Veering off Course (The Navigation Quartet Book 1)

by Chris Cheek

  “We’ll work it out, come what may. Now that I’ve found you again, I’m not letting go.”

  His own vehemence surprised Alan, so he tried to lighten the mood with a smile. Under the table, he reached for David’s hand and gave it a squeeze. He saw David’s eyes moisten and felt his own do the same.

  “Time for my next trip, I think,” said David reluctantly, rising from the table. “I hope everything goes okay tomorrow. I’ll be thinking of you. Keep in touch.”

  “Thanks. I will, Davy. Promise.” Alan suddenly recalled their school days. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

  David responded immediately. “Stick a needle in my eye.” He left the café with a grin on his face.

  Chapter 13

  David

  The delivery of six brand new coaches to Sedgethwaite’s Leeds Road depot in early April caused quite a stir. It was some years since the company’s coaching activities had been handed to a fellow company in a reorganisation so the appearance of these high-specification, twin-deck vehicles, complete with toilet, attracted a lot of interest from staff, public and the local press.

  The arrival of the coaches coincided with the announcement of the names of the men who would drive the new London service. An earlier decision had been delayed by a dispute between management and the trade union over the selection method. The union committee had decided to push for selection on the basis of seniority only, but management insisted that the prime criterion should be suitability. When the two sides failed to agree, a union branch meeting was held, ostensibly to agree to ‘black’ the coaches – in other words, to refuse to drive them. However, the committee, much to their chagrin, was outvoted, primarily by the younger men who were anxious for a crack at the long-distance work and were not prepared to see it reserved for the older men. Members of the committee noted that it had been the best attended branch meeting for years and commented sourly upon a lack of solidarity for the cause.

  It all made for an unpleasant atmosphere in the depot for several days, and David did not endear himself to the union branch chairman, Douggie Thorpe. Now approaching sixty, Douggie had been around when David’s grandad was working. As a result, and following an appeal to historic loyalties, he’d been disappointed when David refused to back the committee’s appeal.

  “Look, Douggie,” David tried to explain. “The committee decided on their line without actually asking anybody – and the seniority argument almost exclusively favours your cronies. So why should you be surprised if the younger guys resent it?”

  “But what we’re saying is custom and practice – it’s what we’ve always done.”

  “That’s as may be, Douggie, but these days custom and practice won’t wash with a lot of the lads.”

  Douggie had let the matter go but not before issuing a warning. “You might need the shop stewards to help you one day, and then what will happen?”

  David reported for work, unaware that the great announcement was about to be made. One part of him wanted to get on to the rota and knew that his best chance was if the younger element in the workforce won. But – other than the discussion with Douggie Thorpe – he had not got involved in the arguments that had raged hourly in the canteen. Deep down, another part of him hoped that he could avoid temptation by not being selected.

  He’d always been a fairly unobtrusive employee, keeping his own counsel and coming and going every day without making much of an impact. Even so, he felt that he was part of the place. Now he realised that was becoming less and less true: he felt himself increasingly isolated from his colleagues and their concerns. He was bored with the talk of women, beer and football, and fed up with the sight of women’s tits on as many pages of the newspapers as their editors thought they could get away with.

  What made it even worse was the fact that he felt the same at home. He was out of sympathy with his wife’s devotion to television, and to soap operas in particular, but he had no positive alternative to offer. He spent a lot of time in the garden and still enjoyed playing with the boys, but his home life had all lost any sense of permanence.

  Mona chatted away happily about his prospects of becoming an inspector and about them buying a house in the autumn. David joined in the conversations, but he no longer shared his wife’s dreams or her belief that they would come true. He knew that it was cruel to let her carry on assuming that he still shared her aspirations – but he did not have the courage to disabuse her.

  The sense of impending change, of transition, would have been tolerable if he had known what was likely to happen next, or how to precipitate the change. It was as if he had visited a clairvoyant who’d said that his life would be transformed but then refused to go further. Meanwhile, his predominant feeling was of loneliness and isolation, which made him moody and introspective.

  The notice was posted around mid-morning and was up in the bus station canteen when David returned from his last trip to Leeds. There was a cluster round the notice board as he entered the room. When they greeted him as one of the ‘Sedgethwaite Flyers’, he knew he had been selected.

  He laughed gently as various people kidded him but inwardly his heart leapt. Surely this was a sign and he would now be shown the way forward? He pulled out his phone and sent Alan a quick text to let him know.

  Chapter 14

  Alan

  Alan received David’s text whilst he was lunching with his friend Tristram. It was a strange quirk of fate that it arrived at that moment, since it was the occasion when he’d planned to tell Tris what had happened in Sedgethwaite. It had not seemed right to talk about it over the phone, and circumstances had conspired to keep them out of each other’s company for three or four weeks.

  Alan could not disguise his pleasure as he read the text, nor prevent himself from saying ‘Brilliant’ out loud.

  “Good news?” asked Tris

  “The best,” Alan replied. He paused for a moment, before adding, “I think.”

  “Come on, spill the beans,” said Tris. “This is about what happened while you were in Sedgethwaite, isn’t it?”

  Alan nodded.

  “I knew it. I could tell that something was up, other than your aunt.”

  “Who was down. And out.”

  “Ew, gross, Alan.”

  “Sorry. Couldn’t resist it.”

  “So stop stalling. What happened?”

  “You remember me telling you about David, my old school pal?”

  “Oh yeah. Didn’t you two hook up immediately before you came to London?”

  “Yeah, right. The thing is, I bumped into him again.”

  “Really? How did you manage that?”

  “I got on his bus.”

  Tris laughed. “That’s almost as good as me falling over you in The Salisbury!”

  “Quite. Anyway, it was good to see him again. We were very close, you know, for a very long time.”

  “I remember. So what happened?”

  “Well, we went for a cuppa and I met him for a drink in the evening.”

  “And?”

  “He came back to the hotel with me.”

  “Alan…’ There was a warning note in Tris’s voice. “Didn’t you tell me that he’d got married?”

  “Yup. They have two boys.”

  “Crikey. What happened?”

  “Nothing. He kissed me but then bailed out. But I bumped into him again the next day, after my aunt had died. He comforted me and told me…”

  “Told you what?” asked Tris. “God, it’s like getting blood out of a stone.”

  “That he’d made a mistake in getting married and should have come to London with me.”

  “Oh.”

  “Anyway, he helped me when I had to go to my aunt’s house, and we … um … got together.”

  “And?”

  “So he’s got a job driving coaches to London. He’ll be staying overnight every now and again.”

  “With you, presumably?”

  Alan nodded. “Thing is, Tris, I think he pro
bably means as much to me now as he ever did.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. I’ve realised since I saw him again that he’s been my soulmate ever since I met him at the age of nine.”

  “Christ, Alan. Why do I have a sinking feeling? You realise that this probably isn’t going to end well?”

  “I know what you mean. After all, it’s lesson one in the Gay 101 course, isn’t it? Don’t date married men.”

  “I’m sure there must be examples of relationships that start like that working out, but I’ve never heard of any.”

  “Neither have I,” Alan responded gloomily. “Though I suppose this is a bit different. We are very old friends, after all, and it’s not some grand experiment.”

  “I hope you’re right. But two kids, Alan? How on earth is that going to work?”

  Alan shrugged. “The short answer is that I’ve no idea – and I don’t suppose Davy has either. We’ve not got that far. All I know is that I was bloody glad to see him again. Being with him made me feel whole again in a way I haven’t done for six years. I’d be mad to throw away any chance of a future like that, however slim it might be.”

  “I can understand that, Alan. After all, it’s what Ian and I have, and we’ve you to thank for it. Please don’t think that I’m out to judge you or interfere in any way. I worry about you getting hurt, that’s all. I know that you’re not as tough as you like to pretend.”

  “No, I get that, I really do. And about the vulnerability. I hadn’t realised it until last week. It freaked me out a bit, to be honest.” Alan shook his head, disbelievingly. “I suppose it was Auntie Mary dying so suddenly. I felt so damned lonely up there and I got a bit tearful – well, more than a bit. It scared me. I’d not felt like that since Mum and Dad were killed.”

  “I can understand that. Somebody else leaving you in the lurch?”

  Alan looked up and gave Tris a rueful smile. “You know me too well, old son. You’re right. I realised the other day that a tiny part of me feels the same about you, getting together with Ian. Stupid, I know, but I suppose we can’t help our feelings.”

  “No, that’s true. But about Ian and me, you must realise that you’re part of our family. We’ll always be there for you.”

  “Thanks, Tris. Deep down I know that but sometimes, you know, in the watches of the night…’

  “Oh, I know that feeling, all right.”

  “Exactly. Anyway, the point is I’ve got to be strong for the next few months, for Davy’s sake. I need to be the person he can turn to. So I’ll rely on you two for support – and Simon and Peter as well.”

  “Yes, I really like those two guys – you fell on your feet when you bought the flat and found them as your downstairs neighbours. Don’t worry, Alan, the four of us have got your back.”

  “Thanks.”

  “So when do I get to meet him, your Davy?”

  “Soon, I hope. He starts on the new London service next month.”

  Chapter 15

  David

  “Right, pull into this service area and we’ll let young Edgeley take over.”

  David and his colleagues were on a training run to London. It was the second time he’d driven one of the coaches, and he almost felt more nervous this time than he’d been on his familiarisation day the previous week. Driving a forty-feet long vehicle was bad enough, even round areas that you knew well, but on the motorway… That was – well, pretty awesome.

  They pulled into the service area and took a short break. Then it was off again towards London with David at the wheel. The training inspector sat in the courier seat and chatted comfortingly. “Okay, fine. Build your speed up gradually. Get accustomed to it, and to the note of the engine. Right, it should change into top about ... now.”

  David felt the automatic gears shift and immediately felt better. His vision was superb, and the vehicle rode beautifully.

  “Now, you’re going to overtake that lorry, so you want to be out early. Remember that you’re not driving a car – you’ve got to pull out early to make sure you’re straight when overtaking. And it also makes the passengers’ life easier because they aren’t spending the whole journey expecting you to bump into the vehicle in front.”

  David pulled into the middle lane and allowed the coach to accelerate again. He was doing around fifty-five by now and felt very much in control. He allowed his speed to build towards the maximum sixty-two miles an hour and started to relax a little, enjoying the sensation of speed.

  They had spent the journey so far going over ticketing and luggage procedures. The idea was that they would go right through to Victoria to see what happened there and what to do about parking the coach up during their break or on an overnight run. Afterwards they would drive straight back to learn the northward route out of London. It would be a long day, but a very useful one.

  David had not realised how much of his present job had become instinctive; there was a great deal to re-learn for a different type of service. And different this certainly would be, with luggage to look after, the tickets all being sold online, and a toilet to keep an eye on. They’d come a long way from his uncle’s day, when a coach journey from Sedgethwaite to London took fourteen hours!

  He had not seen Alan since their brief meeting the day before Auntie Mary’s funeral; their only contact had been a couple of text messages over David’s selection for the London route. Now the service was starting, he would have to put that right. The thought of seeing Alan again gave him butterflies in his stomach. Maybe that, rather than the change of job, would really mark the start of a new chapter in his life.

  “Right, that’s fast enough, young man.”

  The instructor’s voice brought him back to the present and he realised that he had hit the maximum speed on the limiter. He forced himself to concentrate on the task in hand. For the moment, the future could look after itself.

  David drove the rest of the way into London. It was his first experience of London traffic and he found it a little terrifying, but he managed to get the vehicle into Victoria unscathed. Leaving there, they were shown the route to the overnight park before heading back to the coach station. They were given an hour’s break before setting off back north.

  David set off for a quick wander round, with the instructor’s words about accommodation ringing in his ears. “Most of you will use the regular digs near the coach station. I’m told they’re not bad, though it’s many years since I used them myself. But of course, you don’t have to. Quite a few lads have got relatives or friends around London, and staying with them can often be quite useful ’cos you’ll still get your overnight allowance, of course.”

  David was amused. So, staying the odd night with Alan would make him some money as well as everything else that might happen. He shivered with pleasure at the thought – and at that moment walked straight into him.

  “Hey watch where you’re... Good God. Davy! Whatever are you doing down here?”

  “Alan! I was just thinking about you! What are you doing round here?”

  “I told you I worked near the coach station. Don’t you remember?”

  “Oh, aye, I’d forgotten. I’m down on a training run – we start properly next week. I was going to text you as soon as I knew when my first overnight was due.”

  “That’s fantastic, Davy. I’ll look forward to that. Have you got time for a pie and a pint? I was on my way to lunch. There’s a place round the corner.”

  David grinned. “Aye, that would be grand. I’ve got about half an hour. But no alcohol, mind. Not this time. I’m driving.”

  “Fancy! My Davy driving one of those big coaches.”

  David laughed and bumped his shoulder, but inside he felt a little warm glow from Alan calling him “my Davy”.

  ***

  David Edgeley shut the front door quietly and set off down the hill. The pavements glistened with a late frost and he shivered in the pre-dawn cold. He noticed the steam from his breath and hoped that the staff bus was running on t
ime.

  It began to get light as he reached the bus stop. It might be a good omen, he thought; perhaps the sun was going to shine on his first solo trip to London.

  A distant growl announced that Jim was coaxing one of the depot’s older buses up the hill. David glanced at his watch; only a couple of minutes late. Not bad, especially for the second run!

  Pat Eckersley had gone on the earlier run, so David was able to settle down without the customary banter. Everybody else was quiet, coming to terms with the start of another day. At the depot, they piled into the office to greet the depot inspector.

  “Morning, Jack.”

  “Morning, young David. No need to ask what you’re on.”

  David grinned. “First London, Inspector,” he said with mock formality.

  “Aye. You’ve got number 501. Now behave yourself down there, lad. I don’t want your Mona coming round here blaming me for any trouble.”

  David laughed, but not at quite the same aspect of the joke as Jack Davis. “No worries there, Jack. I’ll behave.”

  He left the depot office and went to collect his coach. This was not an overnight duty; they would be making the three-fifteen back from London, so his next meeting with Alan would have to wait for a few days. But their chance meeting at lunchtime the previous week had been great. Fate was quite clearly on Alan’s side, and seeing him again had reinforced David’s conviction about where his future lay.

  The new service confirmed its potential when, on only the second morning, David picked up a good thirty passengers in the bus station. A few minutes later, David swung the coach round a roundabout, down the slip road and onto the Ml motorway. As he settled down to a cruising speed, he flicked the switch of the PA.

  “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome aboard the London service. My name is David, and I’m your driver. We are now on the M1 Motorway. We shall be arriving in London at about twelve-thirty. I would like to remind you that there is a toilet at the rear of the vehicle. Please consider your fellow passengers when using your phone or listening to music. I hope you enjoy your experience of our new service.”

  Filtering into the stream of traffic, David smirked a little at his own words. “Not as much as I will.”