AN: Hi all. Just a quick author's note. Sorry it has taken me so long to
get further with this, only excuse is that I've just not had the time. Just
a quick thought while I remember, the whole train thing is doubtlessly
inaccurate, as I have based it on the 'good old' UK system, well, except
for the fact the wrong kind of snow or leaves on the line are not a
problem. I also know that the journey would most likely be impossible to
achieve with such ease, but hey! This is fiction and seen as most of the
places are made up, my plea is artistic license.
Chapter 12 - The Emperor's New Clothes
The next day Mark signed his discharge papers and he along with the others succeeded in persuading Dr. Davys into releasing Jesse into their care, using the favourite line: "We are all doctors, after all." In normal circumstances Mark may have insisted that Jesse remained in the hospital as long as the doctors felt to be necessary, but he also knew how important it was that they all got moving once more.
After all that had happened in the past couple of days, Mark figured that he would adopt the child-like belief: Picture the rain, as a child you long to go out and play - playing in the rain, is after all one of the most exciting child-like perceptions of the weather. When scolded by a parent that you may not go out in it you adopt the following belief that "If I move the rain won't get me." Mind, in saying that, you also have the childish belief that if you go out in the rain in a pair of sandals, that despite the fact that they may let the water in, that they do actually let it out again. That theory doesn't work, either.
But theories aside, they headed to the railway interchange and bought their tickets to take them to Carmel.
The journey to the interchange was a slow one, what with the two children and Jesse, especially as they were reliant on the oldest (though probably the most reliable form of transport), the legs.
They settled themselves onto the train, a diesel one this time, painted an interesting combination of an insipid lemon yellow and a murky swampy green, with an interestingly coloured conjoining stripe.
"Whoever chose these colours must have had their eyes closed at the time." Quipped Steve.
"Either that or they had just experienced the nausea of a complex concussion with literal effect." Added Jesse.
"The green's cool. Like the army!" Dion enthused.
"The yellow's disgusting. Like lumpy custard." C.J. added.
"Though I must confess that the thing that really sets it off is that stripe. I mean, salmon tones so well with swampy custard!" Finished Mark, much to the amusement of the boys (all four of them), and the scorn of Amanda.
Despite the sight of the exterior, the interior was something that had to be seen to be believed. Never before had anyone seen so many shades of brown and all in the one place, too. The seats however, proved to be comfortable enough as Mark, and the two bots sat themselves at a table, and Steve and Jesse took the airline style seats across the gangway.
The station was cleared of embarking passengers, littered only with alighting ones, and the train gently pulled away from the station and chugged into action. The rocking motion soon lulled Jesse to sleep, still suffering from adverse effects from the day before. The others chattered quietly amongst themselves so as not to disturb the little one who was sleeping so contentedly.
The train had been in motion for about thirty minutes when a call came requesting the presentation of all tickets and other relevant travel documents. Everyone shuffled things in attempts to retrieve them and Steve gleefully up the sleeping Jesse with a shake.
"Wha.? Steve, why' you wake me?"
"You need to get your ticket out or you'll be thrown off the train."
"Do you think they'd stop it first, or just throw?"
"Huh?"
"The train."
"Oh." Steve leaned over towards the other and said confidentially: "Dad, I don't know if it's relevant, but Jesse is talking nonsense."
"I was not. I was trying to be funny."
"Well, next time perhaps you could try a little bit harder!"
Mark leaned forward and looked at Jesse.
"Are you all right Jesse? You know, even if you feel the slightest bit abnormal, just say."
"Here, let me." Steve interjected as Jesse sat open mouthed. "He's proud to say he doesn't think he's ever been normal!"
"Hey!"
"Well, you said it yourself."
"I was recuperating from genetically modified small pox. Besides, you weren't even there!"
"Well, I heard all about it. In painful detail." Amanda glared at Steve.
"Tickets please." The conversation was interrupted by a woman's voice with a harsh Boston accent. She was small both in height and stature with chestnut brown hair, which had natural red highlights, scraped harshly from her face in a tight bun, and hazel eyes which were disguised by a thin pointed pair of spectacles. She was in her mid-thirties, though she looked older. A face that you could have seen a million times before and never quite realised it.
Amanda did a double take, Steve blinked in disbelief, Marks' mouth dropped open.
"Here." Said Jesse, obliviously, giving the woman his ticket.
"Thank you; Sir. Now, can the rest of you do the same so I can get moving." One by one they all handed over their tickets. "What is the matter with you?" she addressed Mark. "If you keep your mouth open like that, the train will be re-routed through it, under the misconception that someone has erected another tunnel that someone forgot to tell it about."
"Jane?" Amanda stated. The woman turned to look at her.
"I don't know who you, but my name is NOT Jane. It's Jocelyn. Jocelyn Smart."
"Oh, I'm sorry. You just look someone we met the other day on the trans- continent train."
"Well, it wasn't me, OK. It's bad enough to work on these things, never mind those old rust buckets." With that, she progressed on her journey through the carriage.
"You know," Mark pondered, "I'm sure I've seen her somewhere before, if only I could think where."
"But dad, it was on the train."
"No. I'm sure I've seen her somewhere else. Now where was it?"
"Well, I think you're all mad. I've never seen the woman before in my life, I mean, she even said herself that she wasn't on that train."
"Did you see her Jess?"
"No Steve. That's precisely my point. I didn't and nor did you. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to try and a get a little more shut-eye before the wild-goose chase in C. well you know where." Conceding, the others gave up, and on the other hand, they could now all appreciate the differences between the two women if they thought about it.
When someone presents such a convincing argument and doubts remain, the 'sensible' argument will become prominent and convince you that the other scenario was entirely in your head, for one reason or another. I like to call this The Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome. Let me explain a little. Not wanting to appear a fool, you accept something outlandish as genuine, and the real truth is concealed, for now, at least. The belief becomes so strong that it can only be gotten rid of by the blunt outside observation of the 'young boy', advising everyone to "Look at the King."
Such words from Jesse, however, did not prevent that niggle at the back of Mark's mind. He knew that he recognised him, but from where?
Chapter 12 - The Emperor's New Clothes
The next day Mark signed his discharge papers and he along with the others succeeded in persuading Dr. Davys into releasing Jesse into their care, using the favourite line: "We are all doctors, after all." In normal circumstances Mark may have insisted that Jesse remained in the hospital as long as the doctors felt to be necessary, but he also knew how important it was that they all got moving once more.
After all that had happened in the past couple of days, Mark figured that he would adopt the child-like belief: Picture the rain, as a child you long to go out and play - playing in the rain, is after all one of the most exciting child-like perceptions of the weather. When scolded by a parent that you may not go out in it you adopt the following belief that "If I move the rain won't get me." Mind, in saying that, you also have the childish belief that if you go out in the rain in a pair of sandals, that despite the fact that they may let the water in, that they do actually let it out again. That theory doesn't work, either.
But theories aside, they headed to the railway interchange and bought their tickets to take them to Carmel.
The journey to the interchange was a slow one, what with the two children and Jesse, especially as they were reliant on the oldest (though probably the most reliable form of transport), the legs.
They settled themselves onto the train, a diesel one this time, painted an interesting combination of an insipid lemon yellow and a murky swampy green, with an interestingly coloured conjoining stripe.
"Whoever chose these colours must have had their eyes closed at the time." Quipped Steve.
"Either that or they had just experienced the nausea of a complex concussion with literal effect." Added Jesse.
"The green's cool. Like the army!" Dion enthused.
"The yellow's disgusting. Like lumpy custard." C.J. added.
"Though I must confess that the thing that really sets it off is that stripe. I mean, salmon tones so well with swampy custard!" Finished Mark, much to the amusement of the boys (all four of them), and the scorn of Amanda.
Despite the sight of the exterior, the interior was something that had to be seen to be believed. Never before had anyone seen so many shades of brown and all in the one place, too. The seats however, proved to be comfortable enough as Mark, and the two bots sat themselves at a table, and Steve and Jesse took the airline style seats across the gangway.
The station was cleared of embarking passengers, littered only with alighting ones, and the train gently pulled away from the station and chugged into action. The rocking motion soon lulled Jesse to sleep, still suffering from adverse effects from the day before. The others chattered quietly amongst themselves so as not to disturb the little one who was sleeping so contentedly.
The train had been in motion for about thirty minutes when a call came requesting the presentation of all tickets and other relevant travel documents. Everyone shuffled things in attempts to retrieve them and Steve gleefully up the sleeping Jesse with a shake.
"Wha.? Steve, why' you wake me?"
"You need to get your ticket out or you'll be thrown off the train."
"Do you think they'd stop it first, or just throw?"
"Huh?"
"The train."
"Oh." Steve leaned over towards the other and said confidentially: "Dad, I don't know if it's relevant, but Jesse is talking nonsense."
"I was not. I was trying to be funny."
"Well, next time perhaps you could try a little bit harder!"
Mark leaned forward and looked at Jesse.
"Are you all right Jesse? You know, even if you feel the slightest bit abnormal, just say."
"Here, let me." Steve interjected as Jesse sat open mouthed. "He's proud to say he doesn't think he's ever been normal!"
"Hey!"
"Well, you said it yourself."
"I was recuperating from genetically modified small pox. Besides, you weren't even there!"
"Well, I heard all about it. In painful detail." Amanda glared at Steve.
"Tickets please." The conversation was interrupted by a woman's voice with a harsh Boston accent. She was small both in height and stature with chestnut brown hair, which had natural red highlights, scraped harshly from her face in a tight bun, and hazel eyes which were disguised by a thin pointed pair of spectacles. She was in her mid-thirties, though she looked older. A face that you could have seen a million times before and never quite realised it.
Amanda did a double take, Steve blinked in disbelief, Marks' mouth dropped open.
"Here." Said Jesse, obliviously, giving the woman his ticket.
"Thank you; Sir. Now, can the rest of you do the same so I can get moving." One by one they all handed over their tickets. "What is the matter with you?" she addressed Mark. "If you keep your mouth open like that, the train will be re-routed through it, under the misconception that someone has erected another tunnel that someone forgot to tell it about."
"Jane?" Amanda stated. The woman turned to look at her.
"I don't know who you, but my name is NOT Jane. It's Jocelyn. Jocelyn Smart."
"Oh, I'm sorry. You just look someone we met the other day on the trans- continent train."
"Well, it wasn't me, OK. It's bad enough to work on these things, never mind those old rust buckets." With that, she progressed on her journey through the carriage.
"You know," Mark pondered, "I'm sure I've seen her somewhere before, if only I could think where."
"But dad, it was on the train."
"No. I'm sure I've seen her somewhere else. Now where was it?"
"Well, I think you're all mad. I've never seen the woman before in my life, I mean, she even said herself that she wasn't on that train."
"Did you see her Jess?"
"No Steve. That's precisely my point. I didn't and nor did you. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to try and a get a little more shut-eye before the wild-goose chase in C. well you know where." Conceding, the others gave up, and on the other hand, they could now all appreciate the differences between the two women if they thought about it.
When someone presents such a convincing argument and doubts remain, the 'sensible' argument will become prominent and convince you that the other scenario was entirely in your head, for one reason or another. I like to call this The Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome. Let me explain a little. Not wanting to appear a fool, you accept something outlandish as genuine, and the real truth is concealed, for now, at least. The belief becomes so strong that it can only be gotten rid of by the blunt outside observation of the 'young boy', advising everyone to "Look at the King."
Such words from Jesse, however, did not prevent that niggle at the back of Mark's mind. He knew that he recognised him, but from where?