The Last Train Home

Chapter Four

"You're cheating," Eva said, slapping my hand.

"How do you cheat at Rock, Paper Scissors? Is that even possible?" I rubbed my hand where she slapped me and resisted sticking my tongue out at her. I know it would result in a lecture from Mr Martin.

"You're waiting until I show you what I've chosen before you do yours! Anthony does it all the time."

"I'm not cheating."

I laughed to try and convince her that I hadn't cheated at any point in the past ten minutes, but that was a lie. It wasn't exactly a fun game, but winning helped to pass the time and it was a lot more fun to win.

Eva and I were the last two left from a long line of children that arrived on the train with us several hours ago. Enid had been chosen by a young-ish, seemingly rich, couple and even Mark had been chosen by a local farmer to help on the farm. To pass the time, Eva and I had taken to playing games but that didn't stop the boredom as we waited to see whether anyone else would be turning up before the sunset.

We had both overheard Mr Martin talking to the billeting officer about what would happen if no one wanted us. Mr Tate had said that we would be placed with either himself or the woman behind the desk and neither of them looked all that interesting. That and I didn't think I would be able to look the woman in the eye without laughing; she looked too much like Mr Martin. The more time that passed, the less likely it seemed that anyone else would show up.

My stomach growled, my legs ached and I could feel my eyes starting to droop the longer we waited. Mum had woken me up so early that morning to make sure I was ready that I felt dead on my feet and just wanted to lay down in the corner of the room and go to sleep. Eva fared no better and I could hear her stomach growling every five minutes. I wished I hadn't eaten all my sandwiches on the train. I would have even been tempted to eat the marmite ones.

"Anthony would find this hilarious," Eva said, stretching her arms out behind her.

"What? The two of us being the last ones here?"

"Yes." She laughed. "He always said that we looked like troublemakers when we stood together. He might have been right."

"Me more than you. I always look like I'm about to attack someone. You could be a cherub in one of those old paintings."

"Are you saying I'm fat?" She feigned outrage.

"No, just that you have adorable chubby cheeks."

I reached out to pinch them, the same way her Gran did whenever she saw her, even if only a week had passed. She slapped my hand away which resulted in a glare from Mr Martin on the other side of the room. Enid may have been the sensible one, but Eva was the sweet-looking one, although she was usually anything but sweet. She had long, curly blonde hair and piercing blue eyes to go with the cherub cheeks. Most of the time people said that I got her into trouble, that wasn't true.

Mr Martin crossed the now-empty hall towards the woman at the desk and Mr Tate, the billeting officer. The three of them spoke in hushed whispers with buried heads, most likely so that we couldn't hear what they were saying. They too looked like they were getting annoyed with how long we were waiting for someone else to walk through the door. I was still holding onto the hope that they would let us get back on the train and go home, but I didn't think that would happen.

Eva stifled a yawn and dropped her head onto my shoulder, staring out of the open door and scuffing the toe of her foot on the ground. At this point, I would take staying with the female version of Mr Martin if it meant I could get something to eat and take a nap. After several hours on a train and then several hours of just standing around, all I wanted was something more than a sandwich and to sleep for several hours.