Chapter 3

Abby slept better than she would have thought with the luxury of an opened window filling the room with the soft country air. She was wakened early, well, early for her, just after six, not by the crow of a Cockerel, as she would have imagined but by the insistent blare of sheep. She looked out of the window to the meadows that came close to the wall of the Inn, and stretched up rising gently at first and then more steeply to a copse on the skyline. The meadow was well populated with sheep, attended by lambs, which would occasionally try to eat the grass. Finding this not to their liking they would rush back to the ewes and none too gently attack their mothers udders. Abby was amused by the antics of these lambs that she supposed should be soft and cuddly things, and not demanding little tyrants.

"Shouldn't you go 'Baa', not screech like that." She castigated them. There was a discreet knock on the door; hurriedly putting on her robe, Abby opened the door. It was Mary, with a tray.

"Heard you get up, so I brought you some Tea." She slid past Abby and put the tray on the dressing table. Abby was happily surprised.

"I haven't had tea brought to me in the morning for years, thank you." Mary laughed.

"Well everybody's got to be spoilt sometime, haven't they? Breakfast will be ready whenever you are. What would you like?"

"Oh, a couple of slices of toast will be fine." Mary was offended.

"Toast? Toast?" She exclaimed with indignation, "you're not going out of here without a proper breakfast inside you. What would people say if they thought I had just given you Toast?" The rebuke was delivered with such firmness that Abby had to concede.

"Well perhaps a poached egg and some grilled bacon." Mary was mollified, and left the room muttering to herself.

"Toast indeed."

If the Tea that she had enjoyed yesterday afternoon was a revelation, the Tea she drank that bright morning would have to be Heaven. Abby stood at the window, the day was bright with a clear sky, and a light wind ruffled the grass in the meadows and sent the tops of the trees in the copse dipping and swaying. The first cup of tea went down so well she poured another. She had often heard of people saying that their spirits had lifted, and had doubted that such a thing could happen, until now as standing there she knew that her spirits had indeed lifted.

Dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans she came down to find breakfast laid for her in the lounge. A large glass of Orange juice awaited her on the table, from which Abby sipped. Presently Mary bustled in bearing a platter full of eggs, toast and bacon.

"I've poached the eggs and grilled the bacon, I thought you might prefer it that way." she said with a friendly smile on her face. Abby looked with horror at the mountain of food before her.

"I couldn't possibly eat all this." Mary interrupted her.

"Gorn, you got to eat something, look at you girl, you're almost skin and bone." She stopped abruptly as Abby's eyes filled with tears.

"Oh child I didn't mean to upset you." she said with alarm filling her face.

"No, no, I'm not upset, it's just that those words were almost exactly what Mum used to say." Mary sat down in the chair next to Abby and put her arm around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry Love, I should have thought. I suppose it is just what my mum would say, and I guess most mums at some time or other. Mind you my mum wouldn't say it now." She opened her arms wide to demonstrate her ample proportions. The gesture made Abby laugh, pull herself together, and forced the brightness back into her voice.

"Yes, they probably have. I'll do the best I can with the breakfast, but don't be upset if I cannot finish it all." Mary smiled again and nodding her head vigorously in that way of hers, left Abby to eat her meal. She was once more surprised at her hunger, or was it the flavours, which seemed to be so different to those she was used to back in London. It was strange, though, none of these foods was alien to her, she had eaten eggs and bacon before on many occasions, but at no time had they conjured up the tastes she now enjoyed. The flavours complimented each other so well; no wonder people put them together. Yet the supermarket variety lacked the fullness and definition of these, the package may have described the content as fresh, but Abby's knowledge of the market told her that 'Fresh' was anything from twenty-four hours old to four days old. Was this that elusive quality called freshness?

Despite her newly found appetite, she could not finish the meal, and guiltily pushed the plate away. Sipping yet another cup of tea she reflected that she ought not to go too far from the village today, as she would certainly need to use the Loo after all this liquid.

Mary returned empty handed, much to Abby's relief, as she had visions of a plateful of toast appearing.

"There, you didn't do too bad." she bantered. Abby was intrigued.

"Does everyone eat as much as that down here?"

"Oh no," laughed Mary, "that was only half a breakfast for most round here." Abby sat back and stared with astonishment.

"You're pulling my leg." Mary grinned.

"Only a little bit." She collected the debris from the table. She was just about to take the plates away, when as an afterthought turned and asked.

"Had you any plans for the day?" Abby wondered if Mary was about to suggest anything, but felt that she would rather just wander around rather than have a specific goal in mind, so replied.

"All the driving yesterday has left me quite tired, so I think I shall just walk around getting to know the place." Mary nodded.

"Best thing, if you want anything to eat at Lunchtime just pop in, there's always something available."

Abby had been telling the truth when she said she didn't want to drive anywhere, but walking was another matter. Her bag contained the required clothing, something she had learned from other breaks after being caught out in a number of downpours. She had in addition a handy-kit, which contained some basic first-aid items. Therefore equipped with good shoes, light rainwear, warm sweater, and a small rucksack, containing, spare socks, some biscuits, a glucose drink, and the handy-kit, she left the Combe Inn, and set off down the lane for the old Station. There was hardly any traffic on the lane so she was not required to walk in the gutter, where puddles left from the last rain still waited to soak her shoes. What little traffic there was consisted of a couple of tractors, the drivers of which raised an arm in greeting upon seeing Abby. She was puzzled when one driver not only raised his arm, but called out.

"Mornin' Miss Tregonney." She was certain that she had not seen him in the pub last night, so how did he know her name? It was not a question to concern her for more than a moment however, as by now warmed by the exercise, she was starting to enjoy the walk. If the one and a half miles had seemed long when she drove this way yesterday afternoon, it was becoming a marathon now. She wondered if she had taken the right road, but that was ridiculous, as there was only one road, she could not remember seeing that tree yesterday, nor that cottage. It was only when she looked back and could not see the cottage that she realised that the bend in the lane, and the hedge hid the cottage from sight when coming from this direction. Thus re-assured she walked on, and soon was rewarded with the sight of the old sign pointing to the station.

More boldly this time she approached the old building, after all she now had a personal interest, one might almost say a family interest in the Station. Nothing had changed, but everything had changed. The platform still as dilapidated as yesterday, but now touched by a hand she could relate to. Granddad; although it seemed strange to refer thus to a man she had not known; had walked this platform, had touched these few remaining artefacts. Here he had gone about his work. In her mind's eye she could imagine a figure, striding up and down, quietly giving instructions to the Porters, (were there Porters?), waiting to greet the trains, nodding to the Drivers, whilst looking pointedly at his pocket watch, exchanging the time of day with the guards, and importantly giving the right away to start the train on its journey once more. Strangely, although she could see this figure, dressed in a railway uniform, and wearing a cap to denote his authority, she could not see a face.

"What did you look like, Granddad?" she mused aloud. "Were you tall, Mum was tall for a woman. Were you handsome, and gentle? Was your hair brown, black, blonde, or grey? Black I think, because with your name you were probably a West Country man. I expect you had brown eyes, Mum's were brown, and so are mine. Have I got your brown eyes?" She stopped herself then, alarmed by the first watering in her eyes a prelude to genuine tears, as melancholy for a family she had never known swept over her.

Abby recovered her composure after a moment or two dwelling in sadness and deciding not to go down that route again, wandered down past the House at the end of the platform. She stopped and looked again with the sudden realisation that this was in all probability her Grandfather's house, this was where her Mum had spent her early years and had had grown up. The tears did flow now; this strange place that she had looked at so rationally yesterday, a catalyst for all the emotion that she had denied over the years since her Mother died. Suddenly it was there in front of her, the past, not her past, but a past that in a way she owned, that she had never known about.

"Damn, Damn, Damn, why did I come here?" Abby was beginning to think that perhaps this was not such a good idea. Eventually her tears dried, and she used a wipe from her handy-kit to dry the tear salt from her cheek. "Good job I didn't bother with make-up today, otherwise Mascara would be all over the place." This done she stood for a while, looking at the house. Despite her earlier emoting she would have liked to get in there, but the boarding firmly nailed into place deterred her, perhaps it was better that she didn't, not from the emotional point of view, but she felt sure that the house was now occupied by other, less wholesome beings, such as rats. Wanting to get away for the moment, her gaze fell upon the old buildings just a hundred yards down the track, and set off quickly to avoid the re-surfacing emotion. She followed the little path, which wound through the masses of Gorse and Nettles. It became obvious that this path was a remnant of what had once been an access road, periodic clearings showed the road bed, or rather what had been a road bed, but now being swallowed greedily by the weeds. She became aware, as she had yesterday, of the busy and prolific bird population. The flutter and flitter of wings all around, heard, but only occasionally seen, as a bird would dart down, and lift, carrying some wisp of grass or straw. She had heard as well, the rustle from the undergrowth. Sensible enough to realise that whatever creature lay hidden there was probably more afraid of her than she of it, nonetheless a shiver crept down her spine, she was a City girl after all.

Her trek brought her nearer to the derelict buildings and she could now tell that one would have been a small house, the other a Goods Shed. The hand that had designed the station had designed these, using the same rugged stone. The goods shed boasted large doors to which the rails had evidently approached, and presumably carried on inside. High windows were set in the wall above head height presumable denying the workforce of any excuse for stopping work. It had a foreboding, almost gloomy look about it which Abby dismissed as purely invention on her part. The path ended here just short of the buildings and opened out into a large gravelled area. Walking to the left, she encountered the undulations where the sleepers had been lifted from the trackbed. From this viewpoint she could see quite plainly how the track would have curved into the Goods Shed, and also that another track would have run alongside. To the right of the shed she noticed a foundation of what would have to have been a small but substantial building. Why leave the others, yet pull down this one, she wondered to herself. She pushed her way through the weeds, and getting closer spotted the large gap in the base of the foundation.