Chapter 1

It was a day like any other day, gray fading to blue here and there. She’d washed out her dishcloths and tea towels and hung them out on the line. A normal thing to do, it meant she would be taking them in later in the day...but she wouldn’t be taking them in today or tomorrow or any other day.

The kitchen was spotless. Somehow that was important. She nervously straightened the spice jars over the cooker and had a last look around. In the lounge she plumped up the pillows on the sofa and made sure the remote control was by the recliner, rearranged the mags and papers on the coffee table. She had an hour before she was to be at the train station.

She arranged her hair up on top of her head, letting tendrils fall where they may. A little mascara and a touch of lipstick not too much, just for color. A touch of scent and her good underwear from Marks and Spencer. The long flowing skirt, snug cotton top and over all the crochet vest and the silk shawl tied around her waist. It was her bohemian look, was who she was. The boots were real western boots from America. It’s what had attracted him to begin with.

Her day clothes, slob clothes, she bundled up and tossed in the hamper. Nothing out of place in the bedroom, the curtains just so to let in enough light to see. She dropped the zippered sponge bag in her purse. There was nothing else to take with her, nothing from this place. She paused by the framed picture on the dresser. They were strangers in their wedding finery; they were dead people.

She rechecked her purse, passport and the money from the sale of her car. It was her money she told herself again and patted her wallet. She’d taken her car in for repairs and sold it but he didn’t know. He thought it was still in the garage. The taxi was waiting. A last look and she slipped the lock and closed the door.  She left her house keys on the hall table on top of the letter.

**

He slid into the expensive leather seats and reached for his seat belt. He could have taken a taxi or the tube but she insisted. It irritated him a little that he couldn’t even go to the station alone. He smiled a little as she slipped a CD into the slot. It was, as he suspected, rap music but at least it forestalled any conversation that might take place. Had he ever had a conversation with her? Bloody plonker, it wasn’t her dazzling conversation that attracted you.

He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the traffic as she edged and dodged her way through it. It was too early for heartburn and his head hadn’t cleared completely from the night before. He opened his right eye just a slit, enough to see her platform heels tapping time on the brake pedal. 

“Can we do it, can we do it, whoa, yes, we can.” She slid between two cars, barely missing someone on a crosswalk. That maniacal laugh went straight through him. He was too old for this.

He clutched his laptop in front of him like a shield but he was no warrior going off to battle. He was a banker off to meet with other bankers and discuss what bankers discuss. He’d jumped at the opportunity to go to this conference, anything to get out of the bank fortress and out into the kingdom where people used actual five pence and pounds. He opened an eye again and checked the clock on the dash. He was just going to make the train.

He said goodbye to his Barbiesque girlfriend and soon lost himself in the station.

**

A bold look from him and people turned away. It amused him. He pulled the girl closer to him and licked her nose. What was her name…oh, yeah, Kels…Kels from Scotland.  He could smell her. She smelled of beer from the night before. Ordinarily it would have disgusted him but not today. Today it didn’t matter. She was his ticket out of the city and he bought it.

His mate wasn’t coming. He knew that now. It was just going to be him, him and Kels from Scotland. It hurt, of course it did. They’d been mates for a long time, done everything together, in and out of scrapes and jail. How could you just say fuck you and walk away? That’s what it amounted to. Well, fuck him too!  He tightened his hold on the girl.

She dropped it right there between them and it spattered up over his Doc Martins. He cursed her and picked up the bottle of beer, tossing it in a bin. Kels from Scotland had been drunk for three days. She looked up at the man who held her up. He was tattooed all over if she remembered right but she couldn’t remember his name. He’d come in the pub and claimed her as his. She heard the train coming into the station. He was reassuring, he was strong, and he’d get her there.

**

He heaved himself out of the seat, leaning heavily on his cane. That was his train going north, taking him home.  He shouldered his bag and walked over to the train line up for this and that. Home sounded like a good place to be but it wasn’t. It hadn’t been home for thirty-odd years and now he was returning broken. Broken and broken, his whole life broken in two just like his leg.

He caught sight of his reflection in the glass door. He looked like an old man. Maybe he was, leaning on a stick for support, his hair turned gray over the past two years. Life can do that to you sometimes. Turn you gray inside and out. He’d given it his best shot and that wasn’t enough. He was going home beaten and broken and he hoped to hell he’d die soon.

His reflection looked back at him. "Murderer," he mumbled to it. That’s what he saw…rain…taillights…screams…flashing lights…sirens and then nothing. He should have stayed in the nothing. It would have been better. There was nothing of the former military intelligence officer about him now, nothing of the former husband, nothing of the former father. He was a shell waiting to crumble away and disappear.

**

Yes, mother, please, mother, I will, mother echoed in her head as she ran to the train. Good God, she’d almost missed it and she couldn’t. She had to be on that train. She had to be on it and away from that clutching, whining woman, the accusations and recriminations and the guilt that she carried. Guilt was bearable. She stowed it in the overhead. Leaning back on the seat she breathed a sigh of relief.

There was nothing wrong with her mother. It was all in her head, all designed to punish her daughter. Three long years now ever since she’d come forward and confessed. She’d outted her father, told her doctor, told her priest and told her mother, hoping to rid herself of blame. But it hadn’t worked that way. They had turned on her.

Her father moved out of the house. He hated her now. Her mother blamed her for everything and had become a mental invalid. Her priest was embarrassed for her and her doctor gave her pills for the anxiety that had taken over her life. She had become a shadow without a life of her own and then came the card from her old roommate in school. Come for a week…a reunion of the circle. She’d jumped on it immediately and somehow found the strength to stand up to her mother.

**

The car filled and emptied. He had his laptop out on the table.

They took a seat in the back and already his hand was underneath her flimsy, short skirt.

He was asleep, nodding this way and that, unaware of others coming and going.

She had her nose in a paperback book, oblivious to anyone else.

She settled down in the seat, keeping her sunglasses on and arranged her skirts.

The train lurched forward.

**

She still couldn’t believe it, Donn Grey. She’d been with him and he wanted to see her again. Gary had taken her to a concert in Birmingham and because he knew somebody they got invited to the after party. That’s where she’d met him. Their eyes met across the room and she went to him.  She smiled, thinking about it the rest of night, kind of went off into space except for the closet.

Gary hadn’t even missed her, hadn’t noticed she smelled like Donn Grey when they went home. He’d passed out as soon as he hit the bed.

“I’m leaving for Edinburgh be there a week. If you’re there, I’ll see ya.” It stayed with her all through the week. Tomorrow was his last day in Edinburgh. She’d planned it. When he left she was going with him. He was gorgeous, he was talented, everybody wanted him and she’d had him.

The coffee was cooling in her hand and she took a sip from the cup. Feeling she was being watched, she looked around.

He’d closed his laptop, read the papers and now he was bored with a cup of tea in his hand. He noticed her against the window, her reflection, the way she held her head. Attractive woman, probably mid twenties. Slim and tall, she would be tall he thought if she stood up. Honey blond hair. He sighed.

Oh, it was the businessman, old suit and tie. The two in the back were asleep, leaning into each other. She turned back around, old suit and tie was still moonfaced. She turned away and closed her eyes, pulling up Donn Grey from her memory banks.

His eyes behind sunglasses traveled a few seats. Now there was a woman who was intent on making herself as unattractive as possible. She really wasn’t that bad looking, a little overweight and those glasses. He wondered who had picked them out. Her hair was thick and a lovely shade of dark brown, especially with the setting sun glancing across it but that severe style, all skinned back from her head.

She looked up from her book and realized the light was becoming dim. She glanced at the businessman a moment. Why was he looking at her? She frowned and hunched down in her seat and tried to ignore the feeling. Soon it left her and she glanced up again. He was looking behind her now and she looked behind him, just now noticing the man slumped in the seat.

What a tumble of ginger hair. He thought it must reach nearly to her ass. But as it was it was tangled up and topped off with a knitted hat. She was dressed rather strangely and he had a good view of her pale blue panties. And the dude she was with, a skinhead. He sighed again. What a waste of all that ginger hair.

He looked at his watch. Soon they would be passing over the border into Scotland.  His eyes glazed over and his head felt the back of the seat.

**

“Hey, hey you!”

There it was again that annoying poke. He opened his eyes and blinked. The car was dark.

“Hey …!” Another poke with his cane and the man’s head turned around. “We’ve stopped.”

“Where are we?” He sat up in his seat and rubbed his eyes, reaching for his glasses he’d left on the table

“I dunno. I’ve timed it. We’ve been sitting here in the dark for twenty-two minutes and nobody has been through here to tell us what’s up.”

“Um, perhaps something on the track…?”

“I’d go see but with my leg I can’t maneuver.”

“What happened to the other passengers? Have we made an unannounced stop?”

“They all moved out of here before we stopped on the track. The conductor came and escorted them out. My name's Hoffman, Ed Hoffman.

“Oh...Max Skinner,” he said absently and stood up, peering out the windows. “Very dark out. I can’t make out a town.”

Max started down the aisle to the end doors.

“What’s up?” A shape moved in front of him

“Um, not sure. Just going to have a look.”

“I’ll go with ya.”

Max realized it was the skinhead and followed him through the doors.

“What the fuck! Where’s the fucking train?”

Max stared uncomprehendingly at the empty space behind the car. “They’ve dropped us off?”

“I dunno. Let’s go look at the other end.”

“I don’t believe this!” Max turned around full circle. "How could they do this, drop a car off like this and why?”

“Oh, they could do it all right but, yeah, why?”

The door opened again and Ed squeezed out onto the platform. “What’s goin’ on here?”

“Good question. We’ve been abandoned,” Max answered.

She couldn’t stand it any longer so walked to the end of the car and opened the door. “Where are we?”

Max looked around. It was sunglasses. “I have no idea but British Rail will answer for this. I have a meeting this morning.” He went past them back into the car, found his cell phone and started punching up numbers.

She walked out on the platform. A nice breeze was up, blowing her tendrils around. “I have to be in Edinburgh today. I have to be!” She sounded desperate.

“Well, don’t fret none. We’ll find out what’s going on and get back on track,” Ed tried reassuring her.

The skinhead had hopped off the car and walked off up the track. He was coming back now.

“This track stops about twenty-five feet up there and behind us there ain’t a track.”
 

Chapter 2

Max came back to the door. “I can’t seem to get my phone to work. Service is not available.”

“Let’s get back inside. It's getting crowded out here.” Ed directed them through the door.

“What’s happening?” Bookworm was standing in the aisle and behind her ginger hair was sitting up in a stupor trying to focus.

“We don’t know,” Ed began. “This car is sitting on a little stretch of track that doesn’t connect to anything. The how and why of it we just don’t know.”

“You were awake. What happened before we stopped?” Max asked, tossing his useless phone onto the seat.

“Nothing. Like I said, the conductor came and asked the other passengers to move out of the car. I figured they were in the wrong seats or something. He never came back and soon after, we stopped moving, no fancy turnarounds or nothing…just stopped.”

“Ken we gi some light on it?”

Bookworm reached over her seat and switched on the reading light. It came on very dim.

“Generator won’t last long. Turn it off.”

“There might be some flares…” Skinhead went to look.

“My phone doesn’t work either,”

“What’s your name? We might as well get acquainted,” Ed suggested.

The bookworm answered, “Jane Treacher.”

“Kelsey McDougal.”

“Anne Medway.”

“I’m Ed Hoffman and this here’s Max Skinner.”

Max looked up and acknowledged. He had his laptop open. “I can’t reach the net.”

“And you gotta name?”

“Name’s Hando and there ain’t any flares. How do ya reckon this car got sidetracked without a track?”

“Wish I had some answers. Come daylight maybe we can figure out something.”

“You’re a Yank, huh?”

Ed sighed, “Yeah, that’s where I was born but I left it.”

“When did ya leave it?”

Ed looked at Hando, “About two years ago.”

“Where ya goin then?”

“I’m goin’ home, the only one I got left. What are you doin’ here? You’re not a Brit.”

“Came over last year with my mate.”

“That your mate?” Ed indicated the girl.

“Her, nah, picked her up in a pub couple of days ago. Kels from Scotland.” He grinned a little and looked over the seat.

“I don feel sa good.” Kels grabbed the back of the seat.

“Well, get out the door before you puke!” Hando said and moved around to head her toward the door.

“Nice couple,” Max observed, closing his laptop and stowing it in its case.

“Are they a couple?” Anne asked.

“Who knows. Where are you from?”

“Me? Bedfordshire.”

“On your way to Scotland?”

“Yes.”

“Well, let’s hope there’s a track out there and an engine looking for us.” Ed sat heavily down in a seat.

“What happened to you?” Jane asked.

“Accident,” he replied sharply.

It was very quiet in the car after that. Occasionally they could hear Kels retching outside the opened door, Hando’s quiet laughter.

Anne sat leaning against the window, looking out into the darkness. There was still time. Once the sun was up there would be a relief train, there would be a road…something to get her to Edinburgh. She didn’t care if she had to hitch hike. She had all day. He wouldn’t leave until tonight, that much she knew. A night flight to Germany and she would be on that plane with him. Donn…he wanted to see her again. That meant something.…

Twenty minutes went by. Hando and Kels came back in. She dug in her bag for a bottle of water. It was half empty.

“Sorry,” she said to no one in particular.

“We got a bride here.” Hando sat down, propping his feet in the seat in front of him.

“Not yet.” Kels gave him a sideways look. “Maybe never.”

“Not what you just told me.” He gave her a hard look. His ticket just ran out.

Jane looked around her seat. “You’re getting married?”

“I don’t know, maybe.”

“Got herself engaged to some rich laird. Yeah, you’ll do it for the money.”

“I don’t need the money and you don’t know anything about him or me.”

“I know a few things about you, like you got this mole.…”

“That’s enough!” Ed snapped.

“What’s it to you, old man?” Hando got up and walked out on the platform.

“Are you okay?” Jane asked Kels.

“Yeah, hon, I’ll be okay. Just coming down from the booze. I came down to London with my girlfriends. One last go, ya know. I don’t’ know where they are…lost ‘em or they lost me. Anybody got a headache pill?”

“I got pills but they might be a little strong for you.”

“I need strong. What have ya got?” Kels moved up to the seat across from Ed. “You’re a bloody chemist.”

“Take one of these.” Ed gave her a pill.

“What are you giving her? What if she has a reaction?” Max frowned.

“It’s a Tylox, nothing major.”

**

“Sun’s comin’ up!” Hando called through the door.

Jane got up and went out on the platform. “I never see the sun come up.”

“Are you cold? Do you want my jacket?” Max asked Anne

“No, I’m.…”

“You were holding your arms like you were chilled.”

“I was just…no, I’m not cold.”

“Where were you headed?”

“Edinburgh.”

“Really? So was I. Business…you?”

“Um…pleasure.”

“I didn’t know there was any in Edinburgh. You’ll have to enlighten me.”

“We’re fucked!” came the call from the platform.

Inside the car everyone looked out. Max got up and went out to the platform.

“Ohhh, shit! Something tells me we ain’t in Kansas anymore.” Ed slid off the seat and reached for his cane.

“It’s beautiful! I’ve never seen such a beautiful countryside!” Jane remarked and climbed down the steps out onto the side of the track. “Of course I don’t see the countryside much, hardly ever.”

Anne rushed out onto the platform. “Where’s the road? There has to be a road!”

“Nothing but rolling hills and forests. There’s a lake down there.”

“Is this Scotland, Kels?” Jane asked.

“If it is I’ve never seen it before, nothing like this from the train.”

Max had climbed down and walked to the end of the track. There was no way the car could have ended up here, no way it could have been unhitched for some reason and let off. “This is impossible! It’s bloody impossible…!”

Hando came up behind him. “Like we were dropped from space or some shit. I gotta get outta here, man. This is like some bad shit.”

Ed limped up and joined them. “Unfamiliar terrain. This part of Scotland is supposed to be hilly and craggy, rocky like.”

“What make you think we’re in Scotland? It looks more like the Lake District.” Max turned, hands on hips.

“Looks like New South Wales if we had the sea,” Hando remarked.

“Hey, you’d better come back! You don’t know where you’re going,” Kels called after Anne.

Anne had started walking east. There had to be a motorway. There was, she knew it, not so far from the tracks. She could see paths all over the place now that she was going downhill. They looked like sheep trots.

Hando caught up with her. “Where ya headed?”

“East, the motorway”

“Oh, yeah, you know we’re on the west side of it, do ya?”

“The tracks…you could see it yesterday from the train.”

“Well, we ain’t on the train tracks anymore. We ain’t anywhere. There’s no way, Anne, that the train coulda let us off here.”

She looked at him wildly for a moment. “I don’t care! I have to get to Edinburgh. There has to be a road somewhere. I can get a ride.”

“I can’t let you go off by yourself in this wilderness, no idea where we are. It's best that we stay together.”

“You don’t understand. I have to get to Edinburgh! I have to before tonight!”

“I ain’t sayin’ you won’t get there but you can’t go off like this, blindly stomping about. Come on back to the train until we can figure out something.”

**

“Are you sure?” Ed strained his eyes.

“Looks like it to me,” Kels said.

“Could be a house.” Jane looked up at him.

“I think it's smoke, maybe from a chimney,” Max said. “Let’s go check it out.”

“What about our bags?”

“Oh, yeah, well, we can take them with us. We may not be coming back here. Hopefully the farmer has a vehicle.”

“Somebody will have to help me with mine.”

“No problem, Ed. Hando can carry yours.”

“You don’t have any luggage?” Max asked.

Anne shouldered her purse. “No, no baggage.”

Chapter 3

It was hard going for Ed. He was falling farther and farther behind. Kels walked back and put her arm around him. “Lean on me. I’m a big girl.”

“Oh, no, ya’ll just go on without me.”

“We’re not leavin’ ya and you’re holding me up, so lean.”

She was a big girl, he thought, tall and strong. He could feel her strength through her multilayered tops. He leaned; it was not an unpleasant way to walk.

“What happened to your leg?”

“Automobile accident, happened two years ago. Six operations and it ain’t never gonna be right. Don’t matter, though.”

“Sure it matters; have to make it the best it can be. How do you have a home in Scotland?”

“My Mama’s place. She’s dead now but the house is still there. She left it to me.”

“But you’re an American, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I am. She married one and lived in Washington DC until my Daddy died and she came back over here, came back home to die.”

“Is your family there? Are you married?”

“I was…I killed them in the accident…my wife and son.”

Kels tightened her hold on him and kept walking.

**

“I’ve only got this one little bag. I can help. I can carry Kel's bag.”

“Give up, Jane. I got it all, okay.” Hando shifted his load.

“Why were you going to Scotland?”

“Nosey aren’t ya? I dunno. Somewhere to go, something to do.”

“Don’t you work?”

“Why? I’m unemployed, on the dole. That satisfy ya?”

“Why are you so angry all the time? Is it because of Kels, because she’s getting married?”

“Nothin to do with Kels. I don’t give a fuck what she does.”

“I’m going to a reunion, some of my college mates. I didn’t know they even remembered me. It’s been three years.”

“Three years is not a long time.”

“It is. You wouldn’t believe how long it can be.”

“You work?”

“No, I look after my mother.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

“Nothing physical. The doctors say she had sort of a mental breakdown. I did it. I caused it so now I look after her.”

“What the hell did you do?”

“I seduced my father when I was fifteen.”

**

“I hope this bloke has a phone, though how I‘m going to explain this I haven’t a clue.”

“Who do you have to explain it to?”

“My boss, the client I’m supposed to talk to before the meeting I’m going to miss. I’ll probably lose my job over this.”

“I guess that’s real important, your job?”

“It’s all I got. Honestly…it’s all I got.”

“No wife and kids in the suburbs?”

“No, never took the time.”

“So what do you do?”

“I’m a banker. I make money.”

“That sounds boring.”

“It is but it’s what I do and do well.”

“Don’t you ever just want to run away?”

“I never thought about it. Is that what you’re doing?”

“Does it show? I guess I am but I’m running to something better.”

“Good for you. What’s so bad you had to run away from?”

“Boredom. A boring man, a boring life. Somebody opened the door to something better so I’m going for it.”

“Oh, yeah, well…I hope it works out for you. Are you married or…?”

“I’ve been married for three years. I left him yesterday morning.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really I did.”

**

The cottage appeared after they rounded a bend in the path. Max dropped his bags and went to the door and knocked. He turned around to look at the rest of the group and the door opened.

“Hello…hello…!” He stepped inside.

Anne and Hando were next through the door. “There’s nobody here…hellooooo!” Hando called out.

“I smell coffee,” Ed said as he neared the door.

“Oh, my!” Jane exclaimed, moving thoughg the cottage. A large, scrubbed wooden table set for six dominated one half of the room. “Looks like we were expected.”

Ed pulled out a chair and sat down.

Kels looked up at the low beamed ceiling and the lime-washed walls. An inglenook at one end with a peat fire going. Ancient looking furnishings, rump sprung chairs, faded rugs, threadbare in places. The windows had shutters and they were open to the morning mist.

“You took your time getting here!” A booming voice came from the back doorway.

“I’m very sorry. I did knock and the door just came open. We’re, ah, stranded from the train and I wonder if.…” Max poured out the words one upon another. He stopped when the voice’s person appeared. A large man of some years, kilted with a well-worn sweater and boots on his feet. His longish grayed hair moved around his head like the mist outside.

“I know who ye are. I’m Hamus and this is Missus.”

A small woman moved from behind him, carrying an apron full of eggs. “I’ll just put these on to boil.” She moved through a doorway into the kitchen.

“We hate to barge in like this, Mr., uh, Hamus. I wonder if, uh, you’d be so kind as to tell us exactly where we are?” Ed asked.

“Oblivion. That’s where you are, Oblivion.”

“Oblivion?” Ed repeated slowly.

“Ha, ha! Yeah, folks always stumble over that one. But that’s the name of this place, has been as long as we been here. Right, Missus?”

“Yes, Hamus. Here’s the coffee pot and the tea is coming up. There’s fresh baked bread and butter under that cloth. That ought to get you started while we wait on the eggs and sausages.”

“Are we in Scotland then?” Kels asked, pulling out a chair.

“Ooo, well, it’s hard to say. I know the border is around here somewhere but we’ve never seen it, have we, Missus?”

“No, Hamus, we’ve not seen it. Here’s the tea and fresh cream and sugar.”

“Have you a vehicle here? Is there a road or a bus or…?” Anne began.

“Oh, now hold on a minute here! That’s a lot of questions in one pile. I don’t believe we’ve seen a road, have we, Missus, and if we don’t have a road then, of course, we don’t have a vehicle.”

“Well, how do you live here then? Where do you go to shop?”

“Shop? We don’t shop, do we, Missus? Everything is provided. Crops in the field, sheep for wool,” he patted his sweater, "livestock for the table and Missus keeps a nice vegetable garden.”

“There has to be a road in here. It’s against the law to have a residence without access, “ Max stated.

“Hm, well, we don’t have any law here. Never seen the need for it. Oblivion is a law-abiding place. Don’t get me wrong.”

Max looked rather desperately at Ed.

Hando was into his cup of tea and bread and butter. “How we get out of here?” he asked.

“Out of here? Well, the train comes by.…”

“That’s a load of shit! There ain’t a track! We just came from there.”

“Well then, how did you get here?”

“By train,” Jane answered.

“I guess that’s how you’ll get out then.”

They all looked at one another and shook their heads.

“He’s mad,” Max whispered to Ed, “raving mad.”

“Wait until after breakfast before you tell him,” Ed whispered back.

**

After a very satisfying and delicious breakfast they wandered back outside. Missus brushed away offers to help clean up. Hamus soon joined them.

“I expect you’ll want to see your rooms now.”

“Excuse me?” Max turned around. “Rooms?”

“Why, yes. Missus and I don’t expect you to sleep in the barn. We’ve got some nice little cottages back here, one for men and one for women. Unless any of you are married, then we got one for couples.

“None of us are married, at least not to each other.” Max  glanced around. “Look, we appreciate your hospitality but we can’t stay. I’ve got a meeting in Edinburgh today and this lady has…has to get there, so if you’d point us in the right direction.…”

“I’ve got a wedding.”

“I’ve got a reunion.”

“I ain’t got nothing, but I don’t want to stay here in lala land.”

“I need to get home.”

“All in good time, all in good time! Now if you’ll follow me back here through these pines.”

“I told you he was mad, mad as a hatter.”

“Did you ask about a phone?”

“Oh…Hamus!” Max ran to catch up with him.

“Now this one is for the ladies. I’m sure you’ll find everything you need. Might not be as modern as you’re used to but you’ll find what you need in here.”

Max was standing to the side, drooping.

“No phone?” Ed asked.

“No phone. Hando had it right at dawn. He called it, Ed…we are totally fucked.”

“This way, gentlemen, and you can park your bags for a spell.”

Chapter 4

The women’s cabin was a long room, much like the cottage they’d just left. A peat fire burned in one end and three beds piled up with quilts and pillows filled the middle. Each had a wooden table beside it with a candle. There was a long wardrobe against one wall and the bath at the other end.

“He wasn’t kidding about modern conveniences…candle light?”

“There’s a tub and a toilet with paper. Not all is lost.”

Anne balled her fists. “I can’t stay here! There has to be a way out of here!”

“Why are you so antsy to get to Edinburgh?” Kels asked.

“I have to meet someone and he’s leaving tonight…I have to…I just have to be there.”

“Boyfriend?”

“No…not, I’m not sure what he is yet. I just know I’m crazy about him.”

“Is he a Scot?”

“Yes, a musician.” She wandered to the door and looked out.

Kels  went back to the bathroom and turned the water on in the tub. “Hot water! I’m going to have a bath.”

“Maybe he’ll wait for you, you know, if you’re late or something,” Jane offered.

“No, he can’t wait. I can’t believe this is happening to me!” Anne wailed.

Kels came out and dug in her bag. “Who is this guy?”

“Donn Grey,” Anne breathed his name. “I met him in Birmingham and well…we…”

Kels chuckled, “Donn Grey? Hon, he’s poked everything pokable from every angle in every country he’s been in. One of my mates knows him. She’s from Edinburgh…grew up near him. He’s nothing specia,l Anne. He’s a jerk.”

“You don’t know what he can be like.”

“I don’t want to know. He’s a jerk. Take my word for it.”

“Well, I won’t! He said he’d see me in Edinburgh. That’s why I have to get there. He’s heading to Germany next on tour and I’m going with him.”

“He’s got enough girlies hanging on him, Anne. Aren’t you a little old to be a groupie?”

Anne slammed out of the door.

“Now you’ve upset her,” Jane frowned at Kels.

Kels shrugged, “She needed to hear it and he really is a jerk.”

“He’s a good singer, a good musician,” Jane offered in his defense.

**

“He means to keep us here,” Max said, sitting on the edge of a bed. “I tell you he’s mad. We could all be murdered in our sleep.”

“He seemed a nice enough guy to me and Missus makes a damn fine breakfast.” Ed let himself down on the bed and lay back. “Nice soft bed.”

“It’s all right for you. You’re going home. I’ve got a job to do. I’m missing appointments as we speak. They can’t get in touch with me. We’re in some kind of dead zone. My computer can’t get out, phones don’t work.”

“Why don’t you chill out? I’m sick of hearing about your appointments,” Hando groused.

“Probably because you don’t have appointments or prospects,” Max replied.

“Probably because I don’t give a shit about you and your business, mate.”

“Really, I suppose you sit around and wait for the check to arrive at the post office every month, a check, by the way, that I help pay for.”

“Oh, yeah? Fuck you, Skinner!”

“What an intelligent conversation to listen to. Both of you need to get a grip. It  doesn’t matter what you did yesterday. It’s today that you need to be thinking about. Put your energies into getting us outta here.”

“I think we ought to get out and walk around, figure out just where the hell we are.”

“Good idea! Get the lay of the land, but I can’t be much help there.”

“What’s the matter with you anyway?” Hando asked, rolling off his bed and walking to the door and opening it.

“Broken leg, broken in three places with some bits missing.”

“What sort of accident was it, auto?”

“Yeah, auto.” Ed closed his eyes. “It was raining and we’d been to a Christmas party, a kids' party…stayed too late…had that extra eggnog that was being passed around for the adults. I wasn’t drunk but I might have been. Sometimes you don’t know. Going down a hill, I knew the neighborhood…no excuse not to slow down, people backing out of their driveways all the time. I didn’t slow down. Somebody backed out right in front of me. I tried to swerve and avoid hitting the car but didn’t make it. I skidded into the car and then into a tree. Nobody in my car walked away. I lost my wife, my son and my mother-in-law.

“Oh, Christ!” Max winced.

“But I lived…I lived so that I’d know what I’d done…what I’d lost. That was two years ago. I’m two years overdue.”

Hando stared at him a moment then stepped out of the cottage.

“Sorry, Ed, that’s a tough one to handle.”

Ed smiled a little. “Yeah, Max, but not for much longer. I think, um, if ya’ll gonna walk around you ought to stick together…and be nice.”

After Max and Hando left Ed moved to the doorway and sat down on the step, leaning his cane against the side of the cabin. “Hey, where are you goin’ in such a hurry?”

Anne stopped. “Back to the train. The old man said if we got out of here it would be the way we came in. I don’t know, maybe…maybe the train…?”

“Well, look here, honey. You saw that train track. Now how do you think a train is gonna pull up there?”

“I don’t’ know…I just…I gotta get to Edinburgh today. It’s just getting later and later and later.”

“Unless some miracle happens I don’t see any of us getting out of here today. Sorry, that’s just how I see it. I can’t answer how we got here but it looks like we’re here for a spell.”

“Noooo!”

“What’s in Edinburgh that’s so important, Anne?”

“It might be my future. There’s a man I was to meet tonight. I was…I am going with him.”

“This, ah, boyfriend or fiancé or…what?”

“It’s Donn Grey. You haven’t heard of him?”

“Can’t say as I have. What does he do?”

“He’s a singer, has a band. They’re real popular all over, hit CD’s and everything. I met him at a concert in Birmingham and…he, um, wants to see me in Edinburgh. They’re leaving on tour tonight, leaving for Germany and I thought…well, he wants to see me again. I’m going to go on tour with him.”

“You’re from Bedfordshire, that right? What do you do in Bedfordshire, Anne?”

“I keep house, the usual stuff. I used to work until I got married and Gary wouldn’t let me work after that. So…I really don’t do anything, Mr. Hoffman, day after day after…nothing but cook and clean, go to the shops. I’m sick of it. I hate it and I hate him!” She buried her face in her hands, sobbing.

“You’re married?”

“Not anymore.” She wiped her eyes. “I’ve left him…I’m never going back. I don’t want that kind of life, boredom…a nothing life. I thought it would be different when we got married. I thought but I should have known. He’s just like his father, content to do the same thing. He’s even beginning to look like him. Well, I’m not his mother and I’m not content. I’m sorry. I…it’s just coming down on me. Everything is going wrong.”

“Hey, not a problem. Sounds like you’re looking for a little excitement.”

“Donn wants to see me again. It’s an opportunity for me, don’t you see? He liked me…he really did! I don’t care what Kels says about him, he liked me.”

**

“Why do you wear your hair like that?” Kels asked, brushing her wet hair out to air dry.

“I don’t know. It’s easy.”

“Looks like it would give you a headache pulled so tightly behind your head. Take the band off.”

“It gets in my face, into my glasses.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty four.”

“Hey, same age as me but you look like you’re about thirty-four.”

“I don’t care what I look like.”

“You should. Never gonna catch a bloke like that.”

“I don’t want a bloke.”

“Want a girl?”

“NO! I don’t want anybody.”

“Everybody wants somebody.” She shook her hair back. “I feel almost human again.”

“Do you want Hando?”

“I don’t even know him other than he’s a good fuck.”

“Are you really getting married?”

“Honestly, I don’t want to. Michael  is an okay guy. I’ve known him since we were kids. We’re neighbors. Everybody just expected us to get married and it kind of formed a life of its own… the expectation. I come from a large family, aunts and cousins, they’re all pushing. We’ve been groomed for each other. But you know what? We look at each other and we’re just friends. We’ve never been to bed with each other. His mother is dead but his father is pushing him along. They hunt together, my father and his…it’s all planned. In three weeks I’m supposed to get married.”

“Just tell them no.”

“It’s not that easy because the 'why' will come up and I don’t have an answer except I don’t feel like he’s supposed to be my husband.”

**

“It’s just more of the same shit every way you look.”

Max sighed, “I think he was right about there not being a road, but somewhere his property has to come to an end.”

“I don’t know anything about the countryside. I grew up in the city.”

“So did I except for the odd weekend. This could go on for miles.”

Hando was looking up. “I haven’t seen a plane or nothing.”

“We might not be in a flight path, but it’s odd…no phones, roads…no other people either…they don’t shop.”

“We aren’t close to a city then or there would be planes comin’ in from somewhere. We’d hear them.”

“You’re right. Oblivion, I’ve never heard of a town or anything called that in England or Scotland. We may be near the border, maybe got off on the wrong track or something. There has to be an explanation for it.” Max glanced over at Hando. “I’m sorry about what I said earlier.”

“No worries.” Hando gave him quick look. “You were right on. I don’t have any prospects. I came over here to England with my mate. We had all kinds of plans, ya know. He, um, meets this Sheila and next thing I know he’s working in a pub. Never said dick, ya know. So I’m left hanging out here.”

“What about Kels?”

“Ah…I didn’t know she was getting’ married. Thought maybe I might get somethin’ goin’ in Scotland. She’s a good girl, a right Sheila, but she ain’t never gonna be my girl. We had a couple of good nights.”

“A couple of good nights. That’s about all we ever get, Hando,” Max sighed.

Chapter 5

Anne wandered back to the cabin as Kels was coming out. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings earlier, Anne.”

“You didn’t. It’s all over now anyway. I’d never make it to Edinburgh before he leaves.”

“I don’t mean to start something again but you know if he really cared about you and…if he remembered you, he would wait for you, Anne. If he was serious about seeing you, he would wait. Were you supposed to meet him somewhere in particular?”

“No…no, he just said he’d see me if I was in Edinburgh.” For the first time Anne realized how ridiculous that sounded and she turned her head away.

Kels patted her arm. “There’s still hot water if you want a bath. Did you see the guys?”

“Only Mr. Hoffman. The other two are off trying to find a way for us to get out of here.”

He still sat in the doorway on the step and as she approached, the sun filtering down through the branches caught her hair ablaze, red gold and masses of it.

“Hi, Mr. Hoffman.”

He was still looking at her hair. “Hello, Kels. Get settled in?”

“Got a bath. I’m ashamed of the way I was. Been drinking for three or four days. Amazing what a meal and a bath can do for you. You, ah, doin’ okay? Need anything?”

“Oh, I’m fine, just…fine. When is this wedding you’re having? Not gonna miss it today, are ya?”

“I’ve about made up my mind, Mr. Hoffman…there’s not going to be a wedding. I know it’s going to disappoint a lot of people but better them than me.”

“What about the groom? I imagine he’s gonna be put out.”

She smiled at his expression. “Like I said, better him than me. No, I think he’ll thank me. I really think he will. I was, um, thinking about that black bag you carry around, the one with the pills. In my other life before London and Oblivion, I’m a chemist. I think you call them pharmacist. How did you get into the country with that many pills?”

“I came through on my diplomatic status. I was at one time in my other life, the one before the accident, a government employee of some rank. I’m a crippled old man now, not a dope dealer.”

“You’ve got some pretty powerful stuff there and yet I haven’t seen you take a pill. There are medics on this side of the pond, you know.”

Ed met her look. “I wasn’t planning on seeing a load of doctors. I’ve seen them all. There’s not any thing they can do for me. Right now the pain is at a level I can deal with. I’m aware of it but it’s not debilitating. When I need a pill, I take one or two.”

“Where is your home, Mr. Hoffman? Where are you going?”

“Forfar, not far from Dundee. I haven’t been back there for thirty years. Probably won’t even recognize the place.”

“What do you remember about it?”

“Oh, it was a stone house, four square, four rooms up and four down. No front garden. It was right on the street but it had a nice back garden. I came over with my mother when she moved back. She had a relation living in the house and she took care of her until she died.”

“Who is in the house now?”

“Nobody. It’s been empty for a long time.”

“Who is going to take care of you?”

“Me…I’m going to take care of me.” He looked into her blue eyes, blue as the sky, and she wouldn’t let him go. After a minute, he asked, “Where’s home for you?”

“Aberdeen…but I’m not going there.” She cut herself off and looked away. “How old are you, Mr. Hoffman?”

“Ah …twenty-one. too young for you, Kels.”

She chuckled, “You’re old enough for me.”

**

“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard! a girl that young doesn’t seduce her father. He was a pervert, Jane, a sicko. You should have reported him right away.”

Jane had taken the band out of her hair and let it fall about her face and shoulders. “No, it was me. I enjoyed it. So you see.…”

“Doesn’t matter. He was still your father, an adult, and he molested you at age 15. What you felt doesn’t come into it. He knew what he was doing. I think he’s disgusting.”

Anne was pulling off her cowboy boots. “I’m going to hell. Maybe that’s what this is a stopover before….”

“You’re some kind of weird, Jane. Is that what you do, punish yourself for something he did to you? Get over it. You were a kid and unless you want to bring charges against him in court, leave it alone.”

She removed the shawl from around her waist. “I don’t know what this place is but I hate it…I hate it!” She disappeared into the bathroom.

Jane moved to the mirror on the wall, one small mirror for three women. She took a brush from her bag and began brushing her hair, long strokes until it was shining like chocolate silk. She removed her glasses and lay them down on the chair.

“Boo!”

Jane dropped her brush and fell into the chair.

Hando did a double take. “Ha, ha! Sorry, scared ya, huh?”

“I wasn’t expecting you.”

He stood in the doorway, leaning against the jamb, looking at her.  “What did you do to yourself?”

“I…I haven’t done anything.”

“Where’s your roomies?”

“Anne’s in the bathroom and Kels went out.”

She shifted her weight and remembered her glasses and jumped up. “Oh, no! Oh, bloody no!”

“Can you see without them?”

“I can see. I just can’t see far. I don’t have another pair.”

“Bring ‘em here. Maybe I can fix them.”

“The lens popped out and the side piece is broken off."  She shook her head and went over to him with them in her hand.

Hando took them from her, looking up and letting his eyes slide down her body. “I think you’re right. They’re fucked.”

“You probably shouldn’t be in here.”

“Why?”

“It’s…it’s the women’s cabin.”

Hando grinned,  “That’s okay. I like women. I like dark-haired girls with big brown eyes and big tits.”

Her face flushed. “Get out of here.”

He slid a hand up on the inside of her calf and the bathroom door opened.

Anne came out wearing her long skirt as a strapless dress and her hair in a towel, her other clothes over her arm. She glanced from Hando to Jane and went over to the closet and found a hanger.

“Did you find a way out?”

Hando let his hand slide down Jane’ s leg. “No, we walked all around the place. Nothing but fields and trees, no roads.

Max came to the door. “There’s some kind of bell ringing. They may be calling us to the house for something.”

“Like tea, I hope.” Hando stood up and glanced at Jane. “Come on. I’ll see ya to the table.”

Anne removed the towel from her head and shook her hair out. No need to put it up now. She took the shawl and tied it around her shoulders for a top. Her underwear was wet and hanging on a hanger. Turning, she looked straight at Max. “What…?”

“I’ll walk you down.” Something about her said touch me. She was very touchable but he sensed he’d probably get his face slapped. “You’ve missed your connection…”

“To Edinburgh? I know. Don’t suppose you saw an airstrip while you were out there looking?”

Max smiled, “No airstrips, no roads, no planes overhead, no sounds except sounds of nature, birds and the like.”

She sat down and pulled her boots on. “Do you think we should be afraid?”

“I’m not sure. I mean, I don’t feel afraid…afraid.”

“I am…I’m afraid I’m going to wake up back in Bedfordshire, upstairs in my room lying next to my dull, boring husband.”

“It’s not a dream. At least, well, if I were going to have a dream I wouldn’t mind having you in it.”

“I don’t want to be in your dream, Mr. Skinner. It would be a nightmare.” She moved past him to the step.

“You’re probably right. I can’t even have a decent dream.”

“Why do you think that is? Is it because you’re boring?”

“Ouch! The problem is I never have a chance to be anything else, not that I’ve ever been exciting.”

“Why haven’t you had a chance? Why don’t you just take a chance? Isn’t’ that what we do, we take, we make it happen. That’s what I’m doing. I’m going to make something happen. My original plans are gone now but I’m not going back…I’m not.”

Max followed her out the door and onto the path

It was tea, laid out on the table. Sandwiches, scones with jam and cream, little cakes and a fruitcake, tarts and two kinds of tea.

“Tea time. Missus always makes a nice tea,” Hamus greeted them at the door. “Hope you don’t mind the bell but, see, it worked. Here you all are.”

“Where else would we be?” Ed asked, finding a chair. “It’s not like we can leave…is it?”

“Now, sir, I’m sure when the time comes you’ll be able to leave, all in good time.”

“What do you mean when the time comes? How often does it roll around?” Max asked, taking a cup of tea.

“Hm, well, I can’t say exactly. There doesn’t seem to be a timetable. Sometimes it comes pretty quickly and other times it takes a while.  Depends, you know.”

“No, I don’t know. I don’t understand what’s going on here, how we got here and why we can’t leave. Is this your doing?”

“I don’t have anything to do with it…whatever it is. Missus and I just keep the farm and the cottages up.”

“This is some kind of time warp, ain’t it? We’ve been warped off the train and whenever somebody finishes getting their jollies we get warped back,” Hando commented.

“Time warp?” Kels bit into a scone. “I don’t believe in stuff like that.”

Max removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

“I’ve seen your picture.” Jane stared at him.

“Sorry?”  Max looked up.

“In the papers, in the mags. I’ve seen your picture. You date Kate Moss, don’t you?”

Max sighed, “I have done, among others.” He settled his glasses back on his nose and reached for a sandwich.

“What’s she like?”

“I wouldn’t know. Mm, salmon!” He bit into a sandwich.

Anne looked from Max to Jane. “What did you say?”

“He’s in all mags. Quite the man about town. I’ve seen his picture in the society pages and he dates models…Zoe Campbell, too.”

“What…?” Anne shook her head. “How does this happen?”

Max touched a napkin to his lips. “I happen to be well set up, nice wardrobe, I can be trusted to keep my mouth shut, single and I can hold my liquor. I’m versed in the social graces and when called upon can often be witty.”

“Ha, ha!” Hando laughed. “He’s a bloody escort!”

“Arm candy,” Kels looked at him and grinned.  “You go, Max Skinner.”

“It’s not something I’m particularly proud of. It just shows how shallow and meaningless my life has become.”

“And I thought you were some boring old banker. You said yourself you never did anything but work. What a surprise you are.” Anne picked up a cup of tea and sipped it.

“But I am. I am a boring old banker.”

“I didn’t recognize you until you took your glasses off.”

“I thought you couldn’t see without yours?” Hando looked around at her.

“I can see,” Jane replied.

Chapter 6

 “I think he knows a lot more than he’s telling us. There’s something strange about him and Missus anyway.”

“Yeah, like where do they go when we aren’t being fed or led to rooms? The house is empty most of the time. I went up and had a butchers.…”

“You went into the house and poked around?”

“Wasn’t nothing to see. Looks the same all over, old worn-out stuff.” Hando sat back on his bed and looked over at Ed. “I still think time warp…yeah.”

Max came out of the bathroom, drying his hair on a towel. “Thing is, he talks about keeping the farm up. Do you recall seeing any farm animals today, Hando?”

“No, saw their paths. We heard cows.”

“Never saw them, though.” Max sat down on his bed and tossed the towel on a chair. “Ed, we walked all around the house as far as we dared in every direction. It’s like a painting that goes on and on. There’s no end to it. Perfect countryside.”

“There’s no logical explanation for it so let’s think illogically. We all get on a train going to Scotland, all strangers, except for Hando and Kels.…”

“We’re strangers. Don’t kid yourself.”

“Anyhow, what ties us all together? What have we got in common?”

“Are you kidding?” Max looked at Hando.

“Ain’t none of us happy.”

“Bingo! You get the prize, Hando.”

“So…what? We get trundled off here to happy valley for, what, a lesson in happy?”

“Might be close there, banker. I think there’s a reason we’re here but how we get out of here and what we have to do to change things is beyond me.”

“What do you mean, change things?” Max asked.

“Get happy…impossible situation. My happy died two years ago. It ain’t coming back.”

**

“I can’t believe how good you look without your glasses. You look ten years younger.”

“They broke…I…I didn’t need them anyway. They’re clear glass. I got them when my Mother was getting some new glasses. I, um, just put them on and walked out.”

“You stole them? Ah, Jesus, Jane….”

“They’re not real glasses…I needed them.”

“Why? Were they part of your disguise, frumpy clothes, glasses, hair all scraped back?” Anne sat down on her bed, she was sleeping in her knit top and panties.

“Nobody looked at me. I was safe.”

“Safe from what, guys?” Kels rolled over on her stomach.

“I went through a bad time before I left school. I told a friend about what happened to me and she said I should confess to my priest, tell somebody. So I did and it was the wrong thing to do. Everything just came apart. It was horrible. My mother blamed me and so did my priest.”

“Have you ever had a boyfriend?” Kels asked.

“No…I couldn’t. There was…him.”

“I’d like to kill the bastard!”

“How long were you going to punish yourself…forever?”

“I don’t know…just talking about it since we’ve become acquainted…it helps.”

“Talk all you want. What about Hando?”

“What about  him?”

“I’ve seen you looking at him, always sitting beside him at meals.”

“He’s nice. He’s different.”

“Oh, he’s different all right! Not every day you meet up with a skinhead and he is. Once he gets off on that shit…well, but otherwise he’s an okay bloke. He just needs some direction. He’s kinda hanging out there waiting to see which way the wind blows.”

“Kels, you’re not…in love with him or anything, are you?”

“Oh, fuck, no! No, we were good drunks together, had a couple of good nights, that was all. Go for it.”

Anne  pulled her quilt up. “Who would have thought the banker moved in such circles.” He was a good-looking guy…but a banker?

“You never can tell about people.” Kels blew out her candle and thought about Ed Hoffman. She could imagine him going to that stone house alone. Something about him pulled at her.

**

“I don’t like bells, people pushing me around.”

Ed looked over at Hando. He’d just come from the bath. “Why’d you mark yourself up like that?”

“Inside and out I’m the same bloke, nothing hidden. What you see is what I am.”

“A skeleton?” Ed shook his head. “And I thought I was daring when I got this.”

“You marked yourself as a military man. What is that?”

“Air Force.” Ed pulled his sleeve down.

“How about you, Skinner? You got any tats?” Hando asked.

Max was still in bed but awake. “No, I don’t advertise. Was that the breakfast bell?”

“I reckon. Look, uh, if ya’ll get the opportunity to get out of here…just go. I been thinking and if what we talked about last night about being happy…just go if you get the chance. Don’t worry about me.”

“Fat chance.” Hando pulled a shirt over his head. "If that’s the ticket outta here we might be here for a long time.”

“Good morning. Hope you all had a restful night. Missus has made a batch of pancakes and sausages this morning. Soft boiled eggs and toast for them that prefers it. There’s juice and coffee and tea. I brought this in. Honey made right here from our own bees. Now just have a seat and enjoy your breakfast,” Hamus smiled broadly.

“When do you eat, Hamus? Why don’t you join us? Ed asked.

“Aw, no. Missus and I have already had our breakfast. That so, Missus?”

“Why, yes, Hamus. We’re early risers.”

“Where do you sleep then?’ Hando asked.

“Right here in the cottage. Yes, sir, right upstairs.”

“I don’t ever see you about the place.”

“Why, there’s work to be done. We work from morning till night, yes, sir, milking, shearing the sheep and Missus spins the yarn. Made this jumper for me. Hard-working little woman is Missus.”

“Mr. Hamus, do you think that train might be coming back soon?”

“Well, now, I wish I could answer that, Miss Treacher, but I just don’t know when it’s coming back. It doesn’t keep a schedule, you know.”

“Perhaps we can help you out on the farm while we’re here.”

“Oh, couldn’t ask that of a guest. I appreciate the offer, Mr. Skinner, but Missus and I, we got our own way of doing things. That right, Missus?”

“Yes, Hamus, we work together and get things done. We’ve been partners for a long time and are used to each other’s ways.”

“What are we supposed to do with ourselves all day while we wait for the train?”

“Whatever your heart’s desire, Miss Medway. I’m sure you’ll find something to do, lots of things to see if you look.”

**

“There’s a lake down there. Would you like to walk down? Path looks fairly level and you can lean on me if you need to.”

“Yeah, sure, Kels, I’ll walk with you.”

“Are you taking your meds?”

“When I need them.”

“You should take them on a regular basis like your doctor recommended. It helps when you keep a level of pain killer in your system.”

“I’m used to it now.”

“It’s almost like you’ve been saving them up. Do you think there’s gonna be a big pain one day?”

He didn’t answer her.

They walked down to the water’s edge and found a log bench to sit on. “It’s nice down here,” he remarked.

“Nice and quiet. I’m not going home when I leave here. I’ll make the necessary phone calls. It’s better that way, I think…easier for me. I’m not a rich girl but I’ve got money. I came into a trust when I reached twenty-one. I’ll be okay on my own. I don’t…think you’re going to be okay on your own, Mr. Hoffman.”

“I don’t need much. I’ve got a little money….”

“I wasn’t talking about money.”

“Don’t worry about me, Kels. I’ve had a life, lived it to its fullest. I don’t need anything now…I’m on my way out.”

“You’re healthy, aren’t you, other than your leg? Where is it you think you’re going?”

“Hey, how did we get on this anyway? I wonder if there’s fish in this lake?”

“I’m not going to let you do it.…”

“Honey, you don’t want to waste a minute of your pretty life on me. Mine’s all behind me. You’ve got all yours ahead of you and if you don’t want to marry that dickhead then go find another or don’t marry at all. I’m old enough to be your father…it’s almost embarrassing.”

“I get…feelings about things. I don’t know what you call them. Like I know Michael is not supposed to be my husband. I got one about you. I’m not interested in marriage but I am interested in you. You need me and I need you. I haven’t figured that out yet but it’s there. I feel it here inside. Age doesn’t matter to me.”

“Are you propositioning me, young lady?”

Kels grinned, “Is that what you call it? I want to go with you to that stone house in Forfar and live with you and give you something to live for.” She moved closer to him and placed her hand on his cheek.

He blinked, “The last thing in the world I want from anybody is pity.”

“I don’t feel pity for you. I’m sorry that you’ve come to this place in your life but I don’t pity you.” She kissed him softly on his lips. “Let me…let me in…Ed.”

**

“I wonder if we followed one of these little trots where we’d end up? Are there really sheep here?”

“Evidence points to it but I’ve not seen any. Hando and I heard cows yesterday but we never found them.”

“Do you mind walking?” Anne asked.

“No, not at all. It’s rather pleasant or maybe it’s the company.”

Anne smiled a little. “I’m sorry I called you boring.”

“You were right. I am boring.”

“No, you aren’t. You wouldn’t be all over the press if….”

“Ah, well, that social scene…now that’s boring.”

“How can you say that when you’re out with some of the most beautiful and famous women in the country?”

“They aren’t real, Anne. They’re made up of silicone and Botox. None of it is real. It’s all staged. The women are dressed in designer clothes for publicity purposes. I dare not crush a sleeve. They’re models and that’s what they do. If I were a short little bugger they wouldn’t  give me the time of day. You’re much more beautiful than any of them. You don’t color your hair or plump up your lips…you’re real a real natural beauty.”

She smiled, “Thank you. Coming from you…that’s…that means something.”

Max tilted his head a little and smiled to himself. Before his social life was revealed, he was boring. And so he was, he thought. Nothing but work. “You know I can’t remember when I last walked in the country. God, it must be years!”

“Same for me. You’ve missed your meetings.”

“Yes, and I don’t’ think I’ll even bother with the reason. No one would believe it anyway. I may well lose my job over this.”

“It’s that important to you, your job? Couldn’t you get another?”

“I suppose… it wouldn’t be the same, though. What about you now that you’ve missed your, um, meeting in Edinburgh?”

“It was a fantasy. I know that now, just listening to myself talk about it. I was going to  meet a rock star, Donn Grey. I had an encounter with him at a concert in Birmingham, at a party afterward, and I thought it meant something to him. I’m sure he has these encounters wherever he goes. I was nothing special to him. So I don’t know. I’ve burnt my bridges behind me. I left my husband a note and left no doubt that I would ever be back. I guess I'll find a job and get on with my life.”

“Where will you go? Will you stay in Scotland?”

“Maybe, for awhile. I’ll make that decision when I get there. You see, for the first time since I got married I can make my own decisions.  I feel stronger already,” she smiled.

Max returned her smile but in the back of his mind was the question what would he do if he lost his job? It was a growing fear. Without the bank behind him to define who he was, he was nothing…a bloody escort, no name…just a face slightly unfocused in the background.

Chapter 7

“At least you believe in something.” Jane shredded a leaf. They came across a little fast-flowing brook and sat down in the grass. Hando had been telling her what was behind the tattoos and a little about who he was. “Not that I agree with you, you understand, but I admire your dedication and commitment to something. Did you march in parade? I saw it on TV.”

“For a little while. I’m not…not one of your activists. I don’t get up in the park and talk about it. Back home my mate and I had a little gang. We did what we could, ya know, but the cops closed in. I ain’t looking to go to jail.”

“Is that why you came over here?”

“Partly. I dunno, maybe it was time…time to look for something else…a second go at it, ya know. I guess he found it. Pissed me off for awhile. Who would ever have thought he’d go mainstream, get a job.” Hando shook his head.

“I’ve never had a job, never had a payday.”

“What do you do for cash?”

“I get an allowance from my mother.”

“This is the same bitch that you have to look after day and night  and she gives you an allowance?”

“I know it sounds juvenile, like I was still a kid.”

“You need to get outta there. What about your mates in Scotland? Anybody there that can help ya?”

“Maybe…I don’t know. What are you going to do in Scotland?”

“Find the nearest exit, probably go back to London.”

“Hando,” she began breathlessly, “what if…what if we just ran away…together.”

Hando turned and looked at her for a moment. “I already run away once.”

“I haven’t…ever, but we could help each other, you know. We could keep on going to the end of Scotland. We could keep going…Amsterdam…it’s all out there, the whole of Europe. I wouldn’t ever have to go back to London, never have to see them again.”

“You’re crazy, ya know that?”

“If I don’t get away, I'll be crazy in a few years. I know I’m not…not attractive like Kels and Anne. I’m short and overweight.”

“You’re not fat. Sometimes a bloke likes something to hold onto.”

“I think…you’re about the nicest person I’ve ever met.”

He chuckled, “You ain’t met many people, have ya?”

“I could do it on my own. It’s just that…I’m.…”

“You ain’t going off on your own. You wouldn’t make it a day.”

“I’m sorry, sorry for even bringing it up. Maybe I am crazy already.” She started to get up and he caught her hand.

“You’re thinking just bumming around, maybe a little busking, maybe pick up a job here and there just to make enough to get us to the next place. It would be rough, nothing fancy, nothing clean. It’s tough on the road.” She went down on her knees beside him, looking into his eyes. “You need somebody to look out for ya.”

She moistened her lips. “Yes, I believe I need you.” He pulled her down and kissed her deeply. She felt awkward in his arms, not sure what to do with him. He took over and took her in the grass by the fast moving brook.

**

“Yes, sir, good old home cooking! Nothing beats it, I always say and Missus does a fine job. Of course I don’t know what you people are used to but I’m sure you’ll find something here to satisfy your appetites.”

The guests at the table were all strangely quiet, not talking much amongst themselves. New discoveries had been made and required some thought.

“I believe it’s all on the table now. Are you sure there’s nothing else you need?” Missus asked.

“This is…more than enough, thank you,” Ed answered her.

“Well, we’ll leave you to it then. If you think of anything, just give a shout. We’re nearby.” Hamus and Missus went into the kitchen.

“I’ll bet they are! Probably skulking around every tree.”

“Why, Hando! Hve you done something you don’t want to share?” Kels asked, smirking.

Jane blushed and reached for her drink.

“The food’s good,” Anne offered, “wherever it comes from. Max and I walked a long way today and never saw a garden or any fields planted with crops.”

“Don’t suppose you saw a road or a train track?” Ed asked.

“No,” Max sighed, “nothing to connect us with the outside world."

Kels sipped her tea and looked from Max to Anne and then from Hando to Jane. Everybody was pairing up. Was this part of the plan? Her eyes drifted to Ed. He was busy in his plate but he looked up, feeling her eyes on him. She couldn’t read the look he gave her. She had a strong desire to care for him. He was alone, was hurting physically and mentally. He needed her and she wanted to be needed. Love? Did that come into it at all? It might, given time. He needed her tenderness…did he know it?

She disturbed him. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of her. He tried to shut her out. His course was set. He didn’t need anything to complicate his life at this stage. He was looking for release…release, but there she was looking at him with those eyes, eyes much older than she had a right to, eyes that saw too much. He shook his head slightly. What was he even thinking ,an old washed-up, crippled, overweight man going nowhere with only a past too painful to remember.

Anne stirred her food around. She was thinking of her husband and what his reaction to her leaving might have been. He would have gone to the pub, collected sympathy by the pint full until he couldn’t remember why he came in. He’d be telling the same old boring stories to his same old boring pals. He’d come home and pass out in the bed. He’d be over at his Mum’s for breakfast since she wouldn’t be there. Life would go on for him. Soon he’d forget her. She shook a little, ridding herself of the thought of him. She looked up to see Max looking at her.

He didn’t know why he was so hesitant about her. He’d had the opportunity today when they were alone. She certainly was desirable. She was a real person. Was that it? Had he gotten so used to fakery that he was afraid of the real thing?  Afraid he might come up short, not be the person she thought he was? He shrugged. Silly, she probably didn’t think he was anything at all. Maybe he wasn’t.

She wondered what was behind those eyes of his. With a blink he seemed to close the door.

**

“You’re awfully quiet tonight, Kels,” Anne said, brushing out her hair without benefit of the mirror. Jane was doing something with her eyebrows.

“Am I? I think we’re all quiet tonight. Why do  you think that is?” She  sat up on her bed.

“It’s been a different kind of day, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, it has. What do you think about Max Skinner? I noticed you spent the day with him.”

“I’m not sure I can answer that. He’s not what I thought he was, stuffy old banker.”

“Looks can be deceiving. Look at Jane. Could you have pictured her with Hando yesterday?”

“No. Is that what we’re doing here…pairing off? I’m not ready for something like that.”

“You were damn sure ready for it yesterday, ready enough to pair off with Donn Grey.”

“I realize now what a fantasy that was. I think I was just looking for a way out, an excuse to leave.”

“Max is not a fantasy.”

“I don’t know about that. A man who escorts around beautiful models, has his pick and choose from some of the most beautiful women in the world. That’s pretty fantastic, don’t you think?”

“It sounds fantastic but he’s not really there, not the real man underneath. You need to dig a little deeper.”

“How do you know so much about him?”

“I don’t know him at all, Anne, but I sense things and I sense there’s more to him than meets the eye or the ear. He’s lonely and unsure.”

“So am I. That doesn’t make for a good mix, does it?”

“What do you think? Do they look even?” Jane stretched her brows up and turned to the girls.

“They look good, Jane,” Kels smiled.  “You look good. Maybe Hando’s good for you, huh?”

Jane blushed, “He was good today. We’re planning on staying together and just traveling around until we find a place we want to stop. I’m not going back home. I’m going to Amsterdam.”

“What about your mother?”

“There’s nothing wrong with her. Maybe without me there she’ll get better.”

“Funny, here we are, all three of us, and  none of us are going back home.”

“Where are you going, Kels?” Anne asked.

“I think I’m going with Ed. He says Forfar. It s a little town north of Dundee. He’s got a house there but we’ll see after we get there. Of course he hasn’t said yes yet, but he will…he will.”

“He’s a little old, isn’t he?” Jane said.

“Depends on what you think old is and how much it matters. We connect and that’s what matters to me. We have a mutual need.”

“What are you going to do, Anne?” Jane asked. “Are you going to stay in Scotland?”

“I honestly don’t know. I don’t know what I’m going to do or where I’m going. I’ve got some money with me that will see me for awhile.”

**

“Holy shit…!”

Ed zipped up his black bag and swallowed a pill. “I don’t want to see you even looking at this bag, Hando.”

“I don’t do drugs. I do beer. Have you noticed there’s no beer here?”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed.” Ed eased himself down on his bed. “I thought you couldn’t get on the net?”

“I’m not on. Just checking over my own files.” Max got out of the program and shut down his laptop. He’d been looking at his personal finances. He smiled a little. “Just checking to see how long I can live without a job.”

“Think you’ve bought it, eh?”

“I’d fire me.” He closed his computer and slid it back in its case.

“Just cause you mentioned it, how long can you go?”

“If I’m careful, about five years…maybe more.” He ran his hand trough his hair.

“I can’t imagine that much money.” Hando stretched out on his bed.

“A lot depends on the market. Too bad about the alcohol. I could use a drink about now.”

“Have you thought about what you’re gonna do?” Ed asked.

“When we get out of here? No, not really.”

“Jane and I are going to Amsterdam.”

“What’s in Amsterdam?”

“That’s what we’re gonna find out.”

“I can’t take much more of this place.”

Max looked at Ed. ”I thought you liked it?”

“You thought wrong, buddy. I need to get on to the house.” He closed his eyes and rested his arm across his forehead. He could see Kels eyes and feel her soft lips against his. He sat up, tossing the quilt back.

“You okay?” Max asked.

“No…is it okay to be not okay?”

“I understand that perfectly.”

**

The next morning after breakfast Hando caught up with Jane. “Get your gear together.”

“My bag?” She looked at him wide-eyed.

“Yeah, we’re moving to the train. More privacy there.”

She grinned and did as he asked.

He took her bag and shouldered his backpack. “You don’t mind, do ya?”

“No,. Shouldn’t we tell  the others?”

“I don’t think so. I got this feeling, Jane, we’re getting outta here.”

When they left the train car it had been a downhill walk to the cottage, a little over a mile. Hando kept hurrying her along, the feeling of urgency growing inside of him.

“Look,” he said excitedly, “the train’s back!”

It was waiting on the track for them.

**

Kels stopped in her tracks. She was off by herself walking. She turned and ran toward the cottage. Max came running from the cabins.

“Did you hear it?”

“Yeah!” he called back, glanced at her and they began running toward the abandoned train car.

“I know I heard a train…I know it!” He leaned on the car, gasping for breath.

“I heard it, too, Max. Damn it, somewhere around here is a train track! Why can’t we see it?”

Max leaned on the car, breathing heavily. “I am so bloody out of shape. I used to run every morning.” He bent over.

“You gonna be okay?”

“Yeah.” He looked up sheepishly and grinned. “There is track. We both heard the train. What are you doing?”

Kels was down by the tracks with her ear and hands resting on the rails. “Nothing.” She sat back. “My brother used to do this and put a coin on the tracks for the train to run over. You can hear the train and feel it coming but I didn’t  feel anything. Ah, Max, are we ever going to get out of here? I hate this, I really do! I’m ready to move on.”

“Where are you going, Kels?”

“I’m moving on with Ed Hoffman. He doesn’t know it yet…don’t tell him.” She shaded her eyes, looking up at him.

“I don’t think I have to tell him. He’s all turned upside down about something. Guess it’s you.”

She held up a hand and he pulled her up. “When he comes to his senses, then we’ll be ready. Are you ready, Max?”

 Chapter 8

Anne couldn’t find anybody. She walked over to the men’s cabin and Ed called to her. He was sitting on a bench underneath a few shade trees.

“Hi, everybody seems to have disappeared.” She stopped in front of him.

“You didn’t hear it, then?”

“Hear what?”

“The train. Max went running off to investigate.”

“You heard a train? Oh, well, that’s good, that’s a good thing. At least now we know there is a way out of here. We just need to find the track.”

“Have a seat, Anne.” Ed scooted over. “Here’s what I think. There’s some kind of force at work here. I’m not sure what it is, may even be as simple as some kind of drug we’re being given. The one thing we all had in common was that we were disgusted with our lives and looking for something else. None of us were happy, am I right?” He looked over his glasses.

“Yes, I believe you are.”

“It could be that we all just need to get our shit together, excuse me, get our lives straightened out, and then we’ll be dumped back out into the world. I know it sounds fantastic but I don’t have any other explanation for it.  We may very well be somebody’s guinea pigs.”

“If that is so…it’s not so easy, Mr. Hoffman.”

“Call me Ed, please. Mr. Hoffman makes me feel so old.”

“Sorry,” she grinned over at him. “The thing is, for me anyway, is that until I get out of here I can’t straighten anything out.”

“You sound like Skinner. He’s in the same boat. He can’t do anything until he finds out if he’s lost his job.”

**

“Oh, of course I’m ready to get out of here. This little side trip has no doubt cost me my job.” Max sat on the train step.

“And if it has?”

“I’ve blown it, simple as that. I might be able to get something with some little investment firm outside of London, some little burg.”

“You’re going to fall, fall from the heights you’ve climbed, isn’t that right?” Kels had glimpse inside Max.

He looked at her a moment. “Possibly.…”

“Instead of waiting for the fall, take that first step yourself. Were you a happy man when you got on that train in London?”

“Happy…?”

“Satisfied?”

“No, in all honesty, no, I wasn’t. Haven’t been for some time but I didn’t know how to change it.”

“What do you want most right now…right now?”

He was quiet for a moment then looked up. “I’m having a hard time even saying this. It’s going to sound stupid. I want somebody to love and be loved in return. It’s the one thing you can’t buy.”

Kels put her arm around his shoulders. “I know someone else who’s looking for the same thing. Funny you two haven’t figured that out. Anne, I’m talking about Anne, Max.”

“I know who you’re talking about.”

**

The bell rang for tea. Max and Kels came back from the train in time to clean up a little before they went to the cottage.

“Where’s Jane?” she asked Anne.

“I haven’t seen her since breakfast. I suppose she’s off with Hando.”

“I talked a little with Max. Are you, um, interested in him at all?”

“Oh, well, I would like to get to know him better. He’s a …a very sexy man but I don’t think he even knows I’m here, not really. His mind is somewhere else.”

“It’s not as far away as you think,” Kels smiled and dried her hands.

Max and Ed were waiting on the path.

“Did you see Jane?” Ed asked.

“No, we figured she’s with Hando.”

“Hando’s backpack is gone,” Max said, slipping his glasses on.

“We didn’t look.”

“I’ll go back and check.” Anne ran back to their cabin. She returned a little later with Jane’s elastic hair band on her fingers. “This is all I found. She’s moved out.”

**

“Well, there you are! Hope you brought your appetites. Missus has baked a cake and made some custard tarts.”

Ed went up to Hamus. “I personally do not give a shit what Missus has baked. Where the hell are Hando and Jane?”

“I’m sorry, sir, I’m afraid I have no idea. Me and Missus have been busy all morning. You know we leave you on your own.…”

“Oh, fuck, no! I want some answers here. Don’t play the buffoon with me. We heard a train today, clearly heard a train. Max and Kels went to have a look, no tracks. So if there’s a hidden track around here or a hidden agenda, we want to know now.”

Max moved around them and went into the kitchen. Somehow he wasn’t surprised the old wood burning stove hadn’t been lit in probably fifty years. There were no modern appliances. It was a set piece. He turned. Anne had followed him.

“Where’s Missus?”

“I know where she hasn’t been…here.”

“Oh, my God! It’s a museum…Max, what?”

“I don’t know.” He heard Kel's voice speaking to Ed.

“Please, Ed, he may be perfectly innocent.” She’d become concerned with the way Ed was hammering Hamus with questions.

Ed turned around to speak to Kels and Hamus disappeared from the doorway. “Oh, that’s great, just great.”

“I’m sorry, Ed, but…he’s gone.” She leaned out the back door.

Ed hit the wall with his hand. “Fuck!”

“I doubt you were going to get anything out of him anyway. He’s apparently not programmed for anything but bonhomie, “ Max sighed.

Kels backed out of the door and had a look in the kitchen. “Wow! So where does the food come from?”

“Don’t eat that, Max,” Ed warned. “We have no way of knowing what’s in it.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“Some kind of hallucinatory drug. I’ve been out of it for a couple of years. I don’t know what’s available now.”

“We wouldn’t all be having the same hallucination,” Kels said.

“Why don’t we do this, get our bags and go back to the train car? We clearly heard a train today coming from the direction of the car.” Max reluctantly put down the custard tart.

“That’s an idea. Yeah, I’m up for that.” Ed looked at Kels.

“Do you really believe that a train stopped here for Hando and Jane? How did they know where to go?”

“They’ve been prowling around the place together. Maybe they found something?”

“Not like Jane to keep a secret. She told us last night they were going to Amsterdam together as soon as they got out of here.” Anne moved to Max’s side and he glanced down at her and smiled.

Anne looked at Ed. “That’s it! They knew where they were going. Like you said earlier, they had a plan.”

“Is that what it takes, a plan, an itinerary?” Max asked.

“We were both going to Edinburgh. Doesn’t that count?” Anne asked Max.

“Still got your ticket stub?” he asked.

“Yes, in my handbag.”

“Me, too. So I guess we’re going to Edinburgh.”

“What about…?” Anne looked over at Kels and Ed. She’d helped him to a chair and poured him a cup of tea.

“Come outside a minute.” Max led her out of the back door and over to an ancient well. “Kels told me today she’s going home with Ed. She wants to but he hasn’t agreed.”

“I know what she wants. She wants to care for him and to keep him alive. She may even love him a little.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that.” Max bit his lip

“No… it would be good for both of them, I think. Kels is a giver. She’s been like a sister to Jane and me, much older than her years.”

“Givers are special people. I think I might be a taker but then I’ve never had anyone to give to.”

Anne sensed this was a turning moment for them. It scared her a little. “I’m probably out of give. I’ve been giving for the last three years to someone who didn’t notice. He took everything as his due.”

“Anne,” he looked down, taking her arms in his hands, “you and I both have a lot of things to straighten out when we get out of here. You’ve got that marriage and I’ve got a tangled mess at home and at the office to get out of. But if you could see your way clear once we get the knots sorted out, if you’d be at all interested in a boring old banker….”

Anne’s eyes lit up and she smiled. “Do you think we might start sorting out in Edinburgh?”

“I think we could, yes.” He took her face in his hands and kissed her. “I’ve been wanting to do that since I first saw you on the train. It got worse once we stopped here.”

Her arms went around his neck. “I can’t imagine why I ever thought you were boring. Do that again.…”

**

They did sit down and eat what was on the table for them. They decided it might be awhile before they had another meal. Really they didn’t know what to expect, if anything at all.

Max took his bag and his computer and shouldered Ed’s bag .

“Here let me have that." Kels reached for Ed’s bag.

“I’m good. I’m a strong boy.”

“It’s a long walk and I’ve only got my backpack.”

“You’ll have Ed,” Max said quietly. “Like you said, it’s a long walk.”

As they passed the cottage Anne stopped by the front steps. “Look!” It was a basket and she peered inside. “Water, a thermos, cups and something wrapped in paper. I’m going to take it.”

“I feel kind of bad about Hamus and Missus. You were pretty hard on them.” Kels glanced over at Ed.

“I’m tired of the bullshit.”

“So we gathered. Everybody’s ready to get out of here and get on with life. I’m glad to see Max and Anne finally coming together.”

“Why, why do they have to come together?”

“They need each other. They’re right for each other.”

“This ain’t Noah’s Ark we’re heading to.”

Kels smiled, “How do you know? It might be."

Kels and Ed stopped frequently. It was hard on him and it was uphill the rest of the way. Max and Anne were already half way up the hill.

“Lean on me. Let me take some of the weight off that leg.”

“I’m okay. Stop fussing.”

“No, you aren’t. You’re getting slower and slower. It’s okay to need and accept a little help.” She put her arm around him and he backed off.

“Don’t do that. Just...don’t!” He put up a hand.

“Why, because it feels good? I can take your weight. I’m a strong girl. I was on the swim team at school. Put your arm around me and lean.”

“I don’t…want you to do this, Kels.”

“Do what? What is it you are afraid of?”

“You don’t understand….”

“I think I do. You’re afraid you’ll want to live…isn’t that it?” She dropped her backpack and put both arms around him. “I want you to live, Ed, and this is why....” She kissed him and he responded, dropping his cane and sliding his arms around her waist.

“You don’t know what you’re letting yourself in for. You have no idea.”

“Then it will be a period of discovery for both of us. I’m no prize either.” Another soft kiss and she broke away. “We’d better hurry.”

Chapter 9

Max and Anne climbed aboard the train car. Nothing had changed inside. They opened a few windows and sat down across from each other.

“I hope you don’t regret this,” he finally said.

“Now why would you say something like that? You might regret it. After all, I’m second hand, partially used up.”

“I don’t know about that. Maybe you regenerated in Oblivion?”

She smiled, “Maybe I did at that. Strange name for a place. Do you think it’s real? Will we find it on a map?”

“I seriously doubt it but as soon as I can get on the web I’ll look it up. When or if  we get to Edinburgh, I’ve got some phone calls to make but I’ve already decided something. My job, which was my whole life, may be over.  If I’m ever going to have any kind of a life I have to walk away from it. So what I plan to do is to make the first strike. I’m going to resign before they can fire me. That way I get out with my reputation intact. It may be important later.”

“What will you do?”

“A year ago I traveled to Greece with a model for a photo shoot. We stayed on the yacht but during the day when I wasn’t required and she was working I had an opportunity to poke around a bit. I found the most picturesque little inn and do you know the owner tried to sell it to me? Anyway, I thought there is life to be lived, differently perhaps, but it’s out there. I just need someone to share it with. It doesn’t have to be Greece. Those sorts of properties are everywhere. Will you come with me?”

“Oh, Max…yes! I would love to! What an adventure that would be.” She went all warm inside…that he would want her to share his life with her. “I have to make a call, too, and get my divorce in the works. I want to be free…free to be with you because I want to be and not because a piece of paper says I have to be.”

“Fair enough," he smiled and took her hands in his and kissed them.

**

“You two look all comfy. Don’t suppose the conductor’s been ‘round?” Kels dropped her backpack on a seat and turned to make sure Ed could climb the steps into the car. “Where’s that basket with the water?”

“Oh, it’s here.” Anne got up and handed out water bottles. “No conductor yet,” Anne chuckled.

“I sure hope he comes around. That’s one helluva climb for a one-legged man.” Ed plopped down in a seat and took the bottle Kels handed him. He also reached in his black bag for a pill, winking at Kels as he did so.

“I guess we just wait.” Max stretched and put his feet up on the seat opposite him.

“What is it exactly we’re waiting for?” Anne asked, taking her seat again.

“Well, we don’t know do we?” Ed answered.

“A miracle…tracks to be laid and an engine to back up and hook on to us.” Max closed his eyes for a moment. “That’s what has to happen. This car can’t run on grass."

Kels leaned out an open window. “It is beautiful here, not even a bent blade of grass or a cowpie. It’s too perfect. I wonder what happens to Hamus and Missus?”

“Probably put back in the box,” Max answered.

“What if nothing happens?” Anne chewed a nail. “We don’t really know if…we just don’t know.…”

“Something is bound to happen. We heard a train this morning and Hando and Jane must have got on it somehow. Either that or they’re lost in Oblivion.”

“That’s a horrible thought! You know we never looked.…” Kels turned around.

“I don’t think they’re still here.” Max straightened up in his seat. “Hamus knew they were gone.”

“How do you know that? He never got an opportunity to…” Kels began.

“There were four tarts, four cups set out for tea, didn’t you notice?” Max replied.

“Actually, I didn’t and I should have picked up on that. I’m slipping,” Ed said.

After awhile the conversation died down. Ed dozed, his pain pill doing its work. Kels repacked her backpack, adding some of Ed’s things inside to make his bag easier to carry.

Max and Anne walked out onto the platform. He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him for awhile. They climbed down, walking around the car, up the short track and back. Later Anne unpacked the basket and found sandwiches and cheese and apples. The thermos held hot coffee. They all walked out on the platform to watch the sun setting.

“I hope this is the last time I see the sun set in Oblivion,” Ed remarked.

They made themselves as comfortable as possible, letting the seats back. Max covered Anne with his jacket and closed the windows. Ed and Kels were both asleep. He smiled a little and took his seat with Anne, lying as close to her as he could.

**

He never slept through the night and slowly he became conscious of Kels lying against him. It felt good, God, it felt good. He never thought to feel a woman against him again. He never thought to feel anything but oblivion, that nothingness that stretched forever. That’s what he’d sought…oblivion and, by God, he’d been there. He smiled a little to himself. It began with a small jolt, enough to move you a little in your seat. He opened his eyes. The car was moving. Relief spread through him. At last they were moving. It would have been a big disappointment for them to wake up in the same place. The train was picking up speed now and he glanced out the window. Here and there he could see signs of civilization. They were still in the countryside but at least there were lights and houses.

It was the sound that woke Max and he sat up quickly, rousing Anne. “We’re moving…!” he whispered.

Anne pulled herself up out of the seat. “Oh…oh, Max!” She pulled at his arm.

Max put his arms around her, holding her close to his chest. They watched the dark countryside fly by the window. “Well, that’s a welcomed sight. Look, an actual road.”

Anne bit her lip, leaning into him. What was it caught there in her chest, expanding and threatening to bubble up through her throat and out loud? Happiness…it had been missing for so long she hardly recognized it. She made a little sound.

“Okay?” Max asked against her ear.

“Oh, yes, more than,” she answered.

As light began to dawn they realized they weren’t the only passengers in the car. It was all beyond any reasonable explanation and so they didn’t’ try. Soon a trolley came down the aisle dispensing coffee and tea.

“That’s Missus.” Kels pulled at Ed’s arm. “Oh, no…!”

Ed put his glasses on. “Oh, hell, it is.”

“Good day to you. Will that be coffee or tea?” Missus smiled at them, her hand ready at the hot water thermos pot.

“Coffee,” Ed answered, staring at her. “Where are we?” he asked her.

“I believe we’re just outside of Edinburgh, Sir.” She neatly handed him and Kels a cup of coffee, no sign of recognition at all. She moved on down the aisle.

Max held his cup of tea and still a tremor ran down his arm at the sight of Missus. It had frightened him momentarily. She seemed not to know them. He turned  and looked at Anne, who was still watching the woman and her trolley. Their eyes met for a moment and he managed a smile. That was all Anne needed. Everything would be all right now.

Later Max had his laptop on the table, everything in working order…web accessible. He contemplated for awhile. Anne had moved down, talking to Kels. He began typing his letter of resignation. The words written, he hesitated only a moment before hitting the send button. It was done.

**

“Good morning, morning. Hope you’ve all enjoyed your trip with us and will come along again. We are arriving in Edinburgh at exactly 9:12, right on time. Please do not attempt to retrieve your overhead parcels and bags until the train is in the station. Don’t want to drop something on your neighbor. Those of you who will be continuing on with us please remain in your seats until the departing passengers have left the car. There will be someone on the platform to help you with connecting trains or busses as you might require.”

Hamus…Ed caught Max’s eye. He stopped the conductor as he moved through the car. “I don’t suppose you’ve heard of a place called Oblivion, have you?” He narrowed his eyes.

Hamus laughed heartily. “Not a place, sir, but you’re in Oblivion right now. The car, if you’ll notice when you depart this car, is named Oblivion. They are all named, you see, ye,s each car has its own name.”

“You don’t remember me?”

“Well, sir, people come and go. I would be hard put to remember them all. Will you be leaving us, sir, or continuing on?”

“I’ll be departing as soon as this train is at a standstill.” He shook his head slightly as Hamus moved on down the aisle, speaking here and there to the passengers in his booming voice.

“Why are you smiling?” Anne asked.

“What you said about being free. I’m free, Anne. I’ve resigned away ten years of my life.”

“Oh, Max, I hope you won’t be sorry.”

“It feels good, actually, knowing I have no one to answer to except myself and you, of course.”

“I don’t ask for much,” she answered.

**

They departed the train, carrying their bags and stopped along the platform.

“I guess this is goodbye,” Max said, setting his bags down and shaking Ed’s hand.

“The girls have exchanged phone numbers. Keep in touch.”

“Yes, yes, we will. It’s been quite an experience….”

“Maybe it was all a dream?”

Max looked at Anne and Kels hugging and wishing each other well. “I don’t think so, Ed. If anything, this is the dream.”

“I know what you mean. Where are you headed from here?”

“Um, I’ve a hotel  room reserved so we’ll stop there and book a flight back to London. You’re going on…how?”

“Bus. Should be leaving soon for Dundee. I’ve arranged for a car there.”

“I wish you all the best, Ed. She’s a wonderful girl.”

“Yeah, she is. Amazing, ain’t it? Take care, Max, and take care of Anne.”

Max and Anne were picking up a cab for the hotel when his phone began chirruping in his pocket.

“Back to reality,” he smiled and pulled it out. He recognized the number and took a breath.

“Hello, Sir Nigel.”

Anne turned away, looking at a row of posters on the side of the depot. Donn Grey in concert. Held Over Tonight had been papered over the corner. She stared at it for a moment.

“No, sir, I’ve missed it. Sorry, but the letter stands…some mix-up of time…no, sir, I will not rescind it…” His eyes followed Anne’s to the poster. She turned and looked at him.

“He waited.…”

Max put his hand over his phone, shutting out the rant. “Does that mean something?”

“No…not anymore.” She moved closer to him and he folded his phone. “This is real.” She kissed him and he found he could breathe again.

**

“Look at that,” Ed said and chuckled.

Kels stopped and read the name on the side of the train car. “Could have been worse,” she laughed. “Is that our bus?”

“I believe it is.” He stopped and took her arm. “Last chance, Kels. Once you get on that bus with me you can’t get off.”

“I want this trip, Ed. I bought my ticket…I know where I’m going.”

“I think you’re crazy for doing this.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being a little crazy. It’s what keeps us sane.” She placed a kiss on his lips. “Let’s get on that bus.”

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