Notes: Decided to post this chapter pretty soon after the previous one, since it's mostly bridging events into the next chapter.
"...Badge'? Oi, wake up, Badge'!"
With a nervous jolt, Badger's eyes shot open. They were faced with Crow staring down at him. The leader's usual heavy-lidded eyes gave him an expression of curious indifference.
A wave of embarrassment surged through Badger. He'd clearly nodded off for far too long. The morning sun was already shining through the station and people were shoving by on their way to work. He had no idea how much time had past since he'd fallen asleep, but Crow and Gus had been there for a while, from the looks of it. There were no signs of Louis, however.
"M-must've nodded off...!" Badger whimpered, sitting up straight.
"It's all right, we 'aven't been 'ere that long ourselves," assured Crow, "Louis's just gone to pick up the tickets now."
"Can we... um, afford tickets?" asked Badger.
How could he have not thought about tickets? Did he expect that they'd be able to just waltz on a train and be whisked away to Northumberland out of the goodness of some train driver's heart?
He looked down at his rucksack, amazed that it hadn't been taken by some opportunist thief during the night. Though one good look at Badger would be enough to suggest that there's nothing in the bag worth taking.
"Yeah, we got the money outta our rainy day pot. Been savin' it for an emergency. An' what's more o' an emergency than losin' two Black Ravens?" Crow answered.
"Lucky we had enough to cover the four of us," Gus chimed in. He didn't seem to be paying much attention to their conversation otherwise. This was far more of an adventure for someone as sheltered as Gus than for any of the rest of them, even the previously untravelled Crow, so the prospect left him eagerly staring around the station. Badger wished that he could share some of that enthusiasm.
Crow nodded; "If it 'ad just been me I'd 've tried to get on without payin', but there's no way we could sneak all o' us on a train without bein' noticed."
Once again, Badger's mind drifted off to Crow's unspoken trip away. Maybe he'd travelled all over Britain, simply by hitch-hiking and hiding from ticket checkers. It wouldn't surprise Badger, given how crafty Crow could be.
Not that there was much time to get lost in that thought, as Louis was walking back over with tickets in hand. He smiled warmly at the sight of Badger.
"I see that sleeping beauty is awake. Good thing as well, since we've not got long before the train gets here," he hummed.
"Everyone got everythin'?" checked Crow, glancing around the group like a mother hen, "We might not be comin' back for a while once we get on the train, so anythin' ya need ya wanna be sure ya don't leave without."
There was a chorus of affirmative murmurs from the others. In that moment, Badger couldn't help but worry if he really had got everything he needed. Clothes, food, a photo of his mam – was there anything else?
This also doubled as the last chance he had to back out of the whole ordeal. His mind flashed back to his unsuspecting dad – sat at home, assuming Badger was just away at yet another sleepover. It might be days before he even realised there was more to Badger heading off than that. And in that time, who knows what might happen to him...
...But then Badger looked at Crow, the cheeky lad with the confident, driven face, and knew that he had to go with him. There was no stopping Crow once he set his mind to something and both of the people who'd usually try to protect him from himself weren't here. It was down to Badger to do that, should it come to it. He'd promised Roddy.
And on top off everything else, Badger does want to believe that Crow can bring Wren and Socket back. He's never let them down before. Except for when he left...
It seemed that the others had already started making their way to the platform while he'd been lost in his thoughts, so Badger darted after them. He stopped by Gus, as the four of them eagerly looked down the tracks.
"Sounds like it's getting close," Gus chimed.
The train rolled into the station and just like that the whole platform was a filled with a wave of furious rush. There were tired-looking passengers trying to get off the train, impatient people pushing their way on and a few irate station guards attempting to guide them all about. In the commotion, Crow slipped through the nearest door and the others followed them. Neither Badger nor Gus were very good at shoving past the commuters, but they managed as best they could in light of not having a choice.
Everything that happened over the few minutes until the train pulled away felt like a dull ringing in Badger's ears. He was nervous and uncomfortable, but once they were on the move the finality of not being able to go back seemed to comfort him. They even managed to find some seats around a table for all four of them, which was more than Badger had been expecting them to get.
Gus had been a bit shaken getting onto the train and wasn't as good at hiding his nerves as Badger was. But now they were all sat down he seemed to have recovered, looking out the window at the yellow fields flying past.
"Off we go up North then," said Louis, clearly trying to get a conversation going.
"It'll be nice to see where you an' Badge' come from. I've nevah been this far up the country," commented Crow. If nothing else, it confirmed to Badger that Crow's little adventure hadn't been as far afield as he'd been assuming it had.
"We're going much further than Liverpool or Manchester," Louis corrected, "Where we're going is just outside of Scotland, pretty much."
"We do have the exact address, don't we?" asked Crow, "Northumberland is probably a big place."
"They live in a small village called Chillingham. There's not a train station near there, so we'll have to do a lot of walking when we get off the train," Gus informed. He was unfolding a piece of paper with all the details scribbled onto it. Seemed he'd been better prepared than any of them were expecting.
Crow scoffed, "A bit o' walkin' never did us any 'arm, eh?"
By the time they get there, they'd probably be eager to stretch their legs, Badger assumed. At the moment they were all cheerfully optimistic, but a few hours on a train with nothing much to do was bound to get to them. Especially when Crow started getting fussy about rationing the food. He reasoned that they didn't know how long they'd be there for, so there was no point in guzzling it all down at once. Much to Louis and Gus's dismay. Badger wasn't too bothered though – he was still too unsettled to find much benefit in eating.
They got a few odd looks from people heading past. But then again, Badger assumed a group of scruffy kids travelling alone on a train might seem unusual. When their tickets were check, he got the impression that the man was a little disappointed they had paid their fare like everyone else, since he probably expected them to have sneaked on board without proper tickets. As if they'd be sat here as bold as brass if they had done that.
Badger looked across at Crow. He'd probably have sat there as bold as brass without a ticket, actually. Maybe he even had done on his trip away. Badger wanted so badly to ask about it, but the words choked up in his mouth. So instead, what came out was a little gagging noise.
"Ya all right, Badge'? 'Ere, 'ave some water."
Crow was leaning over the table with a bottle in his hand and a look of concern on his face. It was hard not to flare up with embarrassment when faced with that, so Badger nodded quickly, grabbing at the bottle and gulping it down. Mostly to avoid having to look at Crow.
"Good thing water isn't hard to come by," Louis sighed. It sounded as if he was still bitter about being told he couldn't eat the fruit scones Gus had packed.
"But that northern watah is all 'ard watah, ain't it?" Crow teased, "My soft, southern mouth probably can't 'andle it."
"It tastes better than the muck you drink, I'll tell you that now," retorted Louis.
"Does water really taste different in different places?" Gus asked, shocked by this small revelation.
What followed was a whole discussion about water, that quickly descended into Louis and Crow making light-hearted North & South jokes at each other. If nothing else, it was enough for everyone to forget Badger's little wobble, which suited Badger just fine. He and Gus just sat listening for the most part, each equally able to join in, but not feeling right to do so while being with these two more confident personalities.
This set the trend for the rest of the journey, so it was fortunate that both Crow and Louis had a lot of stories to tell and liked the attention. By the time the train stopped in the little station they were getting off at, it didn't feel like they'd spent as much time on the train as Badger was expecting. And save for some stiff legs, they weren't all that weary.
"So it really is miles from here to Chillingham?" Louis glumly checked, once they were all off and on the move.
"I doubt we'll be there before morning, let's just say that," Gus replied, checking his notes.
A quick glance at the notes had Badger agreeing with him. They didn't have the exact distance listed, but it certainly seemed they had a lot of ground to cover, judging from all the names of the different villages. A silent agreement was made amongst them to not stop somewhere over night – so they could save on time and money. If they did end up needing a rest, they could always sneakily camp out in one of the little woods that seemed to litter the countryside here without too much risk of being caught.
Their journey quickly seemed to go from one extreme to the other though, as sitting down on the train soon became the more desirable of the two options, when compared to a lengthy hike across unknown roads. It wasn't so bad for Badger, whose lanky legs served him well, but Louis was just as lanky and still managed to lag behind.
"Come on, Lozz, ya just goin' soft!" Crow called back, when the rest of them had reached the top of a hill, "All that standin' around the market all day 'as sapped the energy right outta ya."
"When did... you get so hardy?" puffed Louis, "You're as short and round as they come, Crow!"
"Maybe we should take a break," Gus suggested, maturely ignoring Louis's 'short and round' comment.
"But we've 'ardly got a few more miles to go," Crow whined.
"And it'll be dark when we get there," reasoned Gus, "I Don't think their mum would be too happy if we turned up on the doorstep at this hour."
"True, we want to make a good impression," agreed Crow.
It wasn't clear from that if they were actually deciding to stop or not, but either way Louis slumped down when he reached the top of the hill and gave off the vibe that he wouldn't be moving again without a very good reason. There was a bit of a stand-off after that, as Crow insisted the roadside wasn't a good place to rest and the others had to admit that was right about that. So in the end they made a rough camp in a small grassy area nearby, just out of sight of the road.
Only a couple of them had thought to pack any blankets, so they ended up huddled quite close together to keep warm. It wasn't as if they didn't all do that during sleepovers anyway, but it still made Badger feel a little uncomfortable. He was used to sleeping alone in his tiny bedroom, so having three other people curled up with him seemed a little invasive. Though it seemed that none of the others shared his concerns, as before long three Black Ravens were sound asleep on the bumpy ground.
Badger looked up into the sky. They were lucky that the air was clear tonight and it wasn't as cool as it should have been for this time of year. The stars above were even more visible out here than they were in Misthallery and if Badger was better educated, then he might have been able to name some of the constellations. As it was, he just drew lines between them in his mind until his eyelids became too heavy for him to keep them open.
This time, Badger managed not to sleep in until late, as it was still dark when he woke up. A bluey-grey sort of dark that was beginning to be chased away by the first morning light.
He sat up, carefully untangling himself from Louis and Crow, so not to disturb them, before getting up to stretch his legs.
Gus was already awake and staring back across at the silent road. He gave a small smile as Badger walked over.
"Morning, Badger. Ready to get on the road again?" he asked.
"More readeh than those two lumps are," assured Badger, gesturing back towards their make-shift bed, "You bin up long?"
"Only about an hour. I couldn't sleep, so I thought I'd get up to see the sunrise. It's sort of different, looking at it so far from home," Gus replied, wistfully.
"Reckon the sun'll be risin' in Mist'allereh an' all," mused Badger.
He briefly wondered if any of their friends who hadn't come were awake yet. Marilyn would already be setting up her stall and Scraps would no doubt be checking through last night's rubbish. Maybe Roddy would have stayed up all night worrying about Crow, you could never tell with him.
Badger's dad wouldn't be awake now, though. Not before noon...
"Better go wake the other two up then, huh?" enquired Gus. He must have been wanting to for a while, but felt it best to wait for someone else to get up, so that he didn't look impatient.
"Nothin' short of a bacon buttie would wake them up," Badger grumbled.
"I don't have any bacon, but there should be enough broth in my flasks to go around," said Gus, "Crow said not to waste our food though..."
"Once we've got some in a dish 'e'll change 'is tune, mark my words," Badger dismissed, as he went to help Gus get the flask and bowls out of his bag.
It seemed that Gus had been well-prepared for the trip, perhaps to the point of over-packing. Badger had no idea how he'd managed to lug all this stuff around since they'd left the train station. He seemed understandably happy that breakfast would lighten the load a little.
And sure enough, before they'd taken their second sip of broth, Crow was scrambling over, still wrapped in his blanket.
"Nothin' like somethin' warm to start the day," he murmured, gratefully taking a bowl that Badger past across to him.
They were all almost finished by the time that Louis joined them, but none of them minded waiting for him. The broth helped them all feel refreshed and put them in better spirits than they had been last night. Even though the weather was much cloudier now than it had been when Badger fell asleep, he still felt optimistic about the morning sunrise.
Maybe this would all turn out okay after all...
He tried to hold onto that thought as they packed away and got onto the road again. It wouldn't be far now until they reached the village where Wren and Socket supposedly lived, only a few more miles at most. And although he wasn't sure exactly what would happen when they got there, Badger had every confidence that Crow had some sort of plan.
Crow could fix everything, after all.
