Strike a Match 2 by Frank Tayell

Author:Frank Tayell [Tayell, Frank]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Frank Tayell
Published: 2017-12-18T05:00:00+00:00

She wondered what time it was. Then she wondered where the railway office was. Near the train station, she guessed, though she couldn’t remember where that was, so she ambled randomly through the slowly waking town. Yawning figures trudged hither and thither, shrugging away sleep. Candlelight flickered from the windows of some houses, and under the doors of others, but not enough to do more than add shape to the muddy pavement that was as much gravel as it was old-world asphalt. In many ways it was no different from the suburbs around Twynham through which she cycled to work.

She stumbled across the railway tracks first, and into the platform second, and guessed the railway office was the building outside of which a small group was gathered.

“It’s ’cos there was no Mail train yesterday, and there won’t be any running today until those tracks are clear,” a worker in railway green was trying to explain.

“I’ve got three hundred eggs on that train,” a woman said.

“They’re not going to hatch, are they?” the railway worker replied. “What do you want me to do about it? No, don’t answer that. Look, you all heard what happened. The trains got ambushed. Until the line’s clear, no traffic’s coming in. We’re doing all we can, and complaining ain’t going to get it done faster.”

“What about my eggs?” the woman asked.

“If there’s no train, there’s no train,” the man said. “What do you want me to say?”

The group slowly began to disperse. Ruth waited in the shadows until they were gone before stepping forward.

“Good morning,” she said, “I’m—”

“Officer Deering. It’s a small town. We remember new faces. I’m Clive Akinweh. How can I help you?”

“I was looking for Captain Mitchell.”

“He’s down at the crash site. He said you should wait here.”

“I’d rather not,” Ruth said.

“There are plenty worse places to be.”

“Oh, no, I didn’t mean… I meant I want to help.”

“Ah, right. Well, there’s a train taking some lifting gear down at first light. You can catch a ride with that if you want.”

“Thank you.”

“If you wanted to wait in here, there’s a kettle and a fire.”

“Thank you,” Ruth said gratefully.

She dumped a few spoonfuls of powdered coffee into a mug, and went to stand by the door, watching as the town emerged with the arrival of dawn. It had the same layout as the one near Leicester, except for the walls. If anything, those seemed higher. But the shops, the goods being loaded onto the market stalls, the clothing, it was all the same.

“The gates are closed,” she said, as soon as there was enough light for her to realise.

“Of course,” Akinweh said.

“In all the depots we went through, they were open,” she said.

“At night?”

“Oh. I… I don’t know.”

“Around here, we keep them closed,” Akinweh said.

“Because of bandits?” she asked.

“Bears. But there are worse places to be. Believe me.”

“You’re not from around here?” Ruth asked.

“We were visiting family in Birmingham during the Blackout. Sort of got this far and no further. Stayed here ever since.

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