by Nikki Young
Looking out of the bay window, they saw Martha walking past, holding hands with a little girl of around five years old, small and thin, with curly blonde hair. As the door clicked open, the sound of a smaller, lighter voice filtered through, alongside Martha’s.
“I have some friends I’d like you to meet, Theresa. They are going to stay with us tonight. That will be nice, won’t it? We don’t get visitors very often, so we must be on our best behaviour.”
On seeing them, Theresa seemed delighted to have new people to talk to. She asked question after question, whilst Martha set about trying to light the fire.
“Can I help?” Tomma said, kneeling beside her, his large frame making Martha seem tiny and frail in comparison, even though she was anything but.
“Oh no, I’m fine, it’s just a little trickier to get the fire going when you don’t have much coal to use. We have to ration it, see,” Martha said. “I hope you have warm clothes with you or else you’ll have to snuggle up together to keep warm tonight.”
“Well, I don’t mind that,” Ash said, grinning widely.
Jess caught Tomma’s eye and blushed. This wasn’t exactly what her mother had in mind for the Big Sleepover.
“I don’t have much to offer to eat either,” Martha said. “I think I can make soup. There should be enough to go around.”
“We’ll help,” Jess said, looking at Nadia, who nodded.
“Yes definitely. Just tell us what to do and we’ll gladly do it,” Nadia said.
“I’m hungry, Martha,” Theresa moaned. She looked so tiny and skinny, in need of a decent meal. It didn’t seem as though soup would be enough for her and Jess felt guilty for taking some of her share.
Martha gave her sister a hug. “It won’t be long. Let me see if there is some bread left and you can have a little whilst the soup is heating. Come on.”
She led Theresa, followed by Jess and Nadia, back into the narrow hall and into the next room. It was a small kitchen, in the centre of which was a wooden table. There was a large wrought iron oven set in an alcove on one side and, on the opposite wall, a dresser hung with cups and plates. Pots and pans hung down from the ceiling and Martha reached up to take the largest one. She set it down in the centre of the table.
Under Martha’s instruction, the girls chopped vegetables and added them to the pan. Martha added some water, salt and herbs and then put it on the stove to boil.
“I’ll light this and get the soup going, while you set up your things,” she said.
*
Eating by candlelight whilst huddled together turned out to be not so bad after all. The six of them sat on the sleeping bags in front of the fire in the living room. The soup was bland but warming, and with a bit of stale bread to dip in it, it was filling enough. Jess made sure she gave extra to Theresa and, once the little girl had finished, her eyes were heavy with sleep. She curled up and snuggled beside Jess, who couldn’t resist stroking her soft blond hair.
“I should get her to bed,” Martha said.
“Where are your mum and sister?” Nadia asked, collecting together the bowls and plates.
“Mum’s a nurse up at the hospital at the top of the hill, where my dad is recovering, and Elsie works at the mill just down the road here.”
Jess remembered passing the mill on the way to Martha’s house. Its tall chimneys spewing out black smoke right on their doorstep. She imagined all that smoke settling on the outsides of the houses, gradually turning the stone black. It couldn’t be healthy to live so close to that, she thought.
“It’s the reason we live here. Dad and Henry both work at the mill, but Henry’s away, as you know, and Dad’s recuperating from his injuries. Anyway, it’s mostly women and girls who work there at the moment, except for the men who are too old or unable to fight. They make cloth, but during the war, it’s been set up for sewing uniforms and all the other military things the soldiers need. They work day and night. My poor sister got unlucky with the night shifts because she’s one of the younger ones who doesn’t have the responsibilities of a family to look after. It’s been left to me to care for Theresa while they’re out.”
“That’s a lot of responsibility for you,” Nadia said, who couldn’t imagine anything worse.
“You get used to it,” Martha said. “Besides, I don’t have any other choice.”
Martha picked up Theresa, who stirred and opened her eyes just a touch before the heavy lids dropped closed again. She smiled and muttered something before snuggling into Martha’s chest.
“I think I will take to my bed too,” Martha said, turning towards the others. “Please make this home your own for the evening. I hope you will be comfortable enough.”
The children nodded and said their thanks, then watched as Martha carried her sister up the steep stairs
“Martha’s so sweet,” Nadia said, closing the living room door to keep in the heat. “If it wasn’t for her, we’d be in that freezing school hall on a cold and uncomfortable floor.”
“I know, thank goodness she came to our rescue,” Jess said.
Even though she would have preferred to be at home in her own bed, Jess felt safe at Martha’s house and had the familiar feeling she’d already experienced. It was as though she knew Martha and her family somehow. She thought perhaps they’d met in a previous life if that was at all possible, but then, she was beginning to think anything was.
“It’s freezing. I’m getting in here,” Ash said, wriggling into his sleeping bag. “What shall we do, girls on one side boys on the other, or would you prefer to snuggle up together? I can keep you warm, eh, Nad?” Ash winked at Nadia, flashing his cheeky grin.
The girls ignored him, turning instead to their belongings.
The fire had burned down to nothing and the house was beginning to go cold, so the girls decided it would be warmer to sleep in their clothes rather than change into pyjamas. In the warmth of her sleeping bag, Jess struggled into her jeans and replaced her blouse with the jumper she’d brought from home. Once settled, she moved closer to Nadia for warmth. After several involuntary shivers, her eyes began to feel heavy and, to the sound of light snoring from all around her, she drifted off to sleep. She was woken—what seemed like minutes later—by a loud, piercing scream.
Chapter 19
Searching In The Darkness
Jess sat up, the shock of the scream setting all her senses on full alert. The room was in complete darkness and her eyes strained to adjust to their surroundings.
“Nadia, wake up,” she said, nudging her friend. “Something’s wrong.”
“What?” Nadia said, in a moaning protest before turning over and snuggling deeper into her sleeping bag.
The sound of heavy steps rushing down the stairs caused the others to stir. Martha then burst into the room flinging the door open with such force it hit the wall.
Jess struggled out of her sleeping bag and jumped up. Martha held an oil lamp in her hand, which brought a soft light into the room. Jess could see Martha’s long hair loose around her shoulders. It was as wild as her eyes.
“It’s Theresa! She’s gone.”
Tomma jumped up to join Jess. He reached out to rest a hand on Martha’s arm.
“What do you mean, gone?” he asked.
“What do you think I mean?” Martha snapped, pulling her arm from his reach with such force it caused the oil lamp to sway, sending swirling light around the living room.
“Have you checked the house? Could she have got up to use the toilet?” Tomma said. His voice was calm and authoritative, though Jess knew he would be feeling anything but.
“I’ll go and check,” Ash said, rushing out of the door. Jess could hear him running up the stairs as though he’d taken them three at a time. He came back down almost straight away.
“There’s no bathroom up there. Just two bedrooms,” he said, somewhat bewildered.
Martha huffed. “Who has a bathroom upstairs?” she said, her voice edgy with fear. “What do you think we are? Royal
ty?”
Ash looked embarrassed before a realisation hit him. “Bathroom outside?”
“Only a lavatory and she wouldn’t go out there on her own at night, she’s too scared.”
“I’ll go and check anyway,” he said, dashing into the kitchen. A second later he shouted, “Back door’s open.”
Martha’s eyes went wider as she pushed past Tomma, scrambling to get to the kitchen. “Is she out there?”
“Give me the lamp,” Tomma said. “I’ll go and see.”
He strode off and Jess came towards Martha, putting her arms around her as they waited for Tomma and Ash to check around the garden. Jess tried to focus her eyes on the blackness outside but couldn’t see beyond the outhouse, where the toilet was. The girls watched as the light from the oil lamp moved around the garden. Martha stood in silence, wringing her hands and fixing her gaze on the blackness.
“She’s not out there,” Tomma said, as he came running back up the path, with Ash behind him. Tomma paused, looking uncomfortable and a heavy silence surrounded them. “The back-gate is open though.”
Tomma switched his gaze to Jess so she could see the concern reflected in his eyes. Jess gulped, trying to swallow the fear rising through her. Martha let out a soft wail.
“Could someone have taken her?” Jess said. “I don’t understand. I never heard anything.”
“Neither did I,” Martha said. “I was sleeping and she was beside me. Then I woke up cold and realised she was no longer there. I don’t understand it either.”
Jess had never felt so alone and helpless. It didn’t make sense that Theresa could just vanish into the night. The thought filled her with dread. She had no idea what they were dealing with, alone in a world they knew nothing about. They were only children themselves, but, left in charge of a little girl, they had failed. Theresa was missing and no one knew what to do about it. This was a responsibility, it seemed, that was beyond them.
“We can go and look for her,” Tomma said. “Where does the back-gate lead to?”
Martha was shaking and seemed paralysed with fear. “I can’t lose her too. I can’t, I can’t,” she said, in such a small voice, it was barely audible.
Jess looked at her new friend breaking with the pressure the war had put on her family. She didn’t need this added strain. They had to help her.
“I know where it goes,” Jess said, casting a reassuring look towards Martha. “One way goes back to the road and the other to the playing field. At least it did the last time I was down there. I’ve no idea what is there now, but I recognised this road when we walked here from school. My nan used to live on it.” Jess clasped Martha’s hand. “We’ll split up and look for her. I’m sure she won’t have gone far. Do you have any more lamps?”
Martha nodded as Nadia stepped forward and put her arms around her. “In the kitchen.”
Tomma and Ash went to grab some more lamps whilst Nadia guided Martha towards her coat, sensing she needed help even with such an ordinary task. The fear of losing her little sister had caused Martha to turn helpless. Jess put on her coat and zipped it up tight. She took hold of the lamp Ash handed to her and gripped the cold metal handle as she stepped out into the darkness.
“Are you okay about doing this?” Tomma said quietly into Jess’s ear. “You hate the dark.”
“I know I do. You don’t have to remind me! But I’m scared of pretty much everything and we have to find Theresa. It’s freezing out here. Did you see how thin and pale she was? She won’t last five minutes.”
“What if she’s been taken? She could be anywhere by now,” Tomma said.
“I don’t think she has,” Jess said.
“What makes you so sure?”
“The way she just disappeared without any of us hearing a thing. If she was taken, there would have been a struggle.”
“What?” Tomma said, coming to a halt and grabbing Jess by the shoulder to stop her too. “Do you think she just walked off then?” Tomma shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Jess looked back at the house. They were near the bottom of the garden now and Martha and Nadia were out of earshot.
“I think she might have been sleepwalking.”
“Sleepwalking!”
“Shh,” Jess said, pulling at his arm to move him even further down the garden and away from the house. “My mum used to do it when she was little. I’d forgotten all about it until now when I remembered her telling me how she walked out of the house one night across the road to the park. Her parents found her on the swings and she had no idea how she got there.”
“That’s so weird. You think Theresa might have done something similar?” Tomma said.
“It’s possible,” she said. “But if she hasn’t and if someone did somehow take her then. . .” Jess looked at him. She didn’t want to give in to her fears of what that might mean.
They stared at each other.
“I’ll go this way to check the road around the mill,” Ash said, catching up with them. “See if she’s made it to the road.”
“I’ll take Martha and we’ll look out front,” Nadia shouted down, as she stood at the open back door.
Jess could see Martha was shaking and thought it was probably as much from fear as it was from being cold.
“We’ll go this way,” Tomma said, nodding towards the other side of the alleyway.
Jess gulped. It was pitch black and impossible to see more than just past your feet. The low light from the oil lamps cast an eerie shadow on the ground.
“Come on, I’ll lead,” Tomma said, taking her hand.
Stumbling their way down the dirt track, as though blind-folded, Jess and Tomma made it to the end without any sign of Theresa.
“This is where the playing field is,” Jess said, as they emerged from the denseness of the wooded path into the open fields.
“There’s a bit more than a playing field here now,” Tomma said as they looked out over the vast expanse of blackness. “Where does it lead to? Do you know?”
“Well, it’s a bit hard to work it out from memory and in the dark,” Jess said. “I haven’t been down here for ages, but there was a field just here and then an overgrown hedgerow surrounding it that led down to—”
She stopped. Tomma glanced at her.
“Led down to what, Jess?”
“The railway line,” she said. “It’s a disused one as I know it, but I bet it’s not out of use in this time.”
“The railway attendant said there might still be cargo trains running tonight,” Tomma said.
Jess felt her heart drop into her stomach as panic washed through her.
“We better get down there just in case,” she said.
The ground was hard with frost and both Jess and Tomma stumbled as they raced across the field towards the hedge. Scrabbling through the overgrown brambles, they managed to make their way down towards the railway track.
Chapter 20
A Near Miss
Jess held up her lamp, straining her eyes to see, but it was like looking through dirty water. Tomma was on the opposite side of the track and they searched around for any sign of the little girl but with every passing minute, Jess was beginning to think it was hopeless. The oil lamp provided hardly any light and she kept tripping up in the darkness, so she moved onto the track, hoping it might be easier if she walked along it, rather than at the side.
As she stood, holding up her lamp and looking for Tomma’s light, Jess suddenly spotted a small black shape on the track some way ahead.
“Theresa!” she screamed, beginning to run, thoughts of bringing Theresa home safely to Martha the only thing on her mind.
Without concentrating on looking where she was going, Jess didn’t notice one of the railway sleepers sticking up higher than the rest. She lurched forward and, unable to stop herself, fell face first towards the ground. The oil lamp landing on the floor with a loud clatter, cutting out and plunging her into total darkness.
Jess groaned. The fall ha
d knocked the wind out of her and, as she tried to move, found she was stuck. Somehow, her foot had become wedged underneath the railway sleeper. Her knee hurt too and when she touched it Jess felt a warm stickiness seeping through her jeans. She began to struggle to release her foot, but every move sent a sharp pain up her leg. She thought she might pass out.
“Help!” she shouted. “Tomma! Ash! Anybody! I’m stuck.” There was no response. Jess wondered how far away the others had spread in their desperate search. She struggled some more and then stopped as fear gripped her. There was a noise coming from behind that sounded very much like a train.
Jess tried to twist to see, but couldn’t move without causing searing pain. She screamed again and wrestled desperately with her foot.
“Theresa!” Jess shouted. “Theresa, get up!”
Jess thought if she could get the little girl to move, she might be able to spare at least one of their lives. She began to cry in desperation. The train was getting closer and her heart was thumping so loudly, the noise echoed through her ears in time with the sound of the approaching train.
It was at that point Jess realised she couldn’t give in, she had to live. Fear turned to anger and in a last-ditch attempt, she used all her strength, channelling that anger as she yanked at her foot, no longer feeling, or caring about the pain. Finally, it loosened from under the broken sleeper and Jess managed to wrench free from the line. She flung herself to the side of the track just in time.
Relief flooded through her as the train rattled by, but it was replaced by more fear as she bolted upright and looked beyond it to the small black shape in the distance.
“Jess, are you all right?” Ash said, rushing to her side.
Jess looked at the familiar face of her friend, as she struggled to get up.
“We need to get Theresa!” Jess said, by now hysterical as she began to scream out Theresa’s name.
The train was getting closer and Theresa hadn’t moved. The piercing whistle of the train echoed through the still night air, along with the screech of its brakes. It was a cargo train and wasn’t travelling as fast as an ordinary passenger one, but the driver must have seen the obstruction and by the sound of the screeching brakes, was attempting to avoid a collision and bring the train to a stop. Ash held on to her as Jess buried her face in his shoulders, her body shuddering with uncontrollable sobs, unable to look up.
