paused to look over her shoulder at her surroundings before carrying on, "it looks really nice. A bit over the top outside with the sailing masts on the roof and what-have-you, but yeah, I think I like it. Whether I'll come here again, though, depends on what the food and service is like, I suppose."

"Well," her friend said, reaching towards the red, patent leather-covered menu standing upright on the edge of the table, "their aptly-titled menu, 'Ports of Call', offers a fairly wide range of meals from the various ports around the world they supposedly 'call' at, and they DO make a very nice chicken biryani, which is why I often come here for lunch."

Accepting the proffered menu, Gemma noticed a frown suddenly appear on her friend's face, and looked questioningly at her.

"I'm sorry, Gemma,but I have to leave at three-thirty for another appointment. We've had an unexpected and extremely busy week at the clinic and one of the other doctors I work with has fallen victim to a stomach bug that's doing the rounds and so I have to cover some of his work as well as my own. I am really, really sorry for not being able to stay as long as I would like, and so I insist that, as my guest here today and as a way of apology to you, you feel free to choose whatever you want from the menu, and I won't take no for an answer!"

Gemma felt gutted, thinking they wouldn't get much of a chance to sort anything out, and trying to hide her disappointment, she said, "Seriously, no, Divya, there's no need for anything like that! I... I can understand you having to cut today short being short-staffed and busy and all that, I... I'm just glad you were willing to see me at all!"

She figured Divya must have seen on her face how disappointed she was, for her friend then replied, "Tell you what, if we can't get to solve your sister's problem today, then maybe we can meet up again, sometime, if that's all right with you?"

"Oh, yes please, Divya,that'd be brilliant!" she said, feeling more than grateful for the offer, then she had an idea. "Tell you what,let it be MY treat to you and we meet up in Knapford, yeah? I've barely seen any of our other friends since leaving school, but us two getting together again and having a night out would be really great!"

"I'd really like that," her friend said, smiling again.

"Well, in that case," said Gemma, smiling happily as she felt herself finally able to relax, "I'd better study this menu and see what foreign and exotic delights are in store for me!" and as she ran her eyes down the list of unfamiliar meals and their relatively high prices, she thought to herself, Fuck, it's expensive, here!

Despite knowing she wouldn't be paying for whatever she ordered, she still felt she oughtn't take advantage over her friend's generosity and have something too pricey, and so quickly skimmed through the menu searching for something she was familiar with or could even actually pronounce until, finally, near the back of the menu, she found a list of English naval ports with, she was pleased to see, meals she actually recognised and liked.

"I think I'll settle for something from a British port, I think," she said, "before I go off exploring foreign parts. I'll have the Southampton Special, er, medium steak and chips with all the trimmings, and a half-pint of lager, if that's all right with you, please, Divya? I had a skinful last night and I don't want ANOTHER headache starting!" but she noticed her friend had been watching her with a look of curiosity on her face, and she thought, Why's she looking at me like that? Is she STUDYING me?

"As I said, Gemma Watkins, whatever you wish," her friend said, now just simply smiling at her. "I'll call one of the waiters, or rather," her friend then leant over the table towards her with a conspiratorial look on her face, "one of the 'SEAMEN over to take your order."

Smirking at the unexpected innuendo, Gemma recalled the long-ago fun they'd had in school over similar expressions, but said, "I thought that one just now's name was Franklin, but you called him Leonard! Is there anything you need to tell me about him... DIVYA TAMBE?" she asked, raising her eyebrows speculatively before taking another sip of her water, noticing that the wooden look of the beaker was just a plastic sleeve surrounding a normal glass.

"All I'll say, GEMMA WATKINS," said her friend, smirking back slyly, "is that being friendly with the staff can often speed up one's order when there are a lot of other people waiting, AND," she added in a conspiratorial whisper, "I also get to hear some juicy gossip now and then," but it was when she then waggled her eyebrows that Gemma couldn't help snorting into her beaker at her friend's crude but amusing behaviour, and accidentally swallowed some of the water the wrong way that had her coughing loudly as she tried to get her breath back.

Still half-laughing, half-choking, Gemma grabbed at her napkin to mop up water she'd spilt over the, thankfully, laminated menu pages, and surreptitiously peered behind her in the hope none of the nearby diners were looking at her in her embarrassed state, but a few of the people seated at a long table several feet away were the only ones who seemed to have noticed anything amiss, as they had turned to look in her direction. She briefly glanced at the propped-up "Reserved" card on their table that said they were members of some sort of fanfiction readers group, whatever that was supposed to be, she thought, thinking that maybe it had been misprinted. Turning back to face her friend, she gasped between coughs, "No, Divya, I... I take back what I said earlier... you're still the same old you!"

Seeing her friend's eyebrows comically bobbing above her spectacles had brought another thought to Gemma, that unlike the over-size glasses Divya had worn in school, these ones were just right for her narrow face. Laying the now-dry menu flat on the table, she said, "You haven't opted to wear contact lenses, then, I take it?"

"Not for work, no," Divya replied, still chuckling at Gemma's watery mishap. "My patients exhibit more trust in me when I wear spectacles. They say they make me look like a proper doctor, would you believe?"

Gemma laughed again, feeling more confident now that they'd actually started chatting, and the way she'd choked on her water just now seemed to have finally broken the ice. She still a little disappointed, though, with how little time she'd get to talk about Jeanie before her friend had to leave, but still, the offer of meeting up again was enough to keep the smile on her face, and while her friend stood up and beckoned to one of the waitresses, she gazed idly at the large picture on the wall of their booth, showing a squadron of ships in full rigging sailing passed the white cliffs of Dover.

Turning round in her seat to gaze once more at the other tables and the other parts of the large room as her fancy took her, Gemma thought the owners had certainly made the place look authentic, and after glancing up at one of the non-swinging "oil-lamps" hanging from the overhead beams, was really glad they hadn't included a tilting floor to go with the water sound-effect in their effort to make it yet more realistic, or that earlier thought she had of being sea-sick would suddenly be all too real!

"So, Gemma," said Divya once the waitress had left with their order, "what else we spoke on the phone, you told me you work in a solicitor's office. What made you choose that line of work?"

"Well," she replied, gazing back at her friend, "I'm only a paralegal, not an actual solicitor. There weren't many jobs going in Elsbrige that I liked, so I started checking out what was in the job centres in other towns until something I did like turned up. I'd never really thought much on what job I wanted when I was in school, to be honest, as most of my time was spent looking after Jeanie and Carl. Robert, being older than Jeanie, was old enough to look after himself, and then I saw an advert for a trainee junior paralegal in Knapford, and that's where I've been since. The firm put me through some courses on legal stuff before I actually started proper, but it was well worth it in the end as it's a really interesting job!"

"It's nice you enjoy what you do. Do you specialise in any particular legal field?"

"Not, not really. I don't get involved in the actual law stuff per se, I just prepare the legal documents, do research and general office work... word processing, filing or whatever, you know, the background stuff that the proper lawyers need in order for them to do THEIR job. It's quite busy at times, and I like doing it and it pays the bills, AND they've got flexitime, so as long as I'm up-to-date with my work, I can take time off to do things during working hours that I'd be stuck for otherwise."

"I imagine that can be quite useful at times."

"Yeah, it is. It meant I could take time off to be with my sister these last few days, but I had to go in this morning to catch up on my work, and it's only because the trains are back running again that I managed to get HERE on time.If I'd come here by bus as I originally planned, I'd probably still be travelling! What about you, Divya? You were always telling us in school that you were going to be a doctor, and, well, look at you now, you actually are one! Well done, you!" said Gemma, raising her "wooden" beaker in a toast to her friend.

She saw Divya smile at the compliment and nod her appreciation, and after a few seconds of shared silence, she carried on talking.

"So,tell me, 'Doctor' Tambe, what's it like being a psychiatrist, then? Do you really get crackpots coming to see you, you know, the ones that think they're Napoleon?"

"I enjoy my work very much, and yes, I DO occasionally meet some 'crackpots' as you call them, but I haven't met any 'Napoleons' yet, I am sorry to tell you, Gemma! As you may recall from school, it was my father's wish for me to become a doctor and to marry another doctor or a wealthy lawyer, Indian, of course, that got me to where I am today. I chose psychiatry because it appealed to me, amongst other reasons that I won't bore you with!"

"Yeah, I remember you saying," said Gemma recalling one of the many times they'd all chatted about their family and futures, "and have you found your wealthy doctor or lawyer yet?" She'd almost added "Indian Chief", but stopped herself in time.

"No, I haven't been looking for one," said Divya, smiling wryly as though something had amused her. "I was too focused on becoming a doctor to be distracted by thoughts of romance and marriage, and now, I'm content being single, but what about you, Gemma? I don't see any wedding ring on your finger!"

"Um, er, yeah," she mumbled quietly, embarrassed by her inability to articulate something more intelligent, "and no, I'm not married yet. Don't know whether I will be any time soon, either, what with the way things are going right now."

"Are you having boyfriend problems, then, Gemma Watkins? Tell Doctor Divya all about it!"

"Ha! Yeah, you could say that, but yeah, I've been seeing someone for the last month or so... in a semi-serious sort of way, but whether it gets any more serious than that,I'll have to wait and see, though he doesn't know yet that I've already set a date."

"What, for your wedding?" her friend asked, sounding slightly surprised.

"No, silly!" Gemma chuckled. "It's a deadline. If he hasn't made a proper move on me by then, it's the day he becomes a single man again!"

Divya found that really amusing and burst out laughing, eventually calming down enough to say, "It's no wonder you work in a solicitor's office, Gemma Watkins, putting a default clause like that into a romantic relationship!"

The two women continued to chat for a while about life in general and of the unlikelihood of their clique all getting together in the future for some sort of reunion, and it was only when Divya said, "I believe our food is on its way," as she looked behind Gemma that she realised how famished she was!

ooo

Halfway through their meal, and after swallowing a forkful of pilau rice, Divya believed her friend able to talk about her sister rationally rather than emotionally, and said, "So, Gemma, tell me about Jeanie..."

"Yeah," Gemma said cheerfully. "Well, first of all, she was supposed to be coming over my place a week last Thursday to stay with me for a few days, it was the day all the trains got cancelled when the signals stopped working,remember?"

Loading her fork with some more rice, Divya nodded her agreement and waited for Gemma to continue speaking.

"When she hadn't turned up by dinner-time, I was worried in case she'd broken down or crashed her car or whatever, but anyway, she phoned me mid-afternoon to say she'd had to stop to help some people that had been hurt in a train crash. An engine had derailed or something, she said, and that one of the passengers had been badly injured and that she'd taken him and the two other passengers to St Tibba's, and while she was there, she'd met the owner of the railway company and somehow ended up getting herself a job with him and that she'd see me later on that evening."

"I don't recall hearing anything about any recent train crash," said Divya pointedly, putting down her cutlery to retrieve her notebook from her briefcase, "but I'll make a note to ask my colleagues if any of them know anything about it."

"Yeah, thanks. Oh, yeah, she also told me about two other people that worked for the railway that died last week, not in the crash, though, in a different part of the company.The thing is, I don't recall seeing anything about THAT on the local news,either, NOR in the paper, AND I haven't heard anyone else talking about it. It's odd that something like that goes unnoticed by everyone,especially the media, innit?"

"Yes, it is" agreed Divya, herself not able to recall hearing or seeing anything about two such newsworthy events. "Did she say how they died?" she asked. "An accident at work, perhaps, or whether it was through natural causes or a serious illness, maybe? What about the crash site she stopped at? Weren't there any ambulances already there to take any of the injured to St Tibba's?"

"Now you mention it, she didn't say anything about that side of it. Maybe she got there before they did, I don't know, but it does seem like there's stuff she's not telling me, though.Well, anyway,she phoned me again that evening to say she was staying the night at her boss' home, well, mansion, actually. It turns out her boss is that Sir Topham Hatt guy. You know, the one that owns all of Sodor Railways?"

"I've heard his name mentioned SEVERAL times just recently," Divya replied cryptically, "but I've never met or seen him in person. Excuse me a moment, please, Gemma, but I'd like to write this down along with a few more notes, if you don't mind?" Some of her new patients had worked for Sodor Railways and, she wondered, although this may all be just be a coincidence, it warranted further investigation.

"No, carry on, you," said Gemma. "I've got some stuff she drew that I want to show you, anyway, and seeing as you're, like, leaving at half-three, it'll help me get it back in her room before she gets home from work, as long as she doesn't finish early, that is! She doesn't know anything about me meeting you here today, you see, and she'd likely go ape-shit if she finds out!I say, Divya, this food is really nice-"

"I'm sorry, Gemma," Divya cut in as a sudden thought struck her, "but how does Jeanie react on receiving bad news? Does she get angry or exhibit violent tendencies of any kind?" Some of her new patients had told her of their anger and confusion with what was happening to them, and two in particular had confessed to breaking furniture at home in their frustration.

"Violent tendencies? Christ, no, Divya! EVERYONE'S got a temper and gets angry at SOME point in their life, that's normal for people, but Jeanie'd never hurt a FLY! Why would you ask that?"

"It's just a routine question, Gemma," said Divya, injecting softness into her voice to placate her friend, "and it's nothing for you to worry about. I'm just trying to eliminate certain things as part of the diagnostic process, that's all, do you understand?"

A look of contrition appeared on Gemma's face. "Yeah, I guess I do. You've got to do that, I suppose. It's just... awkward hearing things like that aimed at my sister, you know?"

"I quite understand, Gemma," Divya said consolingly, deciding to space out any provocative questions lest her friend become too upset and react angrily. "Emotion and reason don't go well together at times of worry and stress, especially when talking about a loved one, and I apologise in advance if anything I say offends you. I really don't want you to think I'm actually inferring anything by asking them, okay?"

"Okay, yeah, I suppose. I... I've never been in a situation like this before and, I don't know, it just feels, kinda weird, like. Anyway, where was I... oh yeah, the day after that, she phoned me to say she was going on a train journey to the mainland to get some special part or something they needed to fix the faulty signals. I didn't hear anything from her after that until a few days ago when she walked in through the front door looking like something the cat had dragged in!"

"What do you mean by that, Gemma?"

"Er, well, she looked like she hadn't slept for DAYS, and she had a bandage all wrapped around her hand where she said she'd cut herself. Said it was an accident she had in work."

Oh, dear, thought Divya, as an alarm bell rang in her mind. "Please, tell me what you know about this cut on her hand, if you would, Gemma. Do you think it really WAS an accident, or that it may be, I'm sorry to say, self-inflicted?"

"WHAT? Why'd she ever want to do something like THAT, Divya? She said it was an ACCIDENT!"

"But you only have her word for that."

"WHAT? What are you saying, Divya, that she did it to HERSELF? Fuck, I trust her, Divya! Of COURSE it was an accident! Why on earth would she lie to me over something like THAT?"

"One of the things I have to ask, Gemma. I'm sorry. Have you seen her alleged injury?"

"Yes, I've seen it!" her friend stressed. "It was a gash along the palm of her hand and it looked like she'd cut herself on a sharp piece of glass or something!"

"I see. Could well have been an accident, then," said Divya, treating their talk like a tennis match, receiving her friend's words with a comforting, placating response and then replying with her question. "Did she say if a first-aider or company medic treated her wound?"

ooo

Gemma, frowning with indignation as she stabbed her fork into her steak with enough to force to make a 'dink' sound as it went through to the plate beneath, replied tonelessly, "No, she didn't." Fuck me! I'd NEVER want to be one of HER patients! "Big companies like that," she then continued sourly, "with a large labour force are bound by health and safety regulations to have a first-aid room or other suitable facility for treating accidents or injuries, so I just assumed they had a first-aider there that saw to it for her, all right?"

As she cut into her steak, she was aware of Divya writing something on her notepad, and angled her head slightly to try and see what it was, but only saw what looked like messy squiggles. They probably have a special course in 'Illegible Writing' in medical school, she thought miserably to herself,just to learn to write in a scrawl so that patients can't read their own notes!Eventually, she saw Divya stop writing, take a forkful of food and look expectantly at her.

Taking the not-so-subtle hint, she said, keeping her annoyance out of her voice, "I asked her where the hell she'd been all week and she said they'd sent her on an errand somewhere down south near Glastonbury to get that part they needed.They obviously got what they went for,'cause on the way back they got diverted for some reason and had to take a detour that took them through Wales, and then the engine that was pulling them broke down in the mountains somewhere and they had to wait for a spare part to be sent to them before they could get the engine going again. It all sounded pretty reasonable when she was explaining it to me, but when I thought about it afterwards, there's all these little things that didn't make any sense."

"What didn't make sense, Gemma?"

"I mean, her boss sends his new employee, someone I doubt could tell one end of a train from another, all round the country to get some 'special part' he needed? Don't they have mechanics or engineers or something who do that sort of thing? She'd only been working there five minutes and then he has her doing something a more qualified person should have been doing!"

"What sort of mood was she in when she was telling you about this errand she was sent on?"

"Well, she was quite upset at first, like,you know, all shaky voice and feeling sorry for herself and all that, and I told her what I thought of her boss for expecting so much from her after just starting work there, but she told me she'd wanted to go on the trip anyway for the experience. Duh! It must have been an experience all right for her to be away nearly all week and then come home looking the way she did, I can tell you!"

She saw Divya then wrote down yet more notes, wondering if she was simply writing down what she'd just said or was maybe translating her words into some sort of medical jargon, but then she saw her look back up at her, and her guess as what she was about to say came true when her friend then asked, "What happened after that?"

Playing back the scene in her head to get events in the right order, Gemma said, "Well, she seemed to calm down and then I teased her about fancying one of the train drivers she'd met, which she denied, and then we had a bit of a giggle about it and then she told me about a game she'd played with Sir Hatt's wife where they matched the engines' names to various actors."

"They matched the engines' names to actors?" repeated Divya as though doubting her. "Did she say why they played that particular game?"

"Yes," said Gemma, nodding. "She said it was a tradition the railway company had, the engines all having names, I mean. In fact, I made a point of asking the train conductor on the way here today about it and he confirmed it to me. He said ALL the Sodor engines have names. The engine pulling the train I came here on was called 'Henry', and the one that was supposed to have been pulling it was another one called 'Gordon', but it was being serviced or something that morning and that Henry was taking it part of the way before Gordon would take over further along the route. Fuck, even I'M calling them by their names, now! Hang on, Divya, I'll get my notes out. I also brought Jeanie's sketchpad with me for you to have a look at some of the stuff she's drawn to see what you make of them, but she's not to know you've seen it as I sneaked it out from her room without her knowing!"

She then leant down to her travelling bag and carefully withdrew the sketchpad, handing it over to Divya before getting out her own set of notes.

ooo

Divya sat back and silently looked at Jeanie's sketches, allowing Gemma some time to check her notes and eat the rest of her food before it went cold. Most of them only told her how good her friend's sister was at drawing, but a some of them, and one in particular, did give her further cause for alarm.

"One thing I must say, Gemma," she said, closing the sketchpad and putting it on the table next to her plate, "is that your sister's quite a talented artist. Some aspects of her drawings are... rather unique to my untrained eye, and quite intriguing in another sense."

"Yeah, she's good, isn't she?"

"Not just good, Gemma Watkins," said Divya, detecting and acknowledging the hint of pride she detected in her friend's voice, "she's very talented indeed, but we'll talk about these drawings soon enough. Tell me, though," she said, seeing her friend push her plate away from her, "was your meal not to your satisfaction?"

"No, it was really nice, Divya, but I... I just don't feel like finishing it, is all. The steak was just the way I like it, and yeah, I'd definitely come here again, but I think my eyes were bigger than my belly!"

"Yes, the food here IS quite filling, and despite my biryani being once more absolutely delicious, I think I'm full as well," said Divya, covering her mouth with the back of her hand and letting out a not-so-quiet burp. "Pardon me!" she said, grinning at Gemma as she unfolded her napkin and placed it over her uneaten biryani. "Better out than in, as they say! Maybe next time I'll ask for smaller portions. Anyway, back to Jeanie..."

ooo

"Right," said Gemma, taking a swallow of her lager and feeling confident she could speak without having to refer to her notes again. "Yeah, the engines.She said something about them having different personalities, or something to that effect, and I said that they're not real and then we started arguing about it. She seemed rather, I don't know, quite defensive towards them, and then we ended up having a laugh about this video I saw on the internet about a steam engine joining up with some others and turning into a giant robot, like that thing the Power Rangers do, you know, to make a giant one? After that...", but she had to pause, realising that she did have to check back to her notes after all, and after quickly doing so, said, "yeah, she told me that Sir Hatt apologised to her for sending her on that trip and then we went upstairs to sort her room out. After that, we both went out shopping for a bit and when we got back,she said she was tired and went up to bed, and that night was when her nightmares started."

"Does your sister has a history of suffering from nightmares or any other sleep problems such as insomnia, sleepwalking or waking up frequently during the night, and please forgive me for asking you this of her, but has she ever wet the bed in recent years?"

"What... Jeanie? Pee the bed? Really, Divya!" she asked in a hushed but humorous voice, fearing the nearby diners could hear what they were talking about. She stared at her friend hoping she'd realise her concern. "She's NEVER done ANY of those things, well, as far as I know. I mean, it's not the sort of thing you tell someone, now, is it? Last time she stayed with me, she'd either get up at the same time as me or if I was working that day, then she'd have a lie-in!" Gawd, what a thing to ask!

"These last few days," she went on to say, "are the only time I've known her to have nightmares. She didn't have one LAST night, I don't think. I'm not too sure WHAT really happened last night, to be honest, as I'd had a fair bit to drink and I fell asleep downstairs and it was, like, two or three o'clock in the morning when I woke up and went up to bed. I was so knackered I wasn't even sure if I was dreaming it or not, but I heard, or at least I THOUGHT I heard her crying in her room and... and I didn't even go in to see if she was all right," she finished meekly, feeling her face redden with shame as she confessed her lack of concern for her sister's well-being.

"I see," said Divya quietly before writing for a minute or so, then drawing a large circle around what she'd just written before putting a large question mark next to it, something that intrigued Gemma, but before she could make a comment about it, Divya said to her, "Tell me about this nightmare she had, Gemma. Her first, I believe you implied?"

"Yeah," she replied. "Well, I was asleep, but then this loud scream woke me up. I knew it had to come from Jeanie's room, and so I ran in to see what was going on and she was, like, writhing about in her sleep and mumbling something or other. I couldn't understand what she was saying as it sounded all mumbo-jumbo, like, and as I tried to comfort her, she hit me one in the face. Almost gave me a black eye, she did, the silly cow!"

"Has Jeanie ever hit you before that occasion?"

"No, and she didn't HIT me," said Gemma, emphasising her point, "well, yeah, she DID hit me, but it was in her sleep!An accident, like. She didn't know I was even there until she woke up the following morning and saw me in bed next to her! I know what you said earlier about what sort of questions you'll be asking me, Divya, but surely you're not trying to say she's got those, what is it, violent tendencies, are you? Because there's no way my little sis-"

"OF COURSE I'm not saying that, Gemma..." Divya said gently, reaching across the table and grasping her left hand. "All I'm doing is exploring certain avenues of inquiry about your sister's behaviour to try and match it with symptoms of particular disorders. I'm not saying she's a violent person at all, my dear friend, it's just that some psychotic episodes can cause a non-violent sufferer to lash out at other people, through no fault of their own, I hasten to add, and it's NOTHING at all to do with whether they're naturally violent or not. It may just be that she felt threatened when-," but Gemma had heard enough, and snatched her hand free, silencing her friend.

ooo

Divya sighed sadly on seeing how upset her friend was. She really wanted to explain to Gemma about her unspoken fear, and especially after learning the type of industry her sister had become involved with, but to do so would only complicate matters in more ways than one, and she didn't want to open THAT particular can of worms.

"I agree with you, Gemma," she said gently. "It may well have happened unintentionally, but you must understand that I also need to ask these questions before I can make a proper diagnosis. I can appreciate and understand how upsetting it is for you to hear them right now, but you must also remember that I AM a qualified psychiatrist and that you trust me when I tell you that I really want to help you find out what's happening with your sister!"

ooo

Lost in her brooding as she questioned her willingness to stay there and hear all this stuff about her sister, Gemma watched absently as Divya wrapped both her hands around one of hers and raise it to her lips, kissing it softly.

"Gemma, I want you to cast your mind back to the first day of our last year at school together, and picture yourself introducing me to your little sister. It was her very first day in the big school, you said, remember?"

Silently, Gemma nodded her head and, despite the pout she was in, allowed herself to smile at the memory as it began to take form in her mind. She'd been so proud of her sister that day, and looking so smart in her new uniform, then she heard Divya say, "Do you also remember when she'd hang around with us as we went about on our prefect rounds?"

Again, Gemma nodded her head, watching such a scene play out, but as Divya carried on reminding her of those far-off days, she stubbornly held on to the belief there was no way her Jeanie was the sort of person she'd just implied. Hell, since her mother died all those years back, she'd treated Jeanie as though she were her own daughter, even, so she knew she wasn't violent! No way at all! She was simply a kind, gentle girl going through some difficulties at the moment, and she'd never want to harm anyone, and what would Divya know, anyway? She wasn't even there when it happened, and it was just simply an accident! No, it just wasn't true, and she knew that from the bottom of her heart, and she couldn't understand why Divya would even consider such a thing of her. Suddenly, her lip started to quiver as she thought her plan to get help for her sister was all going wrong and was nothing at all like how she'd thought their meeting today would go, and wished that she'd never even thought of ringing Divya in the first place!

Her thoughts were in a whirlpool and her mind wouldn't settle on one of them! The woman she'd just renewed a friendship with, the one she'd turned to for help was implying bad things about her Jeanie... her little baby sister and she didn't like it, and the conflicting thoughts and feelings were confusing her and she wanted to shout out her denial and just go home, but then, she realised, she'd be refusing the help she knew she so desperately needed for her sister to get better again!

"...then you also know, Gemma Watkins, my friend, that I knew Jeanie from school. She is my dear friend's little sister and so she's MY friend as well, and I really want to help her as best I can, but in order to do that, I have to ask questions that may upset you. Don't take them to mean that that's what I believe, Gemma. In my head, I've got a long list of symptoms that point to specific disorders or illnesses, and by crossing off as many as I can, the easier it is for me to find out what may be causing her to act in ways you find unusual or strange.

"And from what you've told me so far, Gemma, it doesn't sound like much more than she's finding herself overwhelmed within her new surroundings, and I sincerely hope that's all it is and that it won't be too long before she becomes used to where she is and starts acting more like you know her to be."

ooo

Knowing what she did of Gemma's family background, Divya could guess quite correctly how and what her friend was thinking right then, and having recognised her surrogate-mother issues from her behaviour in school for what they were, she knew that she'd first have to work through Gemma's mental defenses before any help she offered her friend would be accepted. With what she already knew about her friend's mother's death and the resentment she'd told her many years ago she felt against her step-mother, the whole thing now, in hindsight, was as plain to see as the back of her hand. Being so young when her father had remarried and not taking to the new woman in his life, in order to protect her own psyche, Gemma had obviously transferred her own instinctive need for a mother onto her younger sister, and then assumed the role of a mother-figure to her in lieu of not having someone to mother over herself! Complicated, yes, Divya thought, but certainly within her ability to deal with.

She'd come across this form of identity crisis before, and was confident that, with time and therapy, Gemma would recover her true relationship with regards to her sister, but the important task right now was to find out more about Jeanie, and hopefully find that what she'd just said about Jeanie's new job situation was in fact the case and not what she feared. The difficulty, though, was to do it without Gemma closing up as tight as a clam!

As her sullen-looking friend stared at her, she started to soothingly rub her thumbs against the back of Gemma's hand. "I know you love your sister," she said gently, "and will do anything you can to keep her safe, which is why you came here today for my professional help, but for that help to mean anything for her and for it to help your little Jeanie get better, you must help me to understand the sort of person she is, that's both the good Jeanie AND the bad Jeanie, and if you're finding that difficult to take in, imagine it as a nasty-tasting medicine that'll only taste bad for a brief moment before the pain goes away.

"I'm really enjoying meeting with my old friend again, Gemma, and I'd like to meet her sister again, as well, so if there IS anything the matter with her, then I can help her to get better again, but there is still that nasty-tasting medicine you have to accept first. Even if after today we never meet again, Gemma, I'd still like to leave here this afternoon knowing that I've at least tried to help my old friend and her sister with their problems. So, what do you say, Gemma Watkins, will you help me do that by swallowing this nasty-tasting medicine and let me do my job to help Jeanie?"

ooo

Gemma didn't like it, but she did see the truth in the softly-spoken but authoritative words her friend was saying, and she realised how much she'd over-reacted again. Feeling shame and embarrassment at the way she'd snapped at the friend she'd asked for help, she freed one of her hands to reach for her napkin and wipe away a tear running down her cheek. Yes, she'd do anything to help the little girl she'd taken on so much responsibility for, even wangling this lunch meeting today to get it, and as she sniffed back her runny nose, she knew that Divya was absolutely right and that she had to hear all this stuff. She had no clue what else Divya might ask her or how she might feel on hearing it, and she wasn't looking forward when she came to talk about the blood incident, and hoped that her friend might find an explanation for her sister's behaviour before that subject even came up. Swallowing, she looked up at Divya and gave her a tight-lipped smile as she nodded her head to show her compliance.

"Now, then, Gemma Watkins," Divya then said mock-sternly to her, "the first thing you must do to help me get Jeanie better is to go and freshen yourself up and then come back here and tell me about her nightmare, and that's an order!"

Lost in her tangle of emotions, Gemma felt a smile forming as a long-forgotten but pleasant feeling began to flow through her, and, before she could stop herself, said, "Yes, mu-DOCTOR Divya!" Horrified at what she'd almost said, she quickly freed her other hand and leaned down to her travel-bag to hide her blushing face. Turning away from Divya as she stood up, she looked hesitatingly around for a sign pointing to the Ladies and, not seeing one anywhere obvious, sheepishly turned her head slightly towards to her friend in case her face was still red, and said, "Er, where are the toilets, Divya?"

ooo

As she looked at Gemma displaying all the signs of guilt, Divya mentally smiled at her friend's slip-of-the-tongue, and although pleased that it was the confirmation she'd been looking for after all these years, was sad that it had come about the way it did. She'd thought that using her gentle but kind "voice of authority" would have done the trick in calming down her friend, but she'd have to be extremely careful in future lest Gemma showed signs of becoming dependant on her. It was all too easy for someone in her friend's position to absolve themselves of responsibility when someone of greater status and authority came into the scene, nevertheless, she was only too pleased to came to her rescue right then by pointing towards the dining room entrance where a not-so-intrusive illuminated sign proclaimed 'TOILETS'!

With Gemma gone for the next few minutes, Divya took the opportunity to look again at Jeanie's sketchpad. On one hand, and if the fates were being generous, what she'd noticed earlier may just have been the work of coincidence and an imaginative mind, but on the other, they could maybe be spiteful, and it was conclusive proof that there WAS a connection between the poor girl and her new patients. If that was the case, at best it would mean a possible lifetime of mind-numbing anti-depressants and sedatives for her, and at worst, a permanent bed in the psychiatric ward at St Tibba's, and Divya could only imagine how her friend would react on hearing that bit of news!

ooOOoo