HALLS OF ACADEMIA BY JONAH
This is a work of fiction so be aware that every character herein is also fictitious. If you think you recognise yourself, or somebody else in here - you don't. Some places, and some institutions in here are real, but the people attached to those institutions in the story are not. At least one character is the creation of another author, Jacob Lion, in the USA. My thanks to Jacob for his permission to use his characters in my story.
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Chapter three
Lloyd was effectively standing on my knee. It didn't hurt. He weighed next to nothing. He wasn't skinny but there was hardly any puppy fat remaining and he was certainly less than five feet tall. The dark brown fringe of his hair was blowing backwards and his blue eyes sparkled. I could tell that because, every so often, he would draw his head back in to excitedly report to me what was going on outside.
I have to confess that I needed to pretend to be excited by this. As a passed-out driver for the route, of some years standing, I already knew exactly what was happening outside. No way was I going to tell Lloyd that. I had to be told about the signalman with the token, the level crossing, bridge 304 then, later, bridge 303 and the traffic on the road.
As we approached Weybourne, I lifted him down. He immediately ran to the corridor and watched us into the platform.
"The driver's just given the signableman that hoop thing," he told me.
"That's alright," I replied. "The signalman will give him another one."
"Do we have to have one?" he asked.
"Yes. We're not allowed to go without it," I told him.
Just then, the huge, light green bulk of the B12 slid past the window with its rake of maroon carriages. Now the B12 is a big engine and Lloyd watched it with his mouth hanging open.
"Wow!" he whispered, eventually.
With a toot, we were off again and the J15 barked at the surrounding countryside. Immediately, my little pal wanted to be standing on me again as he watched us run over another bridge and then start climbing. The J15 made more noise than ever.
His head was back in with an eyeful of cinder.
"Woah!" I said, preventing him from trying to rub his eye. "Come here."
I eased him to a kneeling position on my lap so that I could remove the offending smut with the corner of my handkerchief.
"Now, perhaps you don't want your head so far out, and don't look towards the engine. She'll be throwing a lot more of those up here."
She was certainly protesting at the gradient. She was well into the cutting now and she shouted at the sky all the way up to Windpump Crossing.
There is no windpump there now, but the railway folks remember it. Our driver shut off and then opened up again with an earlier cut-off. Once under Bridge Road bridge, we shushed our way into the old platform.
"Coming?" I asked Garret as Lloyd and I headed out into the corridor.
"No, I'll stay here and keep our seats."
"We might not be going back on this one," I told him. He got up without another word. We soon lost him though, as we passed the refreshment room.
Lloyd and I both wandered along the other platform. We were just past the station buildings when a familiar red-headed figure appeared in the signalbox doorway.
"Hallo, 'allo, 'allo!" he greeted us loudly.
"What I want you to always remember," I told Lloyd," is that you never, ever, walk on railways. Stay off them. Now we're going to do what I just told you not to do. Never do it unless I'm with you. Now stay close to me," I told him, picking our way across the ballast, "and never do this unless I'm with you - me or your Uncle Luke. Say hello to Uncle Luke."
"Hello," almost inaudibly as we ascended the box steps.
Luke is a fairly big chap these days so I could understand the little fellow being overawed, but Luke knew how to deal with that.
"Just you come in here and see where all the work is done," he told the boy. "I've got some lemonade that I'm sure you'd like, but I bet your dad wants tea."
"Yes please Luke," I replied. "This is Lloyd and he's the newest member of our family. He likes to draw and paint too."
"Does he now?" said the signalman, pouring lemonade into a mug. "Well you just get that inside you young Lloyd. Simon, you know what to do, don't you? The engine is in the loop but you don't have to wait for him to come through."
He sat down in the corner as I pulled the blue, black and red levers in that order.
"She'll want water, the way Ben put her at that bank," I said.
"That's how you're supposed to come up," Said Luke. "You're not meant to tickle it you know."
I bristled slightly.
"I've never stuck on the bank yet," I said, somewhat stiffly, then grinned as Luke winked at Lloyd. I could tell I'd walked right into it. Luke had yanked my chain and I'd bitten hook, line and sinker.
It occurred to me that I'd better make tea since Luke was now busy with his sketch block. In all the years I'd known him, I'd never known my step-brother to be without a sketch-block within reach. There was a toot as the J15 approached and slid past the box, watched by a fascinated seven year old. The loco looks bigger when you are level with its chimney. I slammed the levers back in reverse order, then pulled another red one.
The loco gave a toot and then rolled slowly toward the coaches in the platform. I turned to the tablet instrument in the corner. I pressed the plunger and, when the bell rang, I pressed it three times, then another one. Three, pause, one came the answer so I quickly turned the commutator knob behind the plunger and pulled out the drawer at the bottom as I pressed the plunger one more time. I removed the brass tablet from the drawer. Reaching for one of the leather tablet hoops from the hook on the wall, I slid the tablet into the pouch and gave it to Luke.
"You'd better give him that," I told him." I'm not allowed to."
"It's only Ben and Paul," he pointed out.
"Too many people watching," I said.
With a shrug he took the pouch from me and left the box. I pulled two red levers. He was back in a few seconds as the fireman crawled out from under the train. I poured the tea.
"There you are Lloyd," said Luke, tearing off the top sheet from his sketch block and giving it to the boy.
"Wow!" said Lloyd, as he gazed at it. I looked over his shoulder. Lloyd was staring back up at me. The expression on his face was the same one with which Lloyd was staring down at the paper. Luke had captured it before it appeared, though, thinking about it, it was probably the same expression that he'd worn when he first met Luke.
With a toot the J15 started its train, tender first, back towards Sheringham. I reached for the tablet machine and pressed the plunger twice. "Ting-ting" came the answering bell.
The three of us stood and watched the train as it passed, though I suspect only Luke and I checked the tail lamp on the back.
"Dad's on the platform," Lloyd called out.
Luke walked to the door and waved to Garret. My partner strode to the box while I poured another cup of tea.
Luke sat back down in the old armchair. The rest of us sat on the raised quadrant plates of the lever frame.
"When are you taking him to see Jonah?" Luke enquired.
"Hadn't really thought about it," Garret replied.
"You know, if you don't, he'll be coming up to Newton and that'll cost you another trip up here."
"I'm sure Lloyd won't mind coming here again," I pointed out.
"Get yourself a family railcard," said Luke. "You can take him on some fast trains then. I bet he's never been to London."
I'm sure Lloyd was taking all this in, but he made no comment.
"Do you see much of Pete these days?" I queried.
"Too much," he replied. "Whenever I'm summoned to the Bailey, I get whopped by Pete's leader. He'll be leading himself someday soon and then we'll get a real whopping. Four felons have got off this last week because the CPS underestimated Pete and his leader."
"Ting!"
Luke answered the bell himself this time. He took "Train out of Section" from Weybourne and accepted another passenger train the other way.
"Which platform Luke?" I asked.
"Same again," he replied. "You'd best get over there if you've got to walk all the way round."
We took our leave of Luke and set off to walk to the other end of the yard. We arrived at the far end of the old platform just as the B12 slid in and hissed steamily to a stand.
Lloyd was overawed by the huge locomotive with its gleaming green and black paintwork and its polished brasswork.
We walked onto the platform just as the B12 was detached from its train.
"His thart the family then Simon?" Dick Flower demanded as he leaned from the cab.
"Yup!" I replied. "He wanted to see some real engine driving, but I suppose you'll have to do."
"Big engine today mate," he replied. "We'll send for you when we're got a job for Wissington."
I laughed.
"Dream on Dick," I told him. "Oh well, must get on. Can't stand gossipping to the working class all day."
I saw Ralph Coney climb on the other side of the footplate. He waved to me.
"I wondered why I was calling my driver to no avail," He remarked. "Hey yew a-gooing to draw forward Dick?"
Dick grunted as he wound the big engine into full-forward gear. There was one quiet chuff from the chimney as she rolled gently forward while we walked back to find seats in the train.
The journey back was no less exciting for our youngster. On Weybourne shed there was another engine in steam. Little "Wissington" was being dragged down the headshunt by a diesel shunter.
"Is that Percy," Lloyd wanted to know.
"We call her Wissington," I replied, " but, yes, she's been Percy before now."
"Cool!" he pronounced, "and the Evil Diesel too."
I leaned back in my seat and smiled. Parenting hadn't been so bad so far. I knew many parents who had it far worse than we had. We were lucky to have such an adorable little boy.
It was past three o' clock when we arrived back in Sheringham and repaired to the station buffet for burgers and chips. After that it was the souvenir shop where, as promised, Lloyd was allowed to choose posters for his bedroom wall. One of the B12 in black took his fancy, and one of the J15 in blue, then he found a few Thomas posters.
It was a happy little boy who clambered into the back of my mini.
On that second night, bedtime came sooner. I sat with him for a time and read a story from The Magic Faraway Tree to him. A kiss on the forehead and downstairs to find that Garret had poured me a small single malt.
"Good day?" he queried.
"Excellent day," I replied. "What do you think we should do about Jonah?"
He surveyed his glass.
"He keeps good whisky too," he said eventually.
"I'll give him a ring," I said. "He hardly ever goes into the office now anyway. It was good seeing Luke again."
"It's always good to see Luke," he replied. "I like meeting up with Pete too but I'm not so sure about his wife."
"I've never noticed anything," I said. "I think she makes Pete happy."
"Probably," he conceded, "but she's never pleased to see us and, I don't know if you've noticed, she'll never leave Adam alone with either of us."
"No, I can't say I have. Still, if she makes Pete happy, that's the important thing."
We were in bed soon after that. I wondered if Lloyd would spend the night in his own bed.