by Nikki Young
“Why have we never noticed this before?” Jess said, looking around to see if anyone else was about to head that way. No one did though. Focused on the diesel right in front of them, it was as if no one could see what was right in front of their eyes.
“Never mind that, get over there quick!” Ash said, shoving her along with a gentle push.
Tomma opened the door and threw his bag on first, grabbing Jess’s and doing the same. He tried to take Nadia’s, but she resisted, stepping aboard with it held firmly in front of her. Jess stepped in after Ash, with Tomma the last in. He pulled the heavy door shut with a loud click just as the whistle blew. “We did it!” said Tomma, flopping down into the seat. “We’re about to witness one of the most important days in our history.”
Chapter 15
Bittersweet Celebrations
“Have you got your uniform?” Nadia said, as the train picked up speed and began to settle into a steady rhythm.
“It should be in the bottom of my bag from Friday,” Jess said as she rummaged around. “Here it is. Yuck! I forgot how ugly it was.”
Tomma laughed. “You both looked hilarious wearing those,” he said.
“Shut up,” said Jess, shoving him in the chest.
“Anyway, you need to get out so we can change,” Nadia said, shooing them away with her hand.
“Go out where?” said Ash.
“The corridor, of course, and no peeping,” Nadia said, ushering the boys out of the seating compartment and into the tiny corridor before they had time to protest. She closed the door and pulled down the blind. “That’s handy. They won’t be able to see in now.”
As the girls changed, they couldn’t help but giggle at each other. It all seemed so ridiculous. Then there was a knock on the door.
“Can we come in now?” Tomma said.
Nadia let the blind back up with a snap and slid open the door. “Not a word,” she said, giving the boys a stern look as they came back in to sit down.
It was obvious each of them was trying not to laugh, but neither was going to break first and suffer the wrath of Nadia.
*
“What’re we going to do with all our stuff?” Ash said when they arrived at school. The air was crisp and there was a touch of frost on the ground, but they were warm after lugging their heavy loads up the hill. “We can’t carry these rucksacks around all day.”
“Yeah, we look like we’re going on a camping trip,” Jess said.
“What about the music room?” Nadia pointed to a small stone hut at the far side of the main building. It was out of the way and not many people used it, so they agreed their things would be safe there.
“It’s a coal store,” Tomma said when they opened the door and looked inside. “Bit dirty.”
“Yeah, well at least no-one is likely to come in and steal our stuff,” Ash said.
There wasn’t much coal in there anyway, another reminder of how hard the times were. They put their rucksacks and sleeping bags together on one side, as far away from the coal pile as possible, then split up to go to their respective yards. When the girls walked over to theirs, they spotted Martha’s auburn hair straight away and went to join her.
“Hi, Martha, did you have a good weekend?” Nadia said.
“As well as can be expected,” Martha said, looking down at the floor.
Jess and Nadia turned to each other, both cringing in embarrassment. Then Nadia’s head snapped back around as though she’d just remembered something. She slapped Martha on the back, causing her to jolt forward in shock.
“Don’t worry, today’s going to be a great day. You’ll see,” Nadia said, giving Jess a wink.
“Nadia!” Jess nudged her friend and glared at her.
“You think so?” Martha said, her pale blue eyes looking almost pleadingly at Nadia as if they’d been starved of good news.
“Oh, just ignore her,” Jess said as the bell started to ring.
They couldn’t say more because it was time to line up and go into school.
“Good morning, girls, please take your seats,” Miss Jennings said as they filed into the classroom in a silent line that now fragmented and dispersed as each girl moved towards their desk. “We won’t be attending assembly straight away today. Mr Fothergill has asked that we begin with lessons.”
A low groan spread around the room, from all except Jess and Nadia, who looked at each other in anticipation. Jess felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck. It was difficult to concentrate on any work, knowing what they were waiting for. Jess tried to imagine the important diplomatic and military leaders sitting around a table discussing terms and conditions, making a decision that would affect the world and its future.
At 10:30 the school bell rang. Nadia and Jess sat bolt upright and looked at Miss Jennings. Her expression was straight and serious, giving nothing away. Jess wondered if she knew what was to come. Miss Jennings stood, glanced at the girls and then left the classroom.
“Class, we are all to gather in the main hall,” she said when she came back in, still straight-faced—the woman ought to have been a politician.
Nadia whipped her head around, her eyes searching for Jess. She nodded and mouthed, “This is it.”
Jess nodded back, feeling the nervousness rise and whirl around in her stomach like butterflies emerging from their cocoons.
Filing into the hall in silence, each form took their usual places and waited for the Headteacher to join them. Mr Fothergill entered the room and stood before the pupils in silence. It was a long and stretched out silence that seemed never-ending and the air crackled with tension and unanswered questions.
“Students of Hickley School, I have an announcement from our Prime Minister, Mr David Lloyd George,” Mr Fothergill said. There followed a wave of murmurs. Mr Fothergill raised his hand to command silence. “As of eleven o’clock this morning, the war will officially be at an end.”
The whole school erupted in loud cheers.
Chapter 16
A Moment Of Joy Tinged With Sadness
All around them pupils hugged each other with tears of joy and relief flowing. A boy grabbed Nadia and started flinging her around the room. She let out a yelp, which turned to laughter, as the boy danced with her, round and round.
Jess smiled at the scene, before scanning the hall for Martha. She spotted her at the far end and made her way over, through the crowds of happy young people. Martha sat on the floor with her knees bent up to her chest. She had huge fat tears rolling down her face, forming wet patches on her skirt. Jess sat down next to her.
“It’s all right, Martha,” Jess said, putting an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer. “Henry is going to be okay I promise.” She took a deep breath, to steady her nerves while she waited for Martha to respond.
“But how can you be sure?” There was that look in Martha’s round eyes again. Her face was even paler than normal, an unhealthy pallor, drained of all colour.
“I just know,” said Jess, squeezing her hand. “I can’t explain to you how I know, but you have to trust me.”
Martha stared at Jess as if she could see right through her and into her soul. “I hope you’re right,” she said, returning the squeeze. “There’s something different about you, Jess. I can’t say what it is. I feel like I know you, yet we’d never met before Friday. Strange, isn’t it?” Martha smiled weakly through her tears.
Jess nodded back. She understood exactly what Martha was saying because she felt the same way.
“Come and join the celebrations,” Jess said, standing up and offering her hand. “This is the best day ever.”
Martha laughed as she stood to join her. “Best day ever,” she said, mocking Jess. “You do come out with some funny things. I don’t know where you get it from.”
When a friend of Martha’s came over and hugged her, Jess left them and went to find Nadia, who seemed relieved to be rescued from the happy commotion. The pair stood back from the celebrations, trying to take in the sc
ene in front of them. Jess thought about all the children who wouldn’t see their loved ones again and it tinged the moment of joy with sadness. So many lives were lost defending the country; men and young boys sent to the front line, never to return. It was all so real, but at the same time pointless. It seemed Mr Fothergill was aware of this too and once again, he raised his hand, signalling silence.
“At the hour of eleven, we will stand in silence to honour our fallen heroes. We know of ninety of our Old Boys who have lost their lives and we will make sure no one will ever forget them. Their names will be engraved on a memorial to remind pupils of the sacrifices they made and it will take pride of the place in this hall.”
The pupils clapped and cheered. Jess looked towards where Mr Fothergill was pointing. It was at the entrance to the hall, in a prominent place for everyone to see. The memorial she’d looked at—the same one she presumed—was in the foyer, where no one really took much notice of it.
I need to get this memorial put back where it belongs to remind everyone of the boys from this school who gave up their lives, Jess thought.
Mr Fothergill dismissed the pupils, saying they could take the rest of the day off. That was followed by more whoops of joy as the students streamed out of the school and into the streets.
When Jess and the others joined them, it looked as though everyone in the town had stopped work to celebrate. In the streets, people cheered, danced and sang.
“This is amazing!” Tomma said, grabbing Jess and twirling her around before she could object. This act of spontaneity was unusual for him. His face was alight, his eyes dancing with excitement and he was clearly swept up in the moment. Jess liked the feel of his strong hands holding hers. She smiled and twirled around some more.
*
As the time neared four o’clock, thoughts turned to going home.
“It feels like such a shame to leave,” Nadia said, as they walked towards the coal house to collect their things. “Do you think we should try to come back again?”
“I don’t think so,” said Tomma. “This isn’t our time, it’s theirs. We should leave them to enjoy it.”
Sensible Tomma was back again. Jess knew he was right, but was surprised at how sad she felt to leave. Amidst all the noise of the whistles, hoots and cheers, a silence descended on them as they set off back to the station.
It hadn’t occurred to anyone what the declaration of a public holiday would mean for them, but when they arrived at the train station, they found out. All work had stopped for the day, including the running of the trains.
They were stuck in Hickley, 11th November 1918.
Chapter 17
An Unexpected Sleepover
“What do we do?” said Jess, beginning to feel frightened.
“I don’t know,” Nadia said, her face pale. She ran over to the station attendant. “Excuse me, are there no trains running at all tonight?”
“Only cargo ones, if they’ve got to get their business done as usual. Not everything can come to a halt, there is still technically a war on, you know.”
“But no passenger trains to Kirkshaw?” Nadia said.
“I’m afraid not. There won’t be another one now until four o’clock. tomorrow.”
Nadia turned to face the others and took a deep breath. “Oh my God, this is awful. I never thought for one second we’d get stuck here. What if the magic doesn’t work tomorrow and we can’t get back at all?” she said.
“Don’t say that, Nadia, I’m scared enough as it is. I want to go home.” Jess thought she might cry. She looked at Tomma, hoping he might have an idea of what to do. Jess could tell by the set look of concentration on his face he was already thinking up a plan.
“We should camp in the station,” Ash said. The girls nodded, unable to speak. Ash turned to Tomma, looking for his response. “What do you say, mate?”
“Shush, I’m trying to think,” Tomma said. “We’re not supposed to be going home tonight, anyway are we?”
“Oh yeah, the sleepover!” Ash said.
“Exactly! So, if no one is expecting us, they aren’t going to freak out when we don’t show up, are they?”
“They will if we don’t answer the register,” Jess said. “They might ring our parents to find out why we’re not there.”
“That could be a problem,” Tomma said, tapping on his bottom lip with his fingers. “Ah, but we were on the register here, right? Even though we don’t live in this time. So as long as we go back to school, find a register and tick our names off, then sleep there tonight as if we’re at the actual sleepover, no one will realise we’re missing.”
“That could work,” Ash said, slapping Tomma on the back.
“Yeah, do you remember I said no one noticed whether we were there or not on Friday? They didn’t have us down as absent though, they just failed to notice us,” Nadia said.
“That might get us out of the sleepover, but it doesn’t help us get out of here, does it?” Jess sighed, feeling frustrated and annoyed and wishing she’d never agreed to coming back.
“Let’s worry about that tomorrow,” said Tomma. “The trains will be back on, so with any luck, we can catch our one and get home.”
There wasn’t a lot else they could do and at least there was something safe and comforting about going back to Hickley School. It was a familiar place; one that seemed to accept them no matter what time zone they were in.
As they walked back up the hill, Jess scanned the crowds, hoping to see Martha. Being drawn to Martha as she was, she knew seeing her friendly face again would make her feel much better, but she couldn’t make her out in the crowds.
When they made it back up to Hickley School, the four children signed their names on the register in the office, leaving it open at that page, hoping it was enough to show they were present at the school. When they went back into the hall, they found Martha sitting alone at the back of the room looking so sad and lost, it almost broke Jess’s heart. Jess raised her hand to the others to ask them to wait and she walked over to Martha, sitting down beside her.
“I thought you’d gone home,” Martha said, looking up in surprise.
“Well, we did try,” Jess said. “But there are no trains.”
“Oh, yes, of course, the celebrations,” Martha said, in a flat tone.
“You don’t fancy joining in then?” Jess said.
“Not really.”
Jess understood. Martha was too worried about her brother to want to celebrate. How could she be happy knowing he was still out on the frontline facing danger?
“Henry’s going to be okay,” Jess said.
“I know, you’ve said that already, but I wish I could be as positive as you. How has this war not worn you down?”
“It was terrible, it is terrible,” Jess said, correcting herself. “Such tragic, pointless losses.”
Martha sat up straight and turned to look at her. “You’re different. I’ve never met anyone like you before.”
Jess hesitated. “It’s complicated... but we’re not from around here and it looks as though we won’t be able to get home tonight, so we’re going to have to camp here. That’s our excuse for coming back to school when everyone’s been given a day off. What’s yours?”
“It’s quieter here, that’s all,” Martha said, staring around the empty hall.
“You want to camp out with us?” Jess said.
Martha looked horrified. “No! I can’t do that. I have to go and collect Theresa and take her home. She goes to my neighbour’s house after school, until I can pick her up. My mother and older sister, Elsie, both work nights, so if I don’t go home, Theresa will be on her own. You shouldn’t stay here either. It’s freezing. You can come to stay with me if you like.”
“Really? What all of us?” Jess said.
“Why not? We have to look after each other, don’t we?” she said. “And, as I said, it’s just Theresa and me tonight, so we have more than enough room.”
Jess was amazed that Martha shoul
d show them such kindness, even though she had so many of her own personal struggles.
Chapter 18
Martha’s Guests
After discussing what to do and deciding they would rather stay in a warm house than be alone in a freezing-cold school hall, the children walked back through the still-crowded streets to Martha’s house. The walk took around twenty minutes along back lanes, some of which were recognisable, even in the present day.
Martha led them down a dusty, cobbled road towards a mill that was billowing out thick black smoke. The windows were lit up in a golden yellow light that flickered and danced, casting shadows on the walls. Beyond it was a row of terrace cottages, stretching down to the far end of the street. Martha’s house was the first one in the row. She opened the door and gestured for them to follow her in.
“You can put your things down in here,” she said, pointing to the first room on the left. “Make yourselves comfortable. I’ll just go and fetch Theresa.”
Martha went out again as if in a hurry, leaving the four of them to take in the surroundings: their home for the evening.
“It’s not much warmer in here, is it?” Ash said, rubbing his hands together and flapping his arms about.
“Hopefully Martha will be able to start a fire when she gets back,” Nadia said as she surveyed the room.
It looked like a sitting room. There was an old worn sofa in the centre, facing a small open, cast-iron fireplace that had a big colourful rug in front of it. Behind the sofa was a dark wood dresser. Jess looked at the serious faces of the people staring back at her from the framed photos placed on there. She wondered which one of them was Henry.
“I guess this would be a good place to camp down for the night,” Tomma said. “At least we won’t be disturbing anyone if we’re all in here.”
Jess set her bag down, following Tomma’s lead. Nadia and Ash did the same, then they all stood awkwardly, waiting for Martha to return.
