Chapter 28

"Abby! Come and look at this." James shouted. They hastened to see the cause of James' excitement, similarly Sam and Harry who were still trying to unlock the door, came round to the front of the house where James was. James was looking in the window he had just cleared. They all joined him and he said.

"Look inside." Abby did so, and through the dirt on the glass could just see into the room. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom she saw what had excited James. Furniture! Table, chairs, an old fashioned dresser, with what appeared to be crockery still displayed on the dresser. She looked at James with surprise written all over her face. The others crowded around to look.

"Good Lord!"

"Strewth!"

"Bloody Hell!" This last from Reg, who immediately apologised to Abby. She smiled.

"Don't worry, Reg. I have heard much worse in the Dealing room, and have used much the same myself at times. But I won't say what language I used as I don't want to have Sam believe that I am not quite a Lady." Sam laughed.

"Abby I am sure that anything you said would not be as bad as Roger and me when we can't get the Tractor started. Come on let's get that door unlocked." He hurried off, closely followed by Harry.

The door to the house was at the side, with a cantilever porch roof protecting it from direct rain. Harry was wrestling furiously with the lock, which had turned a little but then stuck solid. His struggles were accompanied by a surprising amount of swearing which amused Abby enormously. Suddenly the lock gave up and the key turned. Harry regarded his efforts morosely with the comment.

"Well I have either done it, or broken the lock." He straightened his back and went off to get the dogs which had been tied to some fence work. Sam looked at Abby.

"Do you want to open the door?"

"May I?" Abby's curiosity was evident.

"Bless you Girl; it's your house now. Seems right to me that a Tregonney should open it again." Abby took hold of the door knob and turned it. Surprisingly it went quite easily at first, but then the door stuck, she pushed it again with Sam lending his weight, and slowly the door creaked open. Harry was there with the Terriers, and called.

"Stand back." Abby moved to the side and the dogs passed them with the same excitement they had shown before. Their search took longer this time, but the result was almost similar to the station, the excited yelps gradually died away, as the unhappy dogs found no sport until suddenly the yelps and growls built back to a crescendo. Then one dog came trotting out, proudly carrying his kill. A very dirty duster! Harry took the duster off the dog saying "Silly bugger!" and looked at Abby.

"Nothing in there. By rights you should be first in, but I'll go in if you want, Miss Abby, just to be certain." Abby shook her head.

"Thank you Harry, but I will do it." Harry nodded and looked at Sam, who also nodded. Abby entered her family home.

James had managed to get the boards off all the downstairs windows, so there was adequate light for Abby to see. She entered a large room, dominated by the simple table which stood square in the middle of the floor, its sturdy legs planted seemingly unmoved by time. Ladder-back chairs of the same unfussy design were arranged, two to one side, one to the other, and one at one end. To the left of the door stood a dresser, the top reaching up close to the ceiling with three shelves running the full width. Underneath the counter, were two wide drawers with simple cupped handles, and beneath them two cupboards, one of which was slightly opened. To the right of the door against a window sat a large, shallow Butler sink with a single tap standing tall over it. To the left of the sink there was a grooved wooden draining board, now cracked and warped. Over the draining board screwed to the wall a board with cup-hooks, one occupied by a single mug. As Abby turned anti clockwise she saw a blackened, dusty range, and then a door leading presumably to the stairs and the back room. The opposite wall to the main door was empty except for a large, round, wooden cased clock, up on the wall. Everything was covered in a fine white dust, even the great clusters of cobwebs which festooned everywhere. Abby stood there with astonishment. The dresser did indeed have a few pieces of crockery. Sam, Harry, and Reg had now crowded into the room, followed shortly at a run by James who, having taken down the boards over all the downstairs windows had wanted to be the first after Abby to enter.

Abby turned to them indicating the furniture.

"How?" she said no more as the question was obvious. Sam shook his head. She looked at Reg with the question still on her face. He shrugged his shoulders. James had been pondering this question from the time he had unveiled the window. He cleared his throat, and they all looked at him expectantly.

"I could be very wrong." He said hesitantly. "But I would say the house wasn't cleared for a number of reasons, but all connected." Abby waited for him to go on. "It may have been that the crew that cleared the station were told that this was now private property, they wouldn't have a key for it." Reg interrupted.

"They had a key to the station." James nodded.

"Yes it stands to reason that they would have a duplicate for the station, but this house was the stationmaster's residence. Even if they had a key, they couldn't clear it because the contents were his not BR property. They simply boarded the windows and left it. Someone in BR obviously knew that with the closure of the line, the land and buildings became the property of the estate. They could come and take away the items that belonged to the railway, but they couldn't touch this stuff, nor do any damage, which was probably why they left the seat in the waiting room." He thought speculatively about this. "If BR's legal people knew about the Way-leave, it would have been nice of them to inform my Father. But then they could have done just that, but knowing dad he could have just as easily lost the letter, or never bothered to read it." Harry to whom all this was academic and not of interest offered to look at the rest of the house.

"Upstairs will be dark." James suggested, "I will need ladders to get the boards off those windows." Harry thought for a moment.

"I will take the dogs back to the van. I am sure I have a torch somewhere. I'll get it."

Abby walked gingerly over to the partially opened interior door, trying not to disturb too much dust and ducking as cobwebs dangled low. She pulled the door completely open to reveal a small lobby. To the right the stairs ascended into complete darkness, opposite there was a smaller room which she entered. This was empty apart from a large Captains chair and a single Iron bed frame. She walked towards the chair with little puffs of white dust rising from her shoes, and touched it gently. She could see her granddad sitting here, but no other sign of a family having lived in the room. Reg had followed her in. She turned to him.

"Just this?" She asked plaintively. Reg nodded.

"After your Mum left, and there was no sign of her coming back, Thomas cleared upstairs, and moved in here. It was warmer, because the range backed on to that wall." Abby understood. Emotions chased around her head. It seemed that every time she got closer to her granddad, another poignant situation reared to bring a lump in her throat. She suddenly felt that she wanted to get out, and walked quickly back into the front room and out the door. Sam and James had been chatting and looked up in alarm as she left. James went after her and Reg who had followed made to go as well. Sam put a hand on his arm to stop him.

"Let Mr. James go." Reg looked at him and realisation came to him.

"Ah!" Sam nodded.

"Yes. I think she will want Mr. James there rather than any of us."

Once she had got out into the yard, Abby stopped. James caught up with her and put his arms around her feeling her trembling. He held her in a comforting embrace rather than a passionate hold. Abby accepted the comfort of his arms without thought. After a moment she began to speak.

"I get annoyed with myself, that these things affect me so much. After all I knew what had happened, yet these little reminders get to me. I saw a few sticks of furniture. Was that all that my granddad had to show for his life? He had worked so hard, yet in the end he had so little." James didn't reply he just held her, knowing that she needed to talk, just as he had done once. "I don't regret coming here. It is just that knowing the history was purely academic. But going in there and touching his stuff made all these pictures in my mind come to life. I was touching furniture that granddad had felt every day and sat in. I felt his loneliness and despair, and I wanted to weep for him." She stopped, keeping the tears away from her eyes, just accepting the sympathy that James' arms offered.

He let her regain her composure, understanding the struggle she had with her emotion, then he spoke softly.

"All history is a bit like that, Abby. And family histories especially. If you delve you will always find sadness, tragedy, good times and bad. The important thing to remember though is that somehow the circle balances itself, turns, and for all the unhappiness and bad times, there is good fortune and happiness to compensate. You are the living example of that. You are living a life that your granddad could never have dreamed of, nor even your mum. If they were looking down now, they would have the biggest smiles on their faces, to see you, and your success, and it would give them so much pleasure to know that you are coming home. He and your mum would tell you that everything they suffered was worthwhile to make you the person you are today. They wouldn't change anything." As his words and the truth they contained filtered through to Abby's mind, her sadness gradually melted away to be replaced by the pleasant sensation of his holding her. She began to enjoy James arms for more than just the comfort he offered. Resisting the impulse to burrow even deeper, she looked up and smiled at him.