Chapter 15: A False Alarm
In this chapter everyone, it's gonna be a fairly short one and we're gonna focus for a bit on the people back in Chamberlain before we go back to Sodor later on in the chapter. Here we're also gonna get the first of the false alarms the people of Chamberlain will get with regard to sightings of Carrie.
(Friday, March 2nd 2012 – 11:40am; Chamberlain, Maine)
The students of Ewen High School were going about their morning business, just as they'd done since the year began, and ever since Carrie White had suddenly disappeared from the town more than three months before. The students and teachers were in their classes working away or were attending various curriculums within the school grounds.
Suddenly, there came the familiar pinging from the school's P.A. system, which caused everyone to stop what they were doing and listen very closely to what was going to be reported from the office.
"Attention everyone…I have an announcement to make…" came the familiar voice of Principal Morton from his office, as everyone around the school listened to what he had to say next, "…I've just received a report from the Chamberlain Police Department. They have said that Carrie White has apparently been found alive somewhere near the town of Laconia in New Hampshire." And upon hearing that, quite a few of the students and teachers gasped in shock or breathed a huge sigh of relief, all hoping this bit of news was true and that Carrie would be all right.
"However, everyone…" came the voice of Principal Morton again, as everyone quietened down and listened, "…the Chamberlain Police Department haven't yet confirmed as to whether or not this sighting is of Carrie White. However, I will let you know as soon as I get more information from the police. Thank you." and with that, the P.A. system went quiet.
Around the school, either in the classrooms or out of them, students and staff alike wondered if Carrie really had been seen in Laconia, New Hampshire, and whether she was really all right, as many of them hoped she would be. These feelings were particularly strong with Carrie's classmates. When she heard the news, Sue Snell felt her heart rate go up a little, and she really hoped Carrie was okay. However, some of the other girls in the Mortimer Snerds, most notably Chris Hargensen and Tina Blake, were feeling a little bit disappointed at hearing this, and they quietly cursed this ill-luck.
However, quite a few others, including Sue's boyfriend Tommy Ross, were also feeling a little hopeful, but they decided it would be best to wait until confirmation came in from the police before they did anything else.
(A little later, during lunch)
At their table within the busy and bustling cafeteria, the Mortimer Snerds were all talking about the earlier announcement, and voicing their opinions about whether Carrie was all right or not. Then they turned their heads up to see their leader Chris Hargensen standing there at the table, and she was looking quite fed-up and irritable.
"I can't believe what I heard earlier on! I just won't believe it at all!" she said, in a fed-up hissy sort of way as she sat down beside Tina. A few of the others round the table just looked to each other and rolled their eyes; they were all quite used to Chris' behaviour by now.
"It hasn't been confirmed yet, Chris. We just need to wait until…" Sue said, before Chris looked up and shot her a very dirty, hissy look.
"I don't care if it hasn't yet been confirmed! I've just gotten just to that…that freak not being around this school! And I don't want to have to see her again!" Chris said, all in such an exasperated, frustrated tone, much to the slight consternation of some of the people who were sitting round the table. Sue and Tommy looked at each other with some worry, thinking that Chris would go flying off the deep end and off on some sort of rampage.
"I just hope that the news isn't true!" Chris said, and she stood up and walked out of the cafeteria without another word. A moment or two later, Tina stood up and followed her out.
"Looks like someone got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning." Jessica Upshaw said quietly, as she looked towards the others at the table. They all looked back to her and nodded their heads, before they then turned to eat their lunches.
As they ate, they chatted with each other about how their day had gone and their own thoughts about the recent announcement about the apparent news that Carrie had been found.
"What I want to know is, for all the time she was being abused by that mad woman, why didn't Carrie tell anyone about what her mother was doing to her in that old house? Surely something about it could've been done much earlier on." Heather said.
"I think there could be a variety of reasons for that, Heather; she either thought that her mother would do something horrible to do something to her if she told anyone, or even possibly she thought that she would be put into foster care, and there wouldn't be anywhere for her to go otherwise." Sue said.
"Well, I've heard very similar stories about that in other abuse cases at times, and the victims have given various reasons for not telling others about the abuse, including the ones that you've just mentioned, Sue." said Rachel Spies.
"Yeah well…only Carrie knows the true reason, and we won't know about it until she's been found." said Nikki, as she sipped some of her soup.
"Yeah, but that's IF she's ever found." said Lizzy, as she took another bite of her sandwich.
(Meanwhile, Principal Morton's office)
At the desk, Principal Morton was sitting at his desk with two police officers on the other side of the desk; one was male and the second was female. The three of them were looking over some photos spread out on the desk; some of them were of Carrie White, while a few of the others were of the girl, who did resemble Carrie White in a small way – indeed the girl's blonde hair was very similar in shade to Carrie's – who had been seen in Laconia, New Hampshire, and the sighting of whom had caused the report to be reported over the school's P.A. system earlier on.
Morton picked up another photo of Carrie White and then picked up another one of the ones of the sighted girl, and, looking from one to the other, tried to be absolutely sure the sighted girl was of Carrie. He looked for features such as the shapes of the ears and nose, trying to force fit them together; however, it all proved to be in vain.
But eventually, after looked between the two sets of pictures, from one to the other, and letting out a heavy sigh, he looked up to the two officers sitting across from him and, after pausing a brief moment, he shook his head.
"No, you two…I'm afraid this girl you have pictures of isn't Carrie White after all." he said, as he started to tidy up the pictures on his desk.
"Yeah, I thought so…never mind, at least we got a second opinion from someone else, and that we had then double-check the photos." said the male officer, with a heavy sigh, as he helped to sort out the pictures on the desk.
"I'm very sorry if we wasted this little bit of time on your lunch break, Mr Morton." the female officer said, sounding genuinely apologetic.
"It's all right, you two. And I'm perfectly happy to give you a second opinion on matters like these if needed…especially in a missing-persons case like this." Principal Morton said.
"What are you going to tell the whole school, sir?" the male officer asked. There was a heavy sigh from Morton, as he settled back into his chair and looked at the two officers.
"Just the truth, sir." Morton said.
"Yeah, I guess that's about all that can be done for the moment, sir." the female officer said, as she and her colleague, having packed the photos they brought with them back into a leather case, stood up from the two seats.
"I think the chief will be a tad disappointed when we tell them the news." the male officer said, with a heavy sigh as he shook his head, feeling a little disappointed himself.
They each shook hands with Principal Morton, and thanked him for giving them some of his time. Then they left the office, leaving Morton standing behind his desk and feeling a little bit depressed at the thought of having to address the school that the announcement from earlier in the day had been a false alarm.
At the same time though, other thoughts were going through Morton's head; having read through much of the PDF of the notebook Carrie had left behind, he was shocked to learn how much bullying had gone on within the school. It should've been so obvious to him that he and the other teachers could've done something about it earlier on and brought a stop to it. Already, he was thinking of starting a mandatory anti-bullying campaign in the school as well as a bullying awareness courses where all students would have to attend, so as to try and stem the flow of the bullying that had gone on and see if it could even be stopped.
Deciding that course of action would be the way forward from now on, Morton stood up from his seat and stepped towards the door.
(Later, after lunch)
All the students were busy in their afternoon classes, as the teachers also worked away at teaching them and making sure they did as best as they could. Many of them were thinking of the earlier address from the main office and all hoping they would receive some sort of confirmation before the school day was over.
Then, as the students worked away hunched over their books or debated quietly in their classes, there suddenly came the familiar sound of the P.A. system, and at once, every single person quietened down and looked up to the ceiling towards the grey spot where they could hear the announcement. Then, there came the voice of Principal Morton.
"May I have you attention please, ladies and gentlemen. During lunchbreak, I spoke with two officers from the Chamberlain Police Department in my office, and I can say with certainty that the announcement from earlier on today was a false alarm. I am sorry for making an announcement before I knew the facts about everything, but I felt it was important for you to know. I will make further announcements in the future if anything comes up. Once again, I apologise for the false alarm. Thank you." and with that the P.A. system went silent.
Within the various classrooms in the school, the silence that had been hanging heavily in the air for the announcement vanished as all the students and staff briefly discussed this new information amongst themselves. For a few of the students, including Sue and Tommy, the news that the earlier news had been a false alarm really knocked the slight bit of hope out of them that Carrie had been found. However, for others within the school, amongst them Chris, Tina and Donna, the news was a relief to them, as they were hoping that Carrie would stay missing and would never return to Chamberlain again.
(Later that day, after school – 3:30pm)
As the students, many of whom were in a range of different moods, feelings, and such, left through the front entrance of Ewen High on their way home, most of them were still thinking about the news from earlier on. They knew that eventually there would eventually come a point where more news about Carrie would come, but it was the uncertainly and anticipation of when and where the news would be revealed that had some of them on edge.
As various groups of students left the school and headed off home or to the various places in Chamberlain where they liked to hang out with each other, Sue and Tommy met up with Norma Watson and her boyfriend Freddy Holt, who was one of the school nerds and known for being good with a camera, near to the main entrance.
"So, how are you guys feeling from the announcements earlier on?" Norma asked.
"Well, I must admit that after the first one, my hopes were up a little and my heart was racing somewhat. I really and genuinely had some hopes that Carrie had been found alive and well. But after the second announcement…my heart just fell to the bottom of my chest." Sue said.
"I must admit, I felt the exact same way that Sue did after those announcements. At first, my hopes went up, and then they were utterly deflated afterwards." said Tommy.
"Yeah, the same is true for me." Freddy said with a heavy sigh, as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"And I felt somewhat disappointed by it too." Norma said,
"Yeah, and I'm still wondering if Carrie is still all right." Sue said.
"Do you think there's a…possibility that…she's dead?" Freddy asked with some fear, as the other three looked to him.
"Well, no body has been found anywhere yet of the age and height of Carrie…at least as of yet, so there's a chance that she's still alive and well somewhere." Tommy said, being careful with his words so as not to say the wrong thing.
"I think so too; if no corpse has been found, then there's a possibility that she's alive some place." Norma said.
The four of them were silent for another moment or two, as their fellow students went on by after the long day.
"So, do you guys want to meet up with Sue and I over at the Kelly Fruit Diner later on?" Tommy asked.
"Sure, I've got nothing planned for this evening." Norma said.
"Count me in, Tommy." Freddy said, and after making their arrangements to meet up later, they headed off on their way.
(Meanwhile, with Chris and some of her cronies)
Chris was feeling quite pleased with herself; the announcement that the earlier news of Carrie having been sighted had been a false alarm after all had filled her with a pleasant sense of joy and triumph. She was now with some of her closest friends, including Tina, Donna, and a few of the other girls in the Mortimer Snerds. Some of them were also feeling quite pleased about the news of the false alarm, and were feeling just the same as Chris was.
They were all making their arrangements with each other to meet up that evening and were hoping they would have a very pleasant evening together as a group, and would hopefully enjoy some good food too. With another school week now over, they wanted to relax and unwind with each other after their long week.
"So shall I see you guys over at the Kelly Fruit Diner later this evening?" Chris asked to her friends, including Tina, Donna, the Watson Twins and Jessica Upshaw.
"Yeah, I'll be there, Chris. After all, I don't have anything else planned for this evening." Jessica said.
"We'll be there too." Nikki and Lizzy said, as did Tina and Donna.
"Great, I'll see you there." Chris said, as she went off to meet with her boyfriend, Billy Nolan, and the other girls left the front of the school and headed off home.
(On the Island of Sodor; local time 7:00pm)
With another long day of hard work on the railway done, and all washed up and in clean clothes, Carrie, Simon and their friends, Alice, Saoirse, Sophie, and Olivia, were unwinding after their long day at one of the local teen hotspots in the town of Tidmouth. There were many other teens their own age all socialising with each other and enjoying each other's company, while also enjoying the good food the place had on offer.
Outside, the evening was fairly chilly, even though there was a strong feeling of spring in the air as the recent days had been reasonably mild, with daffodils, snowdrops and many other flowers starting to bloom within people's gardens and parks.
Right now, the group of six were sitting upstairs at one of the tables, where they could look out the window and overlook the railway lines passing by outside and were chatting with each other while waiting for their food to arrive from the busy kitchen. Around them at the other tables, there were many other teens sitting and enjoying their time with each other or were eating their meals and sipping their drinks with their friends. Music was being played over speakers mounted in the upper corners of the space, and it was just loud enough to be heard but it was also low enough so people could talk with each other.
"I'm looking forward to getting a good night's sleep this evening." Alice said, as she yawned a little while covering her mouth.
"Yeah, I know what you mean by that. I'm knackered after all the work we did today." Olivia said.
That day, Olivia had been assigned to work with Thomas on his branch line, and she'd been on her feet for much of the day as they went back and forth along the line from Knapford all the way to Kirk Machan on the Centre Main Line in the middle of Sodor. She spent some of the time shovelling coal into Thomas' firebox, coupling and uncoupling various wagons from Thomas, including his two coaches Annie and Clarabel, during the day as well as taking the opportunity to try her hand at driving for a short time during the course of the day.
"I wonder what we'll be doing on Monday morning." Alice said, as she sipped from her glass of Coca Cola.
"Well, let's just wait and see what comes. And we'll be able to take them on when we're assigned the jobs on that day." Simon said.
"Agreed, but let's spend the weekend resting up and charging our batteries before we all go back to work on Monday." Sophie said, as she took a sip of her drink.
"Yes, that sounds like quite a good idea to me." Olivia said.
(Earlier in the day)
They had all been working hard all day, with them busy working at the tasks they had been assigned to ever since they got in first thing that morning. Sophie and Carrie had worked together for the very first time today, and they had been assigned to working on the Gresley U1 2-8-0+0-8-2 Garratt No.2395 on Gordon's Hill for the whole day. They had to get up earlier than usual this morning, as they both had to be at Wellsworth Station at 9:30am so they could be assigned to their engine for the day. Edward took both girls from Tidmouth Sheds when he left the sheds early that morning. Both girls rode on the footplate with Edward's driver and fireman, and they also did some work there as Edward took them to Wellsworth. Leaving Knapford Station at 7:30am on the dot with Edward's first train of the day, they had a very smooth journey all the way there.
After getting off of Edward's footplate at Wellsworth, both girls took the chance to get some much-needed breakfast at the crew building near the station, as they hadn't had a chance to get breakfast before they left their homes, and there was still plenty of time left to go before they were due to start work. Afterwards, when they finished eating, they were led by the inspector into the depot close to the station where they were assigned to work with No.2395, the sole L.N.E.R. Gresley U1 2-8-0+0-8-2 Garratt, who was in fine fettle and his black paintwork with red lining had been fully polished and rubbed down all over, so that he looked very smart and ready to take on the day.
When the two girls first set foot on No.2395 with the big engine's driver and fireman that morning, they were both very much impressed by just how big and spacious the cab was, as compared to the cabs of other engines they'd already been on, it was huge; they could almost have held a party there. They were also impressed by how well the engine rode on the main line whenever they went out during the course of the day.
The big Garratt soon took his place out at the sidings just to the west of Wellsworth Station with the other engines assigned to banking duties on Gordon's Hill today, and just waited for their turn to bank a train up the hill. Yet, they weren't idle as they waited; they spent much of the time making sure No.2395 was ready when his turn came by making sure the coal bunker and water tanks were filled, the motion was oiled up and the fire was in good order.
As they waited, they watched the other bankers ahead of them take their turns to bank trains up Gordon's Hill, with the number of bankers to a train obviously varying depending on how long and heavy the trains were. Sometimes, as one train was leaving with bankers pushing behind it, the banker or bankers that had pushed the previous train up the hill would come rolling in reverse back through the station to the points not far away and would cross over the main lines back to the sidings where they would be serviced and readied for the next task.
But finally, and after waiting only about half an hour, it was No.2395's turn to bank a particularly long and heavy train up Gordon's Hill being hauled by Murdoch, the 9F painted orange with green stripes. The train consisted of about 70 very heavily laden wagons of all shapes and sizes being hauled from Knapford Docks, where the wagons had been loaded with cargo from a number of ships that had come in the evening before, all the way over to Vicarstown, which definitely needed some substantial banking assistance up the hill. After Murdoch came to a stop a short way up the main line from the sidings and sounded his whistle four times to indicate he needed four bankers to help his train up the hill.
No.2395, after hearing the whistle sounds, rolled very smoothly out from the siding and, with a workman standing by the side of the line, very slowly rolled up to the brake van and buffered up. Due to the long length of No.2395, a man dressed in bright orange hi-vis clothing stood by the side of the line on the driver's side and, waving his arms and speaking through a walkie-talkie radio, gently guided the big engine slowly up to the brake van where he buffered up. After exchanging whistles with Murdoch's crew, they set off.
As they passed through Wellsworth Station and then on the long stretch of line that approached the hill, Carrie couldn't help but be amazed by how smoothly such a massive engine rode along the track. Yet she also kept a close eye on what the driver and fireman were doing as they approached the hill. Leaning out from the driver's side, she looked ahead at the lengthy freight train as they pushed ahead. She saw as the various different types of wagons rattled along the line as they rocked slightly from side to side. They went along over the level crossing and past the junction that went down to Brendam Docks, before rolling onwards another mile and a half to the base of Gordon's Hill.
Passing under the red brick road bridge and going round the bend, the two engines, Murdoch at the front and No.2395 at the back, forced the heavy train up the long steep hill, with the exhausts at their chimneys blasting very sharply, with clouds of dark grey smoky exhaust shooting sharply into the air from the chimneys, as they headed uphill and the heavily laden wagons going along too. For Carrie, the noise was just incredible, and she was equally impressed by how a really big engine like No.2395 could push such a long train uphill without any difficulty at all and without stalling while up ahead Murdoch was heaving with all his might to get the front half of his very long and heavy train up to the top of the hill.
Eventually, Murdoch reached the top of the hill and pulling onto the level stretch by the signal box, was able to pick up some more speed while No.2395 still pushed hard at the back to get the rear of the train up. Once No.2395's driver saw they were nearing the top, he blew his whistle to indicate he was dropping back, and then closed the regulator and carefully put the brakes on. He braked gently so as not to snatch any loose couplings within the last fifth of the train as well as to ensure as smooth as possible a load transfer of the train back to Murdoch, as well as to avoid causing any discomfort for the guard in his brake van.
As No.2395 reached the top, he was going slowly enough that the train was able to pull away from him smoothly and then powered ahead towards Maron Station, leaving the driver to put the brakes fully on as they went by the lone signal box.
After they came to a stop, just a little way beyond the signal box, the driver put No.2395 into reverse and then used the whistle in indicate to the signalman to change the points so they could go back to Wellsworth. Once the signalman had changed the points, he gave them the "all clear" and then the driver, slowly opening the regulator reversed the massive Garratt over the points to the down line and rolled slowly back down to the bottom of the hill before making their way back to Wellsworth.
And that's what they did for the whole day; whenever a very long freight train came in that needed substantial banking assistance up the hill, No.2395 would roll out from the siding and gently buffer up behind the train before they set off up the hill. Sometimes, Carrie would take a turn with the shovel at firing and at other times Sophie would take over and do it. Due to the very large firebox and the engine's enormous appetite for steam when he was working very hard, it was very hard work for them both to keep the firebox topped up with the necessary quantities of fuel. Both Carrie and Sophie were very glad that they weren't pulling heavy trains over long distances from one side of the island to the other today, as neither of them thought they could keep up with the exhausting challenge of keeping an engine as massive as No.2395 running with an adequate steam supply.
When they were sitting in the sidings waiting for their turn to bank a train, they would help the crew and the workmen out with making sure the motion and all other moving parts on No.2395 were fully oiled up and that the fire was in good order, with a good head of steam showing on the main boiler pressure gauge and a good water level in the boiler, as seen on the two water gauge glasses. They did a very good job, as they had no problems, either from mechanical issues or steaming issues during the course of the day.
During their lunch break, from 12:00pm to 1:00pm, both Carrie and Sophie talked with No.2395 about his career back in the day on the L.N.E.R. and on B.R. and how he banked very heavy coal and freight trains up the Worsborough Incline, and then the Lickey Incline for a spell back in the day. He mentioned to the girls that he was glad there were no tunnels on Gordon's Hill, unlike on the Worsborough Incline where there were two tunnels, both of which were notorious for their bad air quality, as the fumes from the smoke from other engines often built up in the tunnels to the point where the atmosphere, a combination of smoke, heat and steam from engines that had gone through the tunnels beforehand, would make notoriously unpleasant conditions for both the driver and fireman on the footplate of No.2395.
After hearing that story, both Carrie and Sophie were very glad that was one thing they didn't need to worry about while they were working today.
Once their lunch break was finished, they and the driver and fireman went back to work again and banked heavy trains up the hill, as well as taking turns on the shovel to keep fresh coal going into the firebox. They continued on with that work until a little after 5:00pm when it was time for them both to go home. After stepping off No.2395 and saying thanks to him and his crew for working with them today, Carrie and Sophie, with an inspector escorting them, went to Platform 2, where an engine would take them back to Tidmouth Sheds where they would be able to shower, change into clean clothes and then clock out for the day.
It wasn't too long before the engine who would take them back home arrived at the station and stopped at the platform; it was Henry, who was on his way from Brendam Docks back to Tidmouth Sheds too with a long line of box vans coupled behind him. After cheerfully greeting the girls, both Carrie and Sophie happily boarded Henry's footplate, he gave a long whistle and set off for Knapford.
When they arrived back at Tidmouth Sheds later on, which was at about 5:30pm, both girls went straight to the girl's changing area where they each enjoyed a long and hot shower, to wash off all the sweat, grim and coal dust from such a long day of hard physical work. Once they finished their showers and had dried off, they changed into clean clothes they stored in their assigned lockers before they left the changing room with their other friends and clocked out not long afterwards. Meeting up with Simon at the main entrance, they headed off to dinner not long afterwards.
(Back to the present)
"That was a lot of hard work we did today. I can safely say that I'm gonna be a lot fitter than I was before." Carrie said, as the recent memories of the hard work she and Sophie had done that day filled her head. The muscles in her arms were still feeling quite sore from doing so much physical work today, particularly from shovelling so much coal into No.2395's firebox to keep his fire burning.
"Yeah, and when we're doing so much physical work like we're doing on this scheme, why would we need to join a gym?" Olivia said, and they all murmured their agreements with that statement, as most of them were also feeling quite tired after their long day of hard work.
"Well regardless, everyone…" Alice said, as they looked to her, "…let's just enjoy our dinner and each other's company while we're here this evening."
"Agreed, and that's what we're all here for." Simon said, as they all agreed with that. A moment later, two waitresses arrived from the kitchen close by with the meals they had all ordered. A moment later, after the waitresses had given them their meals, they all tucked into their food.
(Later, with Carrie at home)
Later that evening, sometime after 9:00pm, when Carrie had finished up with her friends and agreeing to meet with them the next morning, bid them a goodnight, she met up with her father, Ralph, and they headed back home. When they arrived, Carrie, feeling very tired, bid her father goodnight, went upstairs, and changed into her pyjamas. After using the bathroom and brushing her teeth, she stepped back out into the bedroom and looked at herself in the full-length mirror in the corner.
For a few short moments, she looked over at how much she had changed ever since she had arrived on Sodor: her face was somewhat brighter and happier than it had been before and her stamina and strength had improved massively ever since she started working on the railway. Not only that, but her social skills had also improved to an enormous extent, and she was no longer the awkward outcast she'd once been in Chamberlain, but was now interacting with other people her own age just like a normal teenage girl would anywhere.
Not only that, but she had also lost quite a bit of weight, particularly off her waistline, and she looked so much healthier. The physical work she'd been doing on the railway, including shovelling coal and doing other such work, had really helped her with weight loss, something that had been a problem for her back home, where her previously low confidence, due to the bullying, had prevented her from doing any fat-burning exercises.
After a few more moments, and with tiredness starting to overcome her, Carrie smiled a little and decided it was time to turn in for the night. Turning and closing the curtains, she then stepped over to the bed and, after pulling the duvet aside, slipped under the fresh cool sheets. Laying her head down on the pillow, she reached for the bedside light on the bedside table and turned the lights off. She was so tired after such a long and hard day of physical work out on the railway that she fell in a deep and appreciative sleep at once.
