Gabriel and the Phantom Sleepers. Jenny Nimmo

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СКАЧАТЬ at the train. It looked very cosy in there. He couldn’t see the hooded stranger in any of the windows. Where was he? And why had Albert got off without saying goodbye? It didn’t make sense. Gabriel turned away from the train and looked over the platform railing. Fields of grey snow stretched into the darkness. ‘We’re nowhere,’ he said.

      ‘We’re in Humbledown.’ Hetty pointed to a sign, halfway down the platform. ‘We had to get away from it, Gabriel. Hopefully it doesn’t know we got out, but you’d better stand back, out of the light from the windows.’

      Gabriel shuffled backwards into the shadows, and Hetty squinted at her watch in the weak beam from a lamp post. ‘Come on, Dad,’ she muttered.

      ‘Just now, you said IT,’ said Gabriel. ‘It?’

      ‘You know what I mean,’ said Hetty.

      Gabriel nodded. ‘It smelled like something dead.’

      ‘I think it was, Gabriel.’ Hetty grimaced. ‘Dead but dangerous.’

      Gabriel stared speechlessly at Hetty’s friendly face. And then, through the whine of the wind he caught the distinct sound of an engine.

      ‘Here he comes,’ said Hetty.

      The engine noise was accompanied by a loud crunching sound, and then, between two rows of snow-laden hedges, a large vehicle rolled into view.

      ‘It’s a tractor,’ said Gabriel. For all that it was decked out in fairy lights, tinsel and holly, there was no denying that the big vehicle in the car park was a tractor.

      ‘Only thing in this weather,’ said Hetty. ‘Come on!’ She dashed to the end of the platform and began to descend the steps.

      For a moment, Gabriel found himself gazing at the falling snow. There was something unusual about those elegantly dancing crystals. They seemed to be watching him.

      He ran to the end of the platform and down the steps; there he found Hetty embracing a large man in a green boiler suit.

      ‘Gabriel!’ Releasing Hetty, the big man grabbed Gabriel’s hand and shook it so vigorously Gabriel thought his arm might fall off. ‘Fred Bean,’ the man said in a rumbly voice. ‘Pleased to meet one of the gifted ones, and one with SUCH a big responsibility.’

      ‘It’s only for a few days,’ said Gabriel, wondering how Fred Bean knew so much.

      ‘Indeed, but what a privilege.’

      Unsure as to which of them was privileged, Gabriel allowed himself to be bundled up into the cab of the tractor. Hetty hauled herself after him, and Fred climbed into the driving seat. It was a bit of a squash, but at least they were dry.

      The tractor bumped its way round the small parking area and then they were off, down the narrow lane, the snow thickening around them and the large wipers squeaking across the windscreen.

      Fred Bean began to sing carols and Hetty explained that her father always did this for at least a month after Christmas. She invited Gabriel to join in. ‘Everyone knows a carol,’ she said cheerfully. And so they sang their way through the silent countryside with the wind whistling at their backs, and the headlights sweeping across glistening drifts of snow. Gabriel found that he felt completely safe with two people that he really didn’t know at all. He even forgot to ask where they were going until he saw the lights of a small town twinkling ahead of them. Behind the town, the lower slopes of a mountain could be seen, before it disappeared up into the dark sky.

      ‘Here we are, Meldon itself,’ Fred happily announced.

      Gabriel suddenly realised he hadn’t told either of his rescuers where he wanted to go. ‘How did you know?’ he asked Hetty, who was squeezed into his side.

      ‘Cook,’ she said. ‘You might not have needed us at all, but your father rang her, just in case. And she did the rest.’

      They were now rolling along Meldon High Street. The tractor made a difficult manoeuvre round a corner and then they were driving down a long steep road, with snow piled at the kerbs, and terraced houses with holly wreathes on their brightly painted doors. After the lonely wilderness of the fields, it was a surprise to see Christmas lights still twinkling in windows, and trees festooned with coloured globes and tinsel.

      They came, at last, to three older buildings, timber-framed and roofed in lichen-covered slate.

      ‘Number twenty-nine, if I’m not mistaken,’ said Fred, bringing the tractor to a grinding halt. ‘The Carpenter’s Cabin.’

      ‘You knew the number.’ This time Gabriel wasn’t surprised.

      ‘Dad knows your uncle,’ said Hetty, climbing from the cab. ‘Jack Silk made him a table.’

      ‘A fine table,’ said Fred.

      Gabriel thanked Fred for the lift and jumped out. Hetty followed him down the path to the front door, and waited while he rang the doorbell. His uncle’s Christmas wreath was hung with strong-smelling cloves and wrinkled tangerines. ‘Sadie’s work,’ Gabriel said with a grin. ‘My cousin,’ he told Hetty.

      The door opened and there was Sadie, with the widest smile Gabriel had seen in a long while.

      ‘Gabriel!’ she shrieked and, flinging her arms round his neck, dragged him into the hall.

      ‘Hold on, Sadie,’ Gabriel said through slightly embarrassed giggles.

      Sadie caught sight of Hetty, lingering on the doorstep. Releasing Gabriel with a squeak of surprise, she said, ‘Who are you?’

      ‘This is Hetty Bean, who rescued me,’ said Gabriel. He pointed to the tractor and added, ‘And that’s her dad, who brought us here!’

      In a tractor,’ cried Sadie, delightedly. ‘Hetty, do you want some tea? And your dad, in the tractor, would he like some?’

      Hetty shook her head. ‘I’ll just come in and make sure Gabriel’s safe.’

      ‘Of course he’s safe.’ Sadie led the way into the kitchen.

      Uncle Jack gave Gabriel a hug and shook Hetty’s hand, and then Hetty gave a brief account of the stranger on the train, Albert’s disappearance and her role in Gabriel’s rescue.

      Mr Silk looked concerned. ‘I don’t like the sound of this hooded stranger,’ he said. ‘What do you mean about his smell?’

      Hetty struggled for an answer and Gabriel said, ‘He smelled like something rotten, you know, dead.’

      ‘And he knew you were the Keeper?’ asked his uncle.

      Gabriel nervously pinched his nose and nodded. ‘He said I’d failed in my duty –’ he shrugged – ‘and then he vanished.’

      ‘Vanished? Just like that?’ Sadie raised her hands questioningly. ‘Pouff ! Into thin air?’

      ‘That’s just about it,’ Gabriel agreed.

      ‘Well!’ Mr Silk sighed. ‘Stranger things have happened, I suppose. These are mysterious times.’

      ‘Indeed,’ СКАЧАТЬ