Page 45 of Winter Magic on Railway Lane

He couldn’t leave for America now. There was no way he would leave his family at this awful time.

That meant that he would stay in Cranfield until probably Christmas at the earliest. But he had a sudden determination. That the Christmas train would run. That he would fulfil his grandad’s dream.

Now Ethan understood why Ryan had stayed on to take care of their dad when his parents’ marriage had fallen apart the previous year. The responsibility of his family was all encompassing. But it was time for Ethan to step up too.

The bad memories were still there in Cranfield. But he had to stay and help take care of his family. Perhaps it might just help him face up to the past as well.

27

Libby shivered, despite being sat next to the fireplace in the lounge of Harriet and Joe’s cottage on Railway Lane.

It had only been two hours since the disaster of the Halloween train. But it turned out that a greater disaster had been waiting to reveal itself.

She had been watching Ethan after he had climbed down from the driver’s cab and had been wondering what she could say to cheer him up about the passengers being so disgruntled about having their journey cut short. But suddenly he had rushed over to Eddie, who had collapsed onto the ground with his stricken-looking family surrounding him, and everything else had been forgotten.

Not wanting to interrupt them but desperate to know that Eddie was okay, Libby had headed over to stand with Harriet and Joe, who were quickly joined by Flora and Nico, along with Grams, Flora’s grandmother.

‘Stroke or heart,’ Grams had whispered, her eyes still on Eddie. ‘I’d put money on it.’

Grams had known Eddie since their school days, both born and bred in Cranley, and was suitably upset by seeing her friend so stricken.

Libby could only look on anxiously whilst they had waited for the paramedics to arrive. She had found her eyes seeking out Ethan, who was drained of all colour as he crouched down next to his grandfather.

When the paramedics had arrived, they had appeared to confirm Grams’ diagnosis of a stroke before carefully taking Eddie away on a stretcher. Bob went with him in the ambulance, whilst Ryan, Katy and Ethan were to take their car to the hospital.

Katy and Ryan had received brief hugs from their friends before they’d sprinted upstairs to grab the car keys. Ethan had waited downstairs on the platform, his face set in stone.

Libby had gone over to where Ethan stood a little away from everyone else and took his hand in hers.

He had given a small start as he felt her touch and looked down at her in a daze. But as Katy and Ryan had returned to head off to hospital, Libby had felt him give her the briefest of squeezes with his own hand before letting go and rushing off with them.

Words weren’t necessary, thought Libby. That was Ethan’s way of thanking her and she was grateful to have brought him some kind of temporary respite.

She knew that hours of waiting lay ahead for him, as she too had endured the long wait that Ethan would now be trying to get through, knowing that life wouldn’t ever quite be the same for Eddie or the family ever again.

Everyone left behind had then silently dismantled all the Halloween decorations inside the train and on the platform, as if nobody could bare to look at them any more.

‘Here,’ said Flora, pressing a hot mug of tea into Libby’s hands. ‘You look done in.’

‘I’m okay,’ said Libby briskly. ‘Just a little cold.’

She wasn’t okay, of course. Eddie’s stroke was bringing back all sorts of bad memories as to when her dad had suffered the same trauma. But she was grateful for the furry warmth of Paddington the dog, who had just wandered over to sit right next to her and place his heavy head on her legs. She was pretty certain he just wanted to hog the heat from the fire, but the dog was a welcome comfort nonetheless.

She moved the mug to one hand so that she could stroke Paddington’s soft head with the other.

‘Hmmm,’ said Flora, giving her friend a look of disbelief, but she didn’t say anything. Instead she checked her phone one more time. ‘So, it sounds as if Eddie’s going to be transferred to a ward later tonight,’ she said.

‘That’s good,’ said Harriet, who was sitting on the nearby sofa looking upset. Whereas Libby could hide most of her innermost feelings, Harriet was the complete opposite. Sitting next to her was her fiancé Joe, who wrapped his arm around Harriet and pulled her into him.

Grams sat down next to them and patted Harriet’s hand with hers. ‘He’s in the best place for now,’ she said.

‘Should we do something? Send something?’ asked Nico, Flora’s boyfriend.

Grams shook her head. ‘The best thing we can do is give them all a little space as they try to come to terms with it all. It’s been a shock for everyone, least of all Eddie, of course.’

Nico nodded. ‘We can help out when he comes home,’ he said, with a firm nod.

Grams nodded her agreement. ‘That’s what friends do. Rally round where they can. I’ll start whipping up a few dishes that he and Bob can pop in the microwave for ease.’