A Seat of Learning By Jonah
More of the adventures of Simon and Garret and their boys. This is a loving story of good people. It features men looking after boys but do not expect to find any indecency here. Only genuine love. Not one of the characters in this story is a real person or is, in any way, based on a real person. At least one character, however, is the creation of another author. I wish to thank Jacob Lion, in the USA, for his permission to use his characters in my stories.
I hope you will enjoy this story, and I'm grateful to Nifty for enabling me to bring it to you. Nifty does not charge either me or you for doing so, but it does cost money to do it. Please consider donating to Nifty at https://donate.nifty.org/ to help keep this site going.
Chapter 7
Toward the middle of the night I awoke to find two boys between Garret and myself. There was also a pair of feet. Now I wonder who those belonged to. There didn't seem much to be done about it so I turned my back on the nearest boy - Barry - and went back to sleep.
Morning came eventually. I know it must have done because, when I awoke, it had arrived. Simon was missing, as he often was on these occasions, and the boy with the feet was trying to tickle my ears with his toes. The other two had moved to Simon's side of the bed and were giggling about something. I found that I didn't care what as I seized the offending ankles and tickled the offending feet. Philip roared with laughter until I told him to go and shower. All three boys immediately vacated the bed.
Since there was no prospect of getting to the shower anytime soon, I headed downstairs to talk to Simon. I found him scrambling eggs and feeding the toaster.
"Your car or mine?" I asked him.
"For?"
"Come on Simon. You're not rostered at the NNR for another fortnight, but I've just brought home a boy who will want to go there. I don't suppose the other two boys will be interested."
"Ok, ok. I get the picture. I only drive a mini. It would be overcrowded."
"Fair enough!" I responded. "I'll drive and you buy dinner."
"Sounds good to me. Luke's at Weybourne today, which is on the platform so we can at least take them to see him."
"How did you know that?"
"Er! I looked at the roster?"
"And yet you never know who else is rostered when you're on duty yourself. Way to go Simon."
The patter of tiny feet on the stairs told me that it was time for me to go and shower.
Less than an hour later I was parking the Discovery in Sheringham station car park. Lloyd, I knew, loved coming to Sheringham. Philip was developing a liking for the place. Barry, on the other hand, took enthusiasm to a whole new level. He was still reading "A History of Trains" in his spare time and was full of useless facts. Some of them were fairly questionable facts, but that was because it is necessary to read more than one book to get an overview of the subject. From one book you can only pick up the author's knowledge, and not even all of that. On the other hand you will also pick up the author's prejudices and misconceptions.
The end of the summer holidays marked the end of the "high season" on the railway and, out of season, the railway has a casual attitude to Saturdays. Sheringham being a seaside resort, Saturday is the day when holidaymakers arrive or go away. Few of them will be in Sheringham all day. A diesel multiple unit can easily handle the little bit of traffic that the railway expects on a Saturday in September. In consequence of that, I was surprised to find a class 37 diesel coupled to four coaches ad ticking over noisily.
"That'll be the DMU off the run again," commented Simon. "The other DMU will be in service soon, but I don't mind having a 37 for the job. It'll just mean longer reversals at each end since you have to run round if you're using a loco. The timetable will have well and truly gone West by tonight."
"No it won't Simon," said the guard from behind us.
"Hey up Tim," said Simon, turning round. "Are you in charge of the train today then? Even you couldn't keep time with a loco on a DMU timetable."
"I know," returned Tim. "That's why we're not on a DMU timetable. I told them it couldn't be done and Harry agreed, so we're working blue timetable. Ben Pigeon has got the pocket rocket on the other set. If you're looking for a job next Saturday, we're doing the same again so we'll need a driver."
"You've talked me into it," Simon replied. "We're coming up with you anyway. We've just got to get some tickets."
"You haven't got time," Tim said. "Get in the brake."
He reached through the guard's door and picked up a furled green flag and a whistle on a chain. As he walked off up the platform to begin slamming doors shut, Simon led us through the door from which the guard had just exited, out into the corridor and then into the cage - a large area formerly used for parcels, mail and luggage, but now mainly used for passengers in wheelchairs. The boys had dropped the windows and were watching everything that they could find to watch. The guard blew two blasts on his whistle and then stepped into the brake compartment. He had been provided with a window for keeping an eye on goods in the cage, so now the goods - us - could watch him. With a lurch, the train was underway.
Lloyd advised the other two that the signalman would be giving our driver the token as we passed the signalbox. Philip and Barry had to witness that. They also had to be told about the level crossing. Our expert on all things North Norfolk Railway had to keep up a running commentary for the benefit of his two compatriots the whole of the way. If Simon thought he knew the road - Lloyd could match him.
At Weybourne the big, black, Standard class 4, or the "pocket rocket" as she was nicknamed, was waiting for us to get out of her way. We drew into platform 2 alongside her train. Barry was practically glowing with excitement. There was little that he didn't know about steam engines but I don't think he had ever seen a real one.
The climb to Holt was somewhat noisy. The big English Electric engine had the power to get us up the 1 in 80 bank but it didn't do it quietly. It liked people to know when it was working hard. There was time at Holt to watch the big diesel run round the train. When it was coupled to the other end we all got back in.
The ride down the bank to Weybourne was quieter and we got in just before the pocket rocket glided into the other platform.
Simon led us under the bridge to the picnic area, from where we could see the rocket simmering the other side of the bridge as our train disappeared out of the other end of the platform. Barry was silent now but I could see his bare legs quivering. His gaze never left the big, black locomotive.
Two blasts on the whistle and a whiff of steam as the locomotive whistle answered it.
"BOOF," said the loco, to anybody who cared to listen, then, "BOOF BOOF BOOF BOOFBOOFBOOFBOOFBOOFBOOF," as the driving wheels spun wildly. The train rolled slowly on in silence, except for some hissing from the cylinder drain cocks, then, "boof boof BOOF BOOF BOOF BOOF BOOF BOOF." The train was picking up speed now that the locomotive's wheels were no longer slipping. Our boys watched, fascinated, until the tail lamp vanished around the curve at the foot of the cutting.
"Come on!" said Simon, leading us back to the platform. We walked along the platform and onto the footbridge. I think his intention had been to use the footbridge to cross to the other side, but it wasn't to be.
"There's some more steam engines over there," announced Barry.
"Yes there are Barry," my partner conceded. That nearest one...."
"That's a 9F," said Barry.
Simon looked at the boy for a long moment then said,
"Yes it is Barry, and the one in front of it,"
"Is that a B1?"
"No, it's a B12. A B1 has outside cylinders and doesn't need those big driving wheel splashers because its running plate is higher up.
"What's the saddle tank?"
"It's called "Wissington" and it used to work on a sugar plantation. There's another saddle tank in the shed that used to work in an iron ore quarry, now come on, there's a good boy."
We all descended on the signal box where Luke, who had seen us coming, had just brewed tea.
"There seems to be more of you," he commented.
As Simon's step-brother, Luke had an easy relationship with us, but then he seemed to have an easy relationship with most people.
As a metropolitan police officer, Luke was familiar with Barry's history. Crime isn't a local affair these days, so policemen across the land tend to know when one has been committed anywhere. It's a good plan because it stops criminals from being able to carry on their activities simply by changing location.
Simon and I were provided with tea, and the boys with lemonade, then Luke had to ring bells on his tablet machine. Simon knows those bell-codes, but I don't. At the end of the exchange of bells Luke went and wrote the details in his Train Register Book. Ting-ting, rang the bell again. Simon, being nearest, pressed the plunger on the tablet instrument twice and then started on the other tablet instrument.
"He won't give you it," said Luke. "He'll want one himself for the thirty-seven."
Sure enough there was an exchange of bells which Luke wrote up in the book.
"Are you going down with the steamer?" Luke asked.
"I expect we'd better," Simon replied.
"She's on her way," said Luke. "Have you still got some coal for Joem?"
"Are you about tomorrow then?"
"I'm going to book in at the "Boats" for tonight," he replied. "Then I was going to call round for dinner tomorrow."
"You can call round for dinner tonight," I told him. "Simon's cooking it and we've still got a sofa."
"Dinner at the "Boats" Simon?" Luke queried.
"Sounds good to me." Simon replied. "Perhaps we're not in such a hurry to get back to Sheringham after all."
"In that case, you've got time to take that young man across the shed," Luke said, nodding towards Barry. "He might stop hopping from one foot to the other if you do that."
Well that was what happened. Barry got to explore the engine-shed with Simon then, on his return, learned to work a signal box. I didn't get to witness all that went on since I was required to take Lloyd across to the shed when Simon and Barry returned. Don't ask whether that was because Lloyd wanted to see more steam engines, or whether he simply wanted some alone time with me - I don't know the answer. It was mid afternoon when we finally caught the steam train back to Sheringham and then went for a walk down the sea-front.
We met Luke at the "Two Lifeboats Hotel" at six o'clock and got ourselves a good meal there. They serve good ale there too but, as Luke and I were driving, and Simon abstained on that account, we all confined ourselves to non-alcoholic beverages.
"So Barry, " said Luke, "did the railway live up to your expectations?"
"I don't know what you mean," replied the boy.
"That's because i used a big word," said Luke. "I ought to know better. It'd be daft to ask if you enjoyed it though."
"' Course I did," the boy responded.
""What you don't know," Luke continued, " is that the railway has a junior section for people who are too young to be volunteers. That might be worth remembering if you're with Simon and Garret for long enough."
"We haven't discussed how long he's likely to be with us," I put in hurriedly. "There's been far too much happening in his life just recently."
"Most of which he could have done without," agreed Luke, "but that's gradually getting sorted. It doesn't hurt to look to the future a bit. It's important for him to know he has a future."
"He's got a future all right," said Simon. "The only thing is that, at the moment, we don't know what that future might hold. What we do know is that there are people, us included, who love Barry and care enough to make sure that he'll be alright."
Barry, not surprisingly, didn't know what to make of this conversation but, as a plate of scampi was placed in front of him at that moment, the defiency didn't bother him much.
It was nearly nine o'clock when I parked the discovery on our driveway and Luke parked his Mercedes behind me. Bedtime for all who weren't going to sit up, drink whisky and put the world to rights.