Brady needed a plan – and quickly. They had been at a standstill now for ninety-five minutes and he surmised – correctly – that there had been an accident further up the road. Clearly, no rescue vehicles could get there as the A1 was blocked. Consequently, all vehicles were going to be trapped until this snow stopped or the road was cleared. That could be all day or longer.
He had seen a couple of people walking back towards Grantham and presumed that they had pulled into the hard shoulder, parked and decided to walk out. Brady made a decision. If he hadn’t moved by 11am, he would make a break for home by foot. It was only about two miles and with his clothing and knowledge of the conditions, he was confident that he could do it safely. A risk – but one worth taking. He glanced over at the northbound carriageway. That was now also at a standstill. This fact reinforced his will to act. He sat back and waited, watching the snow build up on his windscreen.
Day 2 - M42, Leicestershire – 10:00am
Eric Faulkner had also been stuck in traffic since the early hours. The M42 motorway was bad enough at the best of times, but this weather was causing all sorts of grief. He had a midday appointment in Derby and had left his home in West Bromwich nice and early, in anticipation of beating the traffic and the snow.
Eric was a sales rep with thirty years’ experience and had been fairly successful in his chosen profession – if you could call it that. He had been loyal to his small company through thick and thin and had been rewarded with the title of Sales Director. He wasn’t often on the road these days, but this account in Derby was worth winning and he had decided to deal with it himself - which is why he found himself in this traffic snarl-up on the M42.
He had tuned into the radio and it was full of gloom and despondency. There was bad, bad weather all over the country and no end to it in sight. However, he was experienced enough to know that ‘probably’ the roads would clear, and he’d get to his appointment on time and be tucked up in his own bed as usual tonight.
Nevertheless, he’d been at a standstill for over an hour and the snow lying on the motorway was building. He could see his fellow motorists in steamed-up cars alongside his own position – all probably similarly concerned about the weather. They had mostly kept their engines running to keep warm, and one man had a thin picnic blanket tucked up under his chin. Eric had no such comforts, however. Just his business suit – not even an overcoat or scarf. When he had left home this morning he had trotted into his garage through the internal connecting door, opened the double door electronically and had casually driven off into the snow. He really could have been much better equipped.
No matter, he thought, I’ll soon be in Derby.
Day 2 – En-route to Paddington – 8:25am
Pardeep sat down in the nearest compartment. What was going on? How did this happen? He retraced his movements in his mind. He had boarded the train at Slough - the last train leaving the station that morning. Surely other people got on with him? He was sure he saw other passengers waiting at the station. He realised that there were fewer than usual but nevertheless, there were others – he was certain. Well, there certainly weren’t any passengers on the train now, and to make things worse the power was off and he was locked inside. Although the train was of an old compartmentalized design, it still had electronic doors for health and safety reasons.
‘Oh, dear God!’ he thought. How was he going to get out of the train?
Pardeep shrugged off his inertia, jumped up, strode to a door and pushed the exit button. It was not lit green as usual and of course, nothing happened. He pushed it again and again and again – but he knew that the door was not going to open. He even pulled open the cover to the control panel which he'd seen guards access to open the doors manually. However, as there was no power, no amount of button pressing had any effect. How was he going to get out? It was snowing very hard outside and the snow was drifting up against the sides of the carriages. He could see no sign of life outside and was starting to get quite panicky. He was also cold. The heating blowers had stopped when the power went off and the cold air was slowly starting to seep in.
He decided to go to the driver’s cab and discover if he could reconnect the power, and then perhaps he could escape from the damned train. Brilliant, why didn’t he think of that before? He marched up to the front of the train and tried the door to the driver’s cab. It was locked, and with dismay he noticed the combination lock which restricted entrance, and as he banged on the door in frustration he realised that it was reinforced as a security measure.
Then he remembered that these trains had two cabs. There was another for the return journey to Reading! He sprinted to the rear of the train, tripping and falling twice in his rush, badly bashing his knee the second time. He stood up and limped through the remaining two carriages. With a rising feeling of despair, he found that the rear driver’s cab was exactly the same as the one at the front. It was securely locked. Surprise! Surprise!
Pardeep sank to his knees and grimaced with pain as his bad knee made contact with the floor of the train.
Then he remembered his mobile phone!
He pulled it out of his inside pocket and flipped it open. ‘No Service’ was displayed. He couldn’t believe it. Pardeep slumped back against the wall and started to weep in anger, fear and frustration.
Day 2 – Huddersfield, West Yorkshire – 9:30am
Marianne Ford was running late. She rapped hard on the adjoining bedroom doors of her eleven-year-old twin daughters, Bev and Janice.
‘Come on girls, up you get. It's 7 o’clock already and we need to be out of here by eight at the very latest. I won't tell you again. If you aren't ready, then I’ll be going without you.’
Marianne was the assistant HR director at the main hospital in Leeds, and this morning she was listed to give evidence at an industrial tribunal. Therefore, it was imperative that she get to work on time – by 9.30am.
She had to drop the twins off at her friend’s house in the next village, who would then run them into school whilst Marianne caught the train into Leeds. This was a job normally done by her husband, Peter, but he was away in Edinburgh, on a job as a consultant for an electrical engineering contract he had recently been awarded. It meant he would be away all week, so Marianne had picked up the tiresome chore of ferrying the twins.
The weather was a complicating factor, but she reasoned that the family 4x4 would probably cope with the snow to be negotiated lying on the narrow country lanes. She was sorely tempted to leave the children at home today, but they would be keen to go to school, as there was a coach trip to a Christmas pantomime in Huddersfield.
As Marianne prepared a light breakfast of toast and cereal, the girls came bounding down the stairs, clearly excited by the prospect of snow and the school trip.
‘Right then, young ladies, I want you dressed in clothing suitable for the weather – which means going back upstairs and putting on cardigans. Then, I want you both to wear long boots, a scarf, hat and gloves. If you aren't ready in ten minutes, then I'm gone and you can walk to school – so get a wriggle on!’
Marianne wasn’t in the mood for being plagued by the girls’ normal sluggishness. She still had an hour of evidence preparation to complete when she reached work, and the train to Leeds left her local station at 08:48. So, there was no time for pontification today, and she would brook no nonsense from the girls.
However, to her great surprise, Bev and Janice were waiting in the hall by ten to eight, ready to go and wearing the clothing specified by their mother.
‘Well done, girls. Jump into the car and we’ll get going. Strap in and I’ll lock up the house.’
Marianne was smiling as she drove the large Japanese 4WD onto the street, and was glad to find that traction on the snowy surface was fairly good. However, it was snowing very hard and the windscreen wipers were working overtime. She was familiar with the route to her friend’s house, but was using the Sat Nav as a back-up because the weather was so bad. Progress was slow as
visibility was down to about twenty metres, and Marianne didn’t want to rear-end another traveller – not that many people were on the roads that morning.
They left the village and turned onto the B-road that led to the next hamlet, and Marianne was beginning to wish she’d left the girls at home as the weather got even worse. The Sat Nav was showing a left turn two hundred metres ahead, but Marianne wasn’t definitely sure it was correct. She thought that they should continue straight ahead – but was forced into making an instant decision, against her better judgement, and followed the Sat Nav, turning left.
Bad move!
Immediately, the car hit something in the way, which glanced off the side of the bonnet, scraping the windscreen. Marianne hit the brakes and slewed across the narrow road, stopping just short of the trees lining the route. She decided that there was no point in getting out, as there was little she could do - and they were in the middle of a blizzard.
‘It's alright, girls,’ she said calmly, ‘I think we just hit a branch in the road. We’ll get going again and be at Helen’s very soon.’
Marianne drove on along the back road, trying to stay on what would have been the white line down the centre. It was slow going and Marianne alternated between staring at the Sat Nav and peering through the windscreen. She didn’t see the right hand bend until too late, braked hard, skidded forward drunkenly and the 4x4 left the road, sliding to a stop halfway down a bank, sitting at forty-five degrees to the vertical.
The twins let out a simultaneous scream, and then all went quiet.
What Marianne could not see was that at the bottom of the ditch was flowing a small tributary of the River Ouse. It wasn’t very big – only ten feet across and three or four feet deep, but a stream of some consequence nonetheless.
Marianne had stalled the car during the skid, so she started the engine, engaged 4WD, and attempted to ease her way back onto the road. However, the rear wheels would not grip, and merely span round and round, digging themselves into the mud on the riverbank.
The girls were very quiet and very frightened. They became even more alarmed as the car started to slide further down towards the water, which encouraged yet more screams.
‘Calm down, girls,’ Marianne screeched and the twins fell into terrified silence. She turned round in her seat, stared hard at her daughters and tried to be calmer than she felt.
‘Right, do exactly what I tell you. Understand?’
The girls nodded in unison.
‘Firstly, undo your seatbelts,’ - which they did after some fumbling. Both girls were beginning to shake with fear.
‘Now, Bev, open your door and slowly slide out of the car and make your way up onto the road. Be careful and wait for your sister. Do not wander off.’
Bev did as she was told and stepped out into the maelstrom. When her mother saw her pathetic figure standing safely on the road above, she persuaded Janice to do the same, which she did with some alacrity. When both appeared to be on firm ground, she addressed her own precarious position. The freezing wind and snow blew against the car and visibility was quickly diminishing.
Marianne now had a decision to make – and quickly. Did she exit the car on her side and risk sliding down the bank, or should she slide across the front seats and go out of the same side as her children? She chose the latter option, as slithering into the water seemed unwise.
Slowly, she unclasped her seatbelt and gingerly moved towards the offside door. Half way across, the car started slipping again, possibly initiated by the change in centre of gravity. In any case, Marianne’s luck was out as the 4WD gradually, but inexorably, slid down the bank until it hit a large tree stump, at which point it toppled over onto its side and then onto its roof as it splashed into the stream. Marianne was thrown into the roof cavity, and because she had released the catch on the passenger door, water began seeping in.
She was stunned by the fall, but fully conscious and was now panicking wildly; so she quickly moved towards the door and tried to force it open. It wouldn't shift as it was jammed by detritus in the stream. She tried the other three doors with the same result – all jammed shut and water was now seeping in more rapidly, so that she was suddenly kneeling in freezing cold water, with no way to get out of the vehicle. She was so disoriented that she didn’t think to start the engine and use the electric windows as an escape hatch.
The twins watched in horror as their mother struggled to escape from the car. They were completely powerless and didn’t know what to do.
They were unable to help their mum and watched helplessly, with tears filling their eyes, as Marianne was overcome and slowly drowned in the icy water. Their friend’s house was only two hundred metres further up the road, but the girls never reached it. Their final act of stunned exhaustion and despair sealed their fate. They both sat down on the frozen bank and froze to death, in each other’s arms - in less than thirty minutes.
Day 2 – En-route to Paddington – 9:00am
Pardeep Aluwahlia was in deep despair. He was trapped in a train – alone and getting colder by the minute. He was puzzled more than anything. He could not work out how he had been abandoned in this way. Surely, someone should have stopped him boarding the train. He could not understand how he had been so stupid. Nevertheless, he was trapped and he really needed to pull himself together. He needed a plan and the first step was to get out of the bloody train.
He stood up and considered his options. The doors were electronically locked. The windows were strengthened glass and there were no ventilation windows big enough to squeeze through – Health and Safety wins out again! Therefore, his only option was to break one of these main windows. But how to do it was the big question? He needed a heavy, sharp object to puncture the glass, but then he needed to avoid being cut as it shattered – he didn’t want to bleed to death. He also needed to be ready to venture out into the snow. Which direction should he go – the visibility outside was almost zero? He didn’t even know where he was. Somewhere between Slough and Paddington was all he knew, but he had no idea where this siding was. There were trains either side of his, and he could get no sense of his geographical situation. Additionally, all he had to protect himself was an overcoat over his suit and a pair of sheepskin gloves. His shoes were standard brogues and would not give any real protection in the deepening snow. He was quickly beginning to realise that his predicament was more than extremely serious.
He was finding it increasingly difficult to think straight as the cold began to take effect on his reasoning ability.
He sat down in his compartment with his head in his hands. Whatever he decided he must act quickly, as he felt himself getting colder. He looked outside again and realised that the storm was getting worse - much worse.
Day 2 - 10 Downing Street – 10:00am
The Prime Minister of less than two weeks sat alone in the sitting room of the private accommodation above No 10 Downing Street. His wife and young family were out Christmas shopping, and getting used to the round the clock security which now encompassed their lives since the election victory at the beginning of December. An election brought about by the breakdown of the coalition government that had staggered along since the early summer. The previous PM had resigned and he had been thrust into power after a momentous month of party and national elections. The new PM hardly had time to draw breath and was relieved that Parliament had broken for the Christmas holidays the previous Friday. Everyone was exhausted, and it seemed eminently sensible to send all and sundry away for an extended Christmas and New Year break, in order that he could organise his mind, and get the new government in place without being rushed.
Consequently, the corridors of power were more or less deserted. Most MPs, Civil Servants and their support staff had returned home or to their constituencies – or both! Only a skeleton group of duty officers were still at work – including himself.
His wife had taken the children into town and he now sat pondering the future. He was waiting for an old and dear colle
ague to arrive for lunch and hopefully offer some direction. Sir Ian James MC MP was a close friend of the family, and had been the guiding and driving force that had seen him elected as leader of the party. The PM would need his close counsel over the coming weeks if he were to decide upon the appointments to his new cabinet – yet to be announced.
A knock came on the door and his PPS (Parliamentary Private Secretary – an MP in his own right ), appeared holding a large sheet of paper, which appeared to be a map of some sort.
Snow! The Series [Books 1-4] Page 6
