All Aboard the Ghost Train

Why does time go so slowly when you want it to go fast and fast when you want it to go slowly?

Today we wanted it to go fast so that we can get out on our trip. I couldn’t believe it when I found out we were booked to go. The tickets were bought ages ago and I have kept them safe in my basket. Gadget has checked them so many times today to make sure they aren’t lost. Now they are safely packed in Angel’s handbag and we are nearly ready to go. But we still have to wait. My basket is waiting on the table and very soon we will get in there so that we are easy to carry. We wouldn’t want to get lost as we have to drive into town and get on the steam train. That may not be so easy as Angel and her friends have to, or shall I say are doing because they want to, go in costume. Long dresses, umbrellas and carrying us as well could prove a problem and we certainly don’t want to get wet.

I love my dress. It is long and purple. I also have a lovely sparkly tiara as well. It did try on a demon mask but that didn’t fit and it made my ears itch.

I tried on a lot of costume which was fun.

The week has been really dull for us this week. Someone tried to steal our pony friends but they were caught. Angel now has someone to keep her happy and he was great when there was trouble. But, to be careful all the sheds are now locked so we can’t get the goats out to play with them at night. What do we do when it gets dark now and everyone has gone to bed. Our nightly rides are a thing of the past.

To cheer us up Angel and Niall are taking us on the Vale of Rheidol Railway. We are going on a Ghost Train and it is really exciting. Have I said that already, sorry. Now, pardon my ignorance but if it is a Ghost Train would we have to be dead and ghosts to go on it? How can a Ghost Train work? Surely the passengers, being dead, wouldn’t be able to pay for a ticket?

I looked it up on the internet and now it makes sense. The steam train runs every day on certain days in the summer and specifically now for Halloween and at Christmas. It is a lovely old train with carriages, just the covered ones this time of the year. The staff will be decorating it and it must be wonderfully atmospheric. Spiders and ghoulish and other fun things.

How can a day take so long? Then I have everything ready and it really isn’t fair that the band can’t come too. They would love it but they are relying on us to tell them all about it afterwards.

The Vale of Rheidol Railway is very old. Not as old as us of course. It was authorised by an Act of Parliament on the 6th August 1897. Back then it would have been modern. It was what is known as a narrow gauge railway which is ideal for passing through difficult terrain. This is what it was built for.

The animals are all fed, watered and put to bed. Tick, tock the racing clock and now it is time to be going and we have to make sure we have everything. Time is of the essence, I love that comment. Time is now not on our side as we have to get to the train before it starts and everyone has to have their costume, makeup and wigs in place.

Hair brushed, make up on, costume in place and we all ran to the car through the rain. We were a little late.

When everyone was ready with their seat belts on the car streaked through the darkness. Green leaves, trees and fields flashing past. I knew they were out there but it was dark so I just had to imagine them out there. I hadn’t been in the car driving into town before you see.

White fluffy sheep looked up lazily and contemplated us with a combination of curiosity and boredom once they realized we weren’t going to hurt them.

The road streaked out in front of us, captured in the headlights. Nobody was about. It was as if the whole world had been abducted by aliens. Who would know?

Lights were on in houses but who knows if anyone was home. What if a Zombie Apocalypse had happened and we had missed it? It can be like that sometimes when you drive in the countryside. There are rarely people walking in the roads and lights will be on in houses where people are enjoying themselves with their televisions and other media. The road rolled on but still there were no people. Were they all on the railway and were we the last to go? Drive Sarah, drive carefully but drive.

Sarah is Frixian Friend. She came from England to spend Halloween with us and she is coming on the Ghost Train too. She is going to be looking after Gadget to make sure she doesn’t get into any mischief.

Aberystwyth got closer and closer and the time ticked on. Then we were there, we pulled into the car park and everyone was ready to go as the rain fell and bounced off of the windscreen. We had four minutes to spare so the train wouldn’t go without us now. We weren’t there yet. We had to get out of the car and get to the train yet. That it was raining didn’t help. What a juggling act to carry everything. Costume, cloaks, high heels and wet pavements didn’t make life any easier.

We didn’t run, we walked as we had a minute to go before the train left. We were nearly last so even though we were on the platform we had to walk quite a way along the train before we found a carriage with any empty seats in it.

Families sat together with sweets and children in costume with smiling happy faces. They looked out of the windows at us. Parents smiled happily, content that their children were being amused. They had bags of sweets. I could smell them and almost taste them. A joyous time of spooky fun. I love spooky fun. It is my favourite time of the year. Creatures like me can come out to play. Then I am a puppet so I suppose as long as I don’t move and let Angel do all the work everything would actually be alright anyway.

I couldn’t see too much, just a few faces where doors were open but those carriages were full. We walked up and down the little carriages in the rain. The train looked great too. Cobwebs hung in the windows, black lace curtains hid the people inside making it look really dark inside. Although of course it wasn’t.

There were lots of people and every carriage was packed out. We did find somewhere but we couldn’t sit together.

It was dark, both inside and outside the carriage. Then someone put on an iPad and bang went the atmosphere. It was light and no longer scary.

Someone had worked really hard on decorating the carriage. It was festooned with skeletons, masks and cobwebs. Material and lace was draped across the windows like curtains. It looked amazing.

This was Halloween after all and all manner of nasty creatures are wandering about unseen by the mortal world. I can see them though and feel them. They are out there. All I hope is that this train keeps going when we are further up the valley as a train full of caged children could be far too tempting a treat for some creatures.

It all looked so innocent. Smiling guards and then they locked us in. Was this a plot? We had happily got into a train and on the window there was tape saying “Enter at your own risk”. What about “Elf and Safety”. For the good of this Frixian I don’t want to get eaten by something bigger than me or attacked by Goblians. I know they are about tonight.

They have been much more active for days. I know they are in the woodlands next to the house and their leader Gishnak was very close to the smallholding the other night, almost to the door. I could smell him. He can’t come in as our magic protects the place but he seems to be getting stronger.

Now I can smell him here. A waft of him as the doors were locked.

He could be in the carriage. I can still smell him but the scent of those things does linger so it could be residual. So many people with bags, he could be in any of those bags and the owner wouldn’t know. Other Goblians could be here too. With all the masks and costumes a Goblian could be sitting in the carriage dressed up like all the other children.

This is not going to go smoothly. I know that. I can see that Gadget is worried as well. Sarah can’t hear what Gadget says but I can. Should I say something?

Too late, the whistle blew somewhere down the platform and the train juddered into movement and pulled out of the station. Angel opened the window and smoke wafted past us into the distance like its own ethereal ghost on its way to the spirit world. Six minutes past six, I could see Angel’s watch.

Is that relevant or an omen?

We are on our way to Devil’s Bridge and we are in a locked carriage, only openable from the outside and there is nothing I can do to warn everyone that there are Goblians about.

The train rumbled along the tracks. The rhythmical sound and the gentle swaying of the carriage lulling us into a false sense of security.

The smell of the smoke was so different to anything I had smelt before. The excited babble of chatter as children talked to each other and their parents reminded me that this was supposed to be fun. But is it? Am I just a worrier? Perhaps.

The train pulled out of the station and through Aberystwyth and as it passed along the lights of buildings passed by the window. Tiny fireflies of light in the velvety darkness reminding me that there was life out there. Car headlights and other lights reflected on the rain soaked road as we crossed the level crossing and cars had to wait for us. The train rumbled on and we were thrown into darkness as we left the town.

Oh well, too late to worry about it all now. We are on our way. I do however feel like a snack in a box being driven past monsters. Out there in the dark things were lurking. They were behind every tree, the normal ethereal creatures there as well but many of them were hiding and I don’t blame them.

The veils were thin tonight, the ghosties and ghoulies and long legged beasties ruled this night and even they were trying to avoid the things that go bump in the night. Ethereal things and things more solid were fighting each other, preying on each other. It is a war out there. The ghosts wafted around, wandering their way, some lost, some with purpose. It was obvious that they didn’t like the ghouls. They stepped out of their way to avoid them. The dirty cadaverous bodies of the ghouls were perhaps in their consciousness an inelegant memory of the bodies that they had once had. The long legged beasties were lurking in dark corners. There, by a tree, a leg hanging down. For a moment before the creature climbed up into the tree out of sight.

A fox ran through the undergrowth. The beast moved like lightning and reached down, grabbing the hapless creature and raising it up into the tree.

It squealed and its life was gone.

This lovely old carriage creeping slowly into the night past dark hallows and ancient trees. Creatures were everywhere and I could see them but sadly those in the carriage couldn’t, they are human and humans can’t see these things unless the creature wants them to.

Out in the darkness an Ent, a tree spirit, waved its branches at the train, waving a warning? It was a kind thought but to anyone else on the train it would just look like a tree waving in the wind. The Ent’s Dryad peeked around his ancient trunk and looked around. Only fleetingly. Her pale green hair glowed in the darkness, illuminated by the ethereal light of the magic which shrouded everything and allowed such creatures access to the mortal world. This was new. I had seen other Halloweens. There was much more power out there this year and many, many more creatures. If it had been daylight then her hair would have reflected all the colours of nature. Night made it duller. He diaphanous gown was concealed by the darkness but I had seen their dresses before and they were magnificent in their simplicity. As she saw me she blew me a kiss, her blessing of hope I hope and perhaps she gave us a thought for a moment and hoped that we would survive.

Further down the track I saw a misty light amongst the electrical glow coming from buildings we were passing. A White Lady was wandering along the tracks. That is never a good portent. She is a harbinger of trouble to come. Her tall elven features were hidden in the dark but from her silhouette I know what she is and it sent a shiver down my spine. Alright down my spiritual spine as the puppet of course feels nothing.

The train rumbled on and I began to relax and enjoy watching the creatures at their nightly wanders as the train passed them. Many were oblivious to everything around them. Some stopped to look at the train. That was creepy.

The train juddered to a stop. The drapes still swinging before falling still. Now I’m worried. This is terrible as we are stuck in the darkness with all those creatures around us. Anything could happen. Goblians are out there. Their scent filled my senses and it was much more than the residual smell in the carriage. It could be anywhere or there could be more than one. The good thing is that Goblians’ eyesight is not great. They spend most of their life lurking in the dark so sight is not the best of their senses. On the Ghost Train there was noise, lots of it. This is what attracts them and this is very dangerous. We are not safe at all.

Thankfully the train moved off again and rumbled along the track. On and on into the darkness. Then we stopped again and a loud explosion rang out, silencing the children in the carriage. Another and another. Movement outside, people in costume with masks on running down the side of the train knocking on the windows. Faces appeared at the window and the carriage was filled by ghoulish screams of excited children. They knew too that these were people from the Railway and not some other dangerous creature.

The window was open, that was probably a mistake. Just as I thought that a ghoulish hand reached through the window and tried to grab me. Fingers reached towards me and thankfully Angel was watching and I felt myself whisked away as the hand grabbed empty air. The strong arms that would have dragged me out of the train to certain death pulled back and for a moment it was quiet.

Screams rang out as passengers were attacked. This is what the sound of death must sound like. People screaming and dying or having fun? It was hard to tell. I couldn’t see them, only those in my carriage and they were enjoying the fake fear, the safe fear like rollercoaster fear. Then again there have been a couple of instances where that fear wasn’t so safe either.

On a night like this who would know if the real monsters had already killed the railway workers and taken their place. The driver was in an open engine, what if he was dead? Then again, this is an official tour, surely we are safe?

More explosions, fireworks of course but in the darkness and with the screaming they felt very real. I’ve been through so many wars before I came here. So many times when those sounds were real. In fact, it is a bit of a travesty that in such a terrifying world children seek thrills of being attacked and having explosions set off for their amusement. It made me smile in a way, it was a bit of innocence.

The children screamed but they were very brave. Rather than running away from the window and hiding they were climbing on chairs to get close to the window and discussing what superpowers they could have to defend themselves. One wanted punching and a cold chill ran through me. What if he punched the next monster who reached through the window and that being a railway worker or volunteer that would not be a good situation. As they laughed and screamed they were having a great time. It was a Ghost Train after all but they had no idea of the danger they were really in.

Goblians, the smell was strong. They were everywhere and I feared for the volunteers outside as well.

More explosions as I looked out of the window helplessly, just hoping that we would move off soon. Then it went spookily silent and the train moved on.

I looked over at Gadget, she too was worried so we used our magic and stepped out of our cloth puppet bodies. We couldn’t do much as puppets but in our Frixian Spirit manifestations we could at least have a look around and of course effect the Goblians.

I raised up from the little cloth puppet, my white ethereal body adorned by a diaphanous gown somewhat like that worn by the Dryad but white.

Gadget did as well and together we walked through the carriage, through chairs, people and the walls as they were not solid to us.

There was at least one Goblian in each carriage. They saw us but they kept in their hiding places. They were weak as they were newly into the world but by midnight they would have their full power. They were weak because the children were happy, they feed on despair and there was little of that around. They wouldn’t challenge us in their ones and twos but there were more out there and together they could be a problem.

Something had to be done but attacking them one by one could harm the children as it would involve throwing magic around and that can mean collateral damage.

Now I wonder. Goblians have a weakness, popping candy. As there are sweets everywhere there could be some on board the train. All we have to do is find it.

Outside I could smell and see the Goblians getting closer. They were targeting the train and I don’t think it was because we are here. That many children in one place who are not going to run away, it was perfect.

Please let there be candy on board. We began to run, carriage after carriage and then in the last carriage we were in luck. There was a bag of it in a carrier bag of other sweets. Now of course we had the problem that we were both in Frixian Form so we couldn’t touch the mortal world. The puppets were right down the other end of the train and we couldn’t get them through the doors or walls. So close! I needed hands to open that packet.

Or I needed someone to do it for me.

I stepped off of the train. The Goblians were about fifty yards away and they didn’t seem to have seen me. So, I walked to a tree and touched it. A dryad stepped out of it. She looked nervous but she tried a smile.

Her voice was silvery. “Frixian, why do you call me from my tree on this dangerous night?”

“Creature of the Woods I need your help. There are Goblians in the woods and they are attacking the train. I need your help to open a packet of popping candy so that I can lure them away from the children.”

The smile dropped from her face. “Why should I help children? They come to our woods and damage the trees. They climb into our branches and they leave their rubbish at our feet. Why should I?”

She turned to go but I reached out and grabbed her arm. It was an instant reaction and probably the wrong one but all I could think of doing. She hesitated and looked down at my hand then glared at me and her look was truly terrifying.

She hissed. “Unhand me alien creature if you want to live. I will not help you.”

A deep voice boomed from within the tree. “If the Goblians are powerful in our woods we will lose more than a few children can achieve. Help her or you will find another tree tonight.”

38

Now the Dryad was really angry but she hesitated and I let her arm go. “Very well. I will help you but I ask something in return. In the future you will be in a place which is ancient and will have ancient woodland. I ask that you protect the ents and dryads there.”

I nodded. It was hardly a difficult task as I’d do that anyway.

All three of us floated back to the train. The Goblians had formed up into a line and they stood there, slavering in anticipation. They were waiting as they knew that the longer the train stood still with nothing happening the sooner boredom would set in and the children would become awkward. That would fuel them enough to make them powerful enough to control everyone on the train.

The dryad reached into the bag, took the packet of popping candy out as she could touch the paper wrapper even though she was ethereal.

In the confusion the occupants of the carriage didn’t see the packet float out of the bag and out of the window. They didn’t see it float down the train onto the tracks. They didn’t see the top of the packet ripped off and the contents poured onto the tracks.

Her task done the Dryad disappeared, leaving us standing beside the popping candy and as we looked back the Goblians were underneath the train. Sinuous fingers reaching up and soaking in the children’s angst and the parents’ frustration and they were becoming powerful.

Long green noses sniffed out the candy treat. Clawed feet flapped onto the gravel as they edged forwards, loathed to leave the empowering area around the train.

Then as one they could not resist the smell of the candy and they charged, each wanting to get there first and get the most of the delicious treat.

The timing was perfect as the train started to move. The Goblians were advancing fast and we only just managed to float up over them and return to the puppets on the train as the train began to gather speed. Then it began to judder slightly as it bumped over the Goblians, flattening them and killing any who fell under the wheels. They were too intent on the candy and it was easy to imagine them being flattened, the others oblivious as they fought each other to be able to eat the sweets.

As the train moved off the children were happy again and the Goblians lost their power source. As they began to fade the train claimed them, as did other creatures who had been alerted by the gathering of so much power in one place. Creatures of the night capitalised on the Goblians’ misfortune and attacked, shuffling and snuffling from the shadows to eat their fill and take their revenge on the sniveling creatures.

The train rumbled on and pulled into Devil’s Bridge Station. The name on the sign was ominous but the welcome was warm. Pumpkins had been carved, candles lit and decorations had been carefully placed to make the place look festive.

There was a coffin at the end of the platform. Time to relax. All the happiness and fun here would keep the Goblians far, far away. The lights were lit and the pumpkins flickered their mock horrific smiles to entertain the arriving guests. They were so brave those children all, there was no pride to come before a fall. With happy face who cares about the rain. It might just wet us as we alight from the train.

Happy people climbed down from the train and filled the platform. Moving as one along the platform towards the large marquee that had been set up for the meal. Empty stomachs soon to be filled as the music did play. Along the platform we all did walk, for a piggy roast that would need no fork.

Fear behind us, the scares are gone, food and light now and a brighter song. The Monster Mash is a cheerful tune, spiders, cobwebs and creatures of the moon.

As everyone got of the train it was a time to see just how many people had been on that train and how popular the trip was. No wonder they said book early and I am glad that Angel did. They came from everywhere, emerging from dark carriages to join the crowd moving along the platform towards the station restaurant.

The crowd was big and moved so slow. They rain did fall but it was a glorious show. The rain did fall on one and all, and poor Sarah only had a shawl.

The marquee and building had been decorated for the party. Music rang out and all the happiness of the play horror of Halloween surrounded us.

I can’t help remembering the old ways though, the time when this night was one of revered honour to the loved dead. The night before All Hallows, all holy. A time for leaving candles for the loved ones who may come back to visit in the darkness and need a light to bring them home. How this ended up with children knocking on doors to terrify old people into giving them sweets I do not know. But, like many old ways it is at least remembered albeit in an altered and much different form.

There was almost a queue for tables there were so many people there. Sarah found a table and sat there to keep it for us and I was unceremonially dumped in my basket. I would love to look around but I can understand. Angel can’t eat a bun and drink her drink and keep me looking around as a puppet and we are safer in our basket.

Angel was right, there were too many children with apple sauce soaked sticky fingers about and my cloth body doesn’t wash.

In the darkness of the basket I have to think. We have the journey back yet. It would be easier if it was a safe journey. No doubt the children would be tired and that is a powder keg of them being tetchy and bad tempered. That would feed the Goblians so making them sleep would be a good idea or at least to calm them down. Also, we had just caused an unknown number of Goblians to be killed so no doubt their colleagues would not be happy and would likely attack us on the way back if they can. I have to make sure that they can’t. There were hundreds of them out there and they aren’t going to be happy as they haven’t managed to harm the children or feed off of them.

I did the Mash, I did the Monster Mash, yep, we did and we used a train. The music ran out over the happy gathering and I was quite enjoying it from the basket. The lull before the storm I suppose. There is something happy about Halloween and I suppose other countries see things differently. The Day of the Dead and such like. People love to dress up and the train tonight makes it so much more special.

The meal will be done soon so I had better create a spell to protect everyone on the way home. Energy is there, the happiness I can use and using that energy will make the children tired which is a double result. So I’ll cast the spell.

As we left the station and stepped back onto the platform it was a chance to see the train engine. It was magnificent big and old. The carriages were wood but the train was metal. I hadn’t seen it before when we arrived but now was a chance. It was a mountain train, not designed for long journeys.

It is getting late now and the children are slowing down, their batteries spent. They are still excited but much more subdued, the spell must be beginning to work, coupled with their natural exhaustion. Enthusiasm is drifting into quiet enjoyment and I think the parents are grateful for that. They are tired too and the spell will push that tiredness into sleep. Once the carriage starts rocking that should do the trick.

The seats weren’t booked so it is first come first served when it comes to getting back onto the train. The train is also less empty so I am wondering if some people parked their cars up at Devil’s Bridge and didn’t do the journey back. It makes sense if the children are tired as it is only going to be a run back no doubt and in the darkness it is impossible to see anything out of the window.

The carriage was partly empty and my friends are tired too. They will be asleep too soon. Then hopefully we’ll just rock our way gently back to Aberystwyth.

Thinking about it, on the way out I heard someone mention a Haunted Castle. There isn’t a castle. Children have such an imagination but on a night like this anything is possible. Merely thinking about a Haunted Castle, saying it to someone else who thinks about it can bring that castle into being. Such is the way when the building blocks of the world at the smallest level are a bit random.

Everyone else is now asleep but we won’t. We have to keep watch. It is dark so I can’t really see who else is in the carriage. It definitely isn’t full.

Hopefully we will be alright now.

Hold on, the train just stopped. Why would it stop on the way back when it is obvious there is no more entertainment? Great, a blue light out there in the darkness. That definitely shouldn’t be there. Heads up Gadget, I think we have trouble.

It is in the trees and it is getting closer. It could be good or bad but as it is Halloween I think I’ll assume the latter. It is hovering and dancing, almost willing me to get of the train and follow it. The veils are thin. Anything could be out there.

It was then that in what would have been the silence I noticed the quiet music and eerie noises which had been pre-recorded for the trip back. Or perhaps the way there but had gone unnoticed because of all the other noise. That wasn’t anything to worry about. The plastic skeleton that was hanging on the wall was. It had been looking the other way when I last looked. There, it moved again, looking down the carriage instead of the other way. Thankfully as it was attached to the carriage by its head there isn’t much it can do. Its arms and legs moving are unnerving but as long as the string holds it is not a problem. That it is moving at all is a problem.

There is something going on and it won’t solve itself so it is time to leave my basket and go and see what I can do. There is no point going in Frixian Spirit, I think I may need to be a bit more solid for this one.

The first thing to do is to check out what I can see outside. The blue light is still moving around. On the other side there is a green one. In themselves they are not dangerous but I don’t know what they are, we are stopped and that together could be a problem. And the large castle with pointed turrets that is now outside the window definitely wasn’t there earlier, last week or last year.

The train obviously isn’t going to move on and the doors are locked. That should keep the people on the train safe. The windows aren’t locked so I suppose my first task should be to make sure that they all are. Great, out in the rain, slippery train side and a cloth body. This is not going to be pleasant.

Gadget isn’t keen on this either but there is nothing for it, we have to do it.

The window was heavy when you only have a cloth body and determination. Magic does help and eventually we pulled the glass window down. I was right about the train side as well. The painted wood was wet and if I jump down onto the ground I’d never get back up to the window. I’d have to make my way along the slippery walls and then climb from carriage to carriage.

Gadget smiled. “Magic it. You can close the windows with magic.”

I can you know. It isn’t an easy spell but by combining two I could do that and with the option of getting very wet the only other alternative I think I should.

Right, that is the windows closed and magically locked. Now we have to see what is going on with that castle.

“Gadget, I can’t see anything out there, it is pitch black. Just the glow from the castle. Did we bring torches?”

Gadget sighed. “Yes but they are in the car for when we get back. We didn’t bring them with us in the basket. Shall we try to get the train moving again? We could see what is happening with the engine and the driver. It is a long way down though, and very wet.”

Widget looked out into the darkness, her long black curls blowing in the wind. “That seems like the best idea. If we get down we’ll have to get back up again though.”

Gadget was already pulling belts off of the costumes of theh sleeping travelers and tied each one together and to the door handle before throwing the rest of it out of the window so that the could easily climb down and back up again.

They climbed down onto the wet gravel which ran along the side of the rails and in the darkness they could smell Goblians. They ran fast, very fast for two little cloth puppets. No human could have been able to see them move and they got to the engine.

As they climbed up onto it carefully and peeped over to look into the main cab they saw there was someone there, someone who looked like they shouldn’t be. There was a tall figure in a black cloak which reached to the ground. The hood was pulled up so they couldn’t see its face until it turned around. The green glowing eyes were an indication that it wasn’t the driver so they both hid. Like two torches the eyes illuminated everything in their path which included the two Frixians who were trying to hide but were not quick enough.

The skull face was illuminated by the eyes, its skeletal hands reached out towards the pair of Frixians who leapt back before the bony fingers could get a grip on them. Widget landed on Gadget who squealed before they both scampered into the black and soggy undergrowth. There were enough bushes there and they crouched down behind one, cowering close to the damp loamy soil.

The skeleton’s eyes illuminated the area like a searchlight. They were outside the glow from the train carriages and in the darkness behind the bush so the skeleton couldn’t see them however hard it looked. The green glow of the castle behind them threatened to reveal them but they knew about it so they kept very still.

The scent of Goblians was joined by something dead.

Gadget tugged Widget’s sleeve. “Shall we go and see if there is an answer in the castle? I know, the last place we want to go but there is no coincidence here.”

“I agree. We need to find the driver or that train isn’t going anywhere.”

They ran very fast and like a flash they were at the castle. For good or bad they stood in front of the large wooden castle doors. The wood planks were covered in cobwebs as was the arch that swept above them. Nobody had been there in a very long time. There was a huge door knocker but the two little Frixians were in no hurry to knock and have the door answered if they could avoid it and sneak in some other way. They knew there would be no welcome there.

The window to the right was cracked so Widget carefully lifted out a piece of glass big enough for her to climb inside. That was something she had to do very carefully as she really didn’t want to tear herself.

Inside the castle the room the other side of the window was a huge open hall. Along the middle was a large table which was set out for dinner and almost groaning under the weight of many tasty treats and other food. Sweets and all manner of sugary confectionary in the brightest of colours was laid out. Fatty treats and all manner of the tasty but not good for you things that parents usually rationed to their children were laid out ready for eating. It was a feast set out for children and it was then that Widget realised that she could see it because the lights had come on.

The lights were bright and shiny and the music that had also started up was spooky but happy like it had been at Devil’s Bridge.

Gadget had also climbed inside.

Widget smiled. “It is too obviously a trap for children. I don’t need to tell you to touch nothing. No good can come from here. This is a Haunted Castle and no doubt we’ll be meeting the Haunts soon enough.”

They walked past the oh so tempting table without a further thought for it. Their concentration was on the rest of the room and finding an exit. There was one in the form of a big black definitely not welcoming door which was at the back of the hall behind the table. I was open a crack which made it all the more unwelcoming as that was too much of an invitation to be a good thing.

There didn’t seem to be any other option so they opened the door and slipped through it into a room filled with coffins with their lids off.

Widget smiled. “Oh well, Haunted Castle, room full of coffins, here we go.”

The room was dusty and cobweb filled as if nobody had been there for a while but they knew that someone must have been. It was an odd thought for two Frixians standing in a room full of coffins as the bodies in them sat up all as one but Widget couldn’t help wondering if there was a spell or can of spray which put all the dust and cobwebs in place.

The bodies were beginning to stand up but rather than run away Widget looked around the room as Gadget grabbed hold of the door behind them to make sure it didn’t shut by itself.

The room seemed to be empty but in the gloom at the back of it there could just be seen a table and on the table was a shovel. Widget’s mind was racing, shovel, coal, train, it had to be important. So she knew she had to get it, even though the bodies in various stages of decomposure were by now almost climbing out of the coffins. Widget took a deep breath and faster than a speeding bullet she covered the distance to the back of the room, grabbed the shovel and as she ran back she walloped each of the teetering bodies back into their coffins. They immediately started to try to climb out again but by then Widget was the other side of the room.

Out of the room they ran as there were no other doors in there.

Gadget caught Widget’s arm as they ran into the hall. “We have to find the driver and if someone shovels the coal there must be someone else as well. We need another door. Think hard, if this is a thoughtform castle then if we think hard enough we may well find a door now. This is a Haunted Castle so there is no way we are going to be alone. The bodies in there, just a start.”

Widget tried to smile. “That is what I’m worried about. So, where do we start. Those bodies are going to catch up with us if we waste too much time. If this is a castle, which it looks like one and one that would be imagined to look this way then it would have a dungeon wouldn’t it? If you are keeping someone against their will then a dungeon would be the place to do it. So we need to get to the dungeon which in most stories and in my imagination would be downstairs somewhere. So we need a downstairs.

Gadget was frantically searching around the room. “We need to find a trap door or something.”

Widget noticed the bodies getting closer to the door. “We need to sort that lot out first.”

Together they tried to close the door but it was too heavy, either actually or magically heavy. Widget sighed and thought about it. Her Frixian magic swirling around like a mist as the door slammed shut and locked. “Well I hope that the trap door wasn’t in there. I’m not even going to think about that. The door must be in here somewhere. Well that dealt with them.”

Just as she finished speaking a white figure stepped through the wall. It looked like an old lady wearing a wedding dress. Widget jumped slightly.

“Very Miss Haversham. So, what now?”

The woman’s face wrinkled up in a grimace and her gnarly clawed fingers reached out to try to catch the small puppets as she floated across the room towards them.

Gadget grabbed Widget and they dived under the table. “No you don’t Grandma, keep those fingers to yourself.”

That was when they realised their mistake as the old woman reached through the table and almost caught them. Her hand touching empty air as the pair of them moved away. As fast as they could the pair were out from under the table and running around the room, far quicker than the faster than human speed that the old lady could manage.

As they ran along the wall they noticed that there was a tapestry and as one they grabbed it and pulled. The tapestry held on for a moment before tipping on its rail and falling aside to reveal the door they had been looking for. They didn’t have time to think about it. They opened the door, leapt through and closed it behind them. On doing it they realised immediately that it was a futile gesture when the woman had arrived through a wall but it was better than nothing.

They ran down the corridor beyond and then halted as they realised that it was a corridor full of doors which stretched into the distance. Added to this multiple choice there was also the sound of dragging chains in the distance which was getting closer. Widget sighed. “How cliché.”

Gadget laughed. “Graveyard humour?”

Widget smiled. “Dead right.”

The sound of metal on stone was getting closer. The footsteps were all to audible and somewhere there was a scream.

Knowing that the ghost was behind them they ran forwards even though it was towards the chains and footsteps and to their surprise they came to the end of the corridor, a dark archway. The corridor had been lit by torches, there was no light beyond the arch.

As one the two grabbed a torch each although they knew to be careful and were very cautious.

The light and warmth from the torch was in one way reassuring but in another frightening to a puppet made of material. They walked slowly now, afraid of any sparks from the torch until they came to a set of stairs heading down.

Widget smiled. “Down is good. Well down is bad but you know what I mean. Down there we might find the driver and anyone else.”

Down they went and the stairs met a spiral staircase and they went down that as well. Down and down. Until it opened up into a room full of torture equipment which had obviously been used or was in the process of being used. An iron maiden was shut, their torchlight illuminating the slit where they could see that it was occupied. Widget rushed over and opened it up with her magic.

The front of it swung open to reveal a rotting corpse, its eyes still focused in pain and its mouth open in a now silent scream.

The two Frixians leapt back but it didn’t move. Similarly the body on the wrack was definitely dead but thankfully from their point of view had been dead for a long time so couldn’t have been the driver.

The rest of the room was full of similar equipment which was dirty, rusty and covered in old dried blood.

Only one door out was ominous but there was only one door, it was a created castle so they had already worked out that normal logic would probably not apply. One way to go, no choices, so one way they must go.

They opened it and were rewarded by what were clearly dungeon cells. Five barred cells on either side but of course from the door they couldn’t see what was inside. To see they had to go into the corridor.

They stepped forwards until they could see into the first pair of cells. To the right was empty, to the left was empty until they took a step forwards and a little girl appeared in the middle of the room. Her face was in her hands and her blue dress was dirty. Her brown curls were caked in mud and her hair ribbon was untied and hung down one side of her head. She took her hands away and both Widget and Gadget were not wrong when they imagined that there would be something horrific about her face. It was covered in blood and slashed.

Widget looked away and looked back. The room was empty, the girl appeared and she did the same thing again. To Gadget she had stood there all along, crying. “It is an illusion. Are you still seeing her? She isn’t real.”

Gadget turned around. “We are going to need these.” She had pulled down a set of keys from their hook on the wall.

When he heard the voices and saw the light the train driver jumped to his feet and ran to the bars. He’d seen enough strange that he thought nothing of two three foot tall puppets holding torches in the corridor. “I’m over here.

Help us.”

The driver and the guard were in cells next to each other. They were covered in dust and cobwebs where they had been thrown into the cell and both looked tired and fed up. The driver still had his peaked cap in his hand, the other had a face covered in soot. The had was similarly dirty but he clung to it despite all the things that had happened to him.

The lock was low enough that Gadget could put the key in and turn. Wrong key. The next one and the next. Then she dropped the keys as they heard the sound of grating chains in the distance. “What are we going to do? The chains are between us and the way out.” She fumbled for the keys and began again. All the keys looked the same in the flickering torch light. Key after key and then the lock gave way with a reassuring click. The door opened and the train driver stepped out into the corridor. He took the keys off of Gadget and began trying the keys on the guard’s door while Widget and Gadget guarded the corridor, waiting for something hideous to come into the circle of light generated by the torch.

Widget handed the guard the shovel and all of them started walking back down the corridor.

Widget smiled. “Don’t worry about the chains. We heard them on the way in and we didn’t meet anything. Now they are behind us. We didn’t see anyone on the way in. We can hope it is just a sound. Come on, lets run for it.”

They ran and they didn’t stop. The ghost hag was in the way at the top of the stairs and Widget ran straight through her. By the time she had recovered her composure they were past her, through the outside door and running back to the train.

They crouched behind the bushes again and watched as the skeleton looked about casually unaware that they were there. In the distance there was a howling and a screaming and it wasn’t hard to imagine that the ghouls and ghosts from the castle were on their way to try and recapture their prisoners.

The prisoners didn’t want to be recaptured and despite their terror the driver stood up. “That is my train to drive and nobody is going to take it from me.” He grabbed the shovel from the guard, ran across the gravel and leapt into the engine.

The skeleton saw him coming and pulled back his hood. Beneath it there was a skull which was expected and the glowing eyes turned towards the driver who hit the skeleton with the shovel. The head came straight off of the skeleton’s shoulders and flew into the darkness, the green light extinguished.

The driver then threw the rest off the body off of the train as the guard leapt onto the train and began stoking the engine box with coal.

As he shoveled the creatures from the castle got closer and they were angry. Some moved faster than others, the corpses shambling, the hag and other creatures floating dangerously fast towards them.

Gadget grabbed coal and started throwing it into the box, so did the driver. They got closer and closer. They were so close that they could almost touch the train as the engine lurched forwards and the train moved off, slowly at first but it soon reached a good speed.

The creatures screamed but as soon as the train moved away they and the castle disappeared leaving no trace.

The train gathered speed and rocked and rolled down the track away from where the castle had been and back to Aberystwyth.

Widget looked worried. “How do we get back to our carriage? We have to get back and sort out the belts before we get into Aberystwyth.”

The driver pulled a lever and the train slowed down. “Be quick in case there is anything else out there. Thank you for saving us. I am not sure I believe this but if this isn’t a dream then I don’t know what else to say.”

The train pulled to a halt and Widget and Gadget leapt off of the train, ran along the track and climbed back into the carriage using the belts and then began to untie them. Widget hesitated. “Which belt belongs to which person.”

Gadget thought about it. “You know I can’t remember. We are going to have to work it out by their costume. We’d better sort the mess out as well.

We’re mucky. So is the driver.”

Gadget smiled. “Go on, use your magic.”

Widget looked down. “I am not sure how much I have left. I’ve used a lot today. I’ll give it a try.” She concentrated and the dirt disappeared off of all of them. The belts picked themselves up and floated back to tie themselves back onto their original owners.

As the train juddered forwards Widget and Gadget relaxed and enjoyed the ambiance of the train. The music had started again and the spooky sounds, people slept and in the muted light they were just glad to be alive.

As the train passed over the threshold into Aberystwyth and passed Bookers everyone woke up. They were sleepy and totally oblivious to everything that had happened. Widget and Gadget flopped down to be puppets again and watched as best they could and as best they could replaced themselves where they had originally been put.

The train trundled through Aberystwyth, illuminated by the residual light from the houses either side and pulled into the station and came to a halt.

The passengers gathered their possessions and climbed off of the train oblivious to their adventure.