The Golden Age

A piercing shriek of laughter filled the air and startled Eveline awake. She gave the ceiling a bleary eyed stare, expecting to see her pendant drop chandelier looking back at her but instead she saw rows of small, electric lights covered by frosted glass. They illuminated a trail of wooden framed windows covered with navy blue drapes and a luxurious quilted ceiling. She felt groggy and the surrounding sounds disturbed her. The ongoing chatter and clinking of glasses eventually wore down her peaceful sleep state and jolted her into reality.

She shot up and whipped her head around, realising that she wasn’t in her bedroom at all. She clambered to the nearest window and pressed her face against the cold glass, but it was pitch black and she couldn’t see a thing. The rhythmic swaying of the carriage and clickety-clack of the rail tracks told Eveline she was aboard a train, but not like one she had ever seen before. The walls were decorated with paintings of important figures. There were lines of sturdy tables coated in cream cotton tablecloths, decorated with golden lamps and crystalware. Each table displayed an array of spirits, most of the bottles close to empty. Jolly grown-ups swayed from table to table, laughing and joking with their fellow party.

Eveline was no stranger to a grown-up party, she knew they were all drunk. She’d seen her father bundling inebriated guests into their carriages plenty of times at home. Thinking of her father, she thought she’d better go and find him. To let him know she needed somewhere quieter to rest. She couldn’t quite remember what they were doing here. After all, she hardly listened to a word the grown-ups said, they never seemed to make much sense at all.

Eveline rubbed her eyes and stretched out her arms. She was in her nightclothes and felt embarrassed to approach the party but she couldn’t see her dress nearby.

“Excuse me, Madam? I’m looking for my father, Sir Rupert of Ashingdale,” Eveline announced proudly to a tall lady in a lace dress with satin buttons and a ridiculous feather hat.

“Ugh! How did you get into our carriage? Children are NOT allowed. Shoo!” She responded, looking horrified.

Eveline was furious. Her father would never allow her to be addressed with such disrespect! She shot the nasty woman a look of fury and marched through the party. She approached a gentleman in a charcoal worsted wool suit with a matching top hat.

“Move, child!” He batted her away, continuing his conversation with two ladies laughing uncontrollably at his poor jokes.

Eveline became increasingly frustrated as she scanned the crowd for her father. She searched the carriage from top to bottom before she started to panic. She peered through the far window and noticed that this carriage was the last, looking out onto a dark abyss. He wouldn’t have left her alone, would he? Eveline suddenly felt small and helpless. Her eyes filled with tears as she raced back to the plush couch she’d awoken on, looking for clues.

There was no luggage, no empty tobacco tins, no signs of her father whatsoever. Eveline tried to recall arriving onto the train, but all she could remember was her father kissing her on the forehead and switching off her bed lamp, muttering something nonsensical. What had he said? Was she supposed to be listening?

She tried to remain calm. There must be another adult on this train who could help her, there’s clearly just a misunderstanding. Eveline took a deep breath and headed towards the carriage’s front door. She turned the golden handle on the solid wooden door and revealed another carriage, designed just like the other but filled with suitcases of all shapes and sizes. Great, she thought! Eveline hurriedly rummaged through the luggage tags, seeking her father’s name on each one. By the time she reached the last few, her hopes had dwindled significantly. When the final tag read a name she didn’t recognise, she slumped onto a brass ribbed wooden trunk and drooped her head into her hands. As she did so, she thought she saw something move in the corner of her eye. She snapped her head up but saw nothing. She told herself she must have caught a shadow in the dim lighting and continued on her journey through the train.

As she reached the end of the luggage carriage, Eveline could hear the soft sounds of classical music drifting through from the next. The smell of pipe tobacco filled her nose, and she burst open the door expecting to see her father. Instead, her eyes fell upon a very, very angry looking conductor and an engineer who looked as if he was about to burst into tears.

“A beggar child!” The conductor shrieked. “how dare you interrupt my meeting! You’ll be removed from this train at the first opportunity and sent back to the hole you crawled from!”

“No, Sir! My name is Eveline, daughter of Sir Ru…”

“Enough! Do you think I haven’t heard this story a hundred times before? Get out of my sight!”

Eveline was distraught. She glanced down at her nightclothes, realising the impression she must have given.

“Please Sir, I need to find my fa…”

“OUT!” he screamed as he hurtled towards Eveline. She jumped back, falling to the ground as he slammed the wooden door in her pale and frightened face.

Eveline started to cry, quietly so as not to disturb them again. What was he so angry about anyway? She may be young, but it was always obvious to her when a grown-up was hiding something. She decided to investigate.

Eveline carefully crept towards the door, leaning her ear against the polished wood and listening deeply. The frightful conductor was agitated, reeling off words she had been taught to never use, and the engineer seemed to be whimpering.

“What exactly is the problem, Sidney?” The conductor spat loudly.

“I…I’m not sure sir. They won’t say a word, not one of them.”

“Well, what are you going to do about it?!”

“I don’t know, sir. I’m not sure there’s anything we can do. They… they said something about a lady and a fire and…”

“STOP RIGHT THERE. I don’t want to hear it. But let me tell you something, if those passengers catch wind of this it won’t just be your job you’ve lost. It’ll be your head! I’ve got a direct connection with His Majesty’s royal adviser and don’t think I’ll hesitate to use it! Now get this sorted, immediately!”

The carriage fell silent, but Eveline could picture the tremor that had overcome the engineer’s body. She heard footsteps thundering towards the door she was leaning on and flung herself behind the nearest stack of suitcases just before it flew open. The blubbering engineer followed shortly after. Eveline watched him as he pulled from his pocket a parcel of cloth and carefully unravelled it.

She squinted to see its contents, gawping as her eyes fell upon a selection of miniature objects. There were tiny wooden tables and chairs, hand painted and decorated with gold leaf. There were little goblets, seemingly plated with gold, a tiny parchment paper fan and what looked to be a miniature children’s playground.

“That should do it,” the engineer stated triumphantly as he sniffed and stood up tall, bundling the parcel into his pocket and returning through the door he was recently thrown from.

Eveline breathed a sigh of relief once he had left the carriage, and as she did so she heard an echo. The sigh had come from the far corner, where she’d thought she’d seen something move earlier. She froze, afraid to emerge from the suitcases and still overwhelmed by everything that had happened in the last two hours. The sounds from the party seemed to have died down and there was an inkling of light entering the carriages, dawn must be breaking. They were still travelling at high speed and she didn’t know how much longer this journey was. She mustered up all of her courage and softly whispered into thin air.

“Hello?”

No response.

“Is someone there? I thought I saw you earlier.”

A slight shuffle.

“Hello?” she whispered again, creeping over to a large, single trunk lying flat on the carriage floor. As she did so, she heard more shuffling.

Eveline saw that it hadn’t been locked shut. She stopped to think for a minute before slowly edging the case open to reveal an olive skinned man, curled on his side with a look of sheer terror on his face.

“Don’t scream. Please, don’t scream.” he said desperately.

Eveline’s jaw dropped.

“What on earth are you doing in there?!” She whispered. She didn’t feel afraid, the man had a kindness to his face that she couldn’t help but warm to.

“It’s a long story. But hey, would you mind giving me a hand up?”

Eveline shook her head in disbelief, but extended her gentle hand to his, pulling him towards her. The man pushed himself onto his forearm, grimacing as he slowly stretched his muddy boots over the side of the case. Eveline was speechless.

“I guess this looks pretty strange to you, kid. My name’s Floyd,” he said casually, pulling a red beret from the case and placing it atop his scruffily shaved head.

“Strange?” Eveline started. “Strange is waking up alone on a train, overhearing awful grown-up conversations and finding a man in a suitcase before the sun has even risen!”

The kind-faced man smiled at her, nodding to the window which now revealed a blue-ish, purple sky.

“Won’t be long.”

He gathered his strength and stood up straight, holding onto one of the electric lights and peering through the condensation on the glass. His face dropped.

“Well that ain’t right,” he murmured, checking his watch. “We should be close to Huxtown by now and there ain’t a darn building in sight.”

Eveline hoped to recognise the name of the town but it was no good. She’d never been much good at geography, she’d never needed to be. She spent most of her time on the country grounds and when they did leave home, the chauffeur always knew the way.

Floyd was panicking. He frowned as he pulled a compass, a notebook and a blue carpenter’s pencil from his pocket, furiously scribbling calculations and shaking his head from time to time.

“Something’s wrong, little one,” Floyd muttered, “we’re going the total wrong direction and way too fast for a train like this one.”

Eveline thought of the angry conductor and knew this must have something to do with it. She looked over Floyd once more, deciding that since he was the only grown-up who had given her the time of day, he could be trusted.

“You know that engineer that came in here? That horrible conductor man threw him out. He was angry about something, said he needed to fix it. My name’s Eveline by the way.”

“I heard them talking too, earlier on. It was a funny thing, they kept saying “them” this and “them” that, as if they ain’t the ones in control at all. From what I can see, this darn train has lost control altogether!”

Floyd paused, bearing his eyes into Eveline’s before continuing.

“Let me tell you a secret, Evie. I’m here on a mission. I’m supposed to be meeting my comrades down at Mayfield City, the end of the trainline. Bit of a strike going on, bit of a riot.”

Mayfield City! Eveline’s father visited there three times a year, something about bankers and trust funds.

“I know that place!” Eveline shouted, immediately shoving her hand over her mouth and looking at Floyd apologetically.

“I bet ya do. How come you’re down here anyway, won’t your parents wonder where you are?”

“I can’t find my father. That’s what I came in here looking for! But then that nasty man shouted at me, then I found you in a suitcase and to be honest now I’m a little lost.”

Floyd couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

“Alright Little One, I can see why. Don’t worry, you’ll find your parents soon. Only so many members of the royal court they can squeeze on one train!”

“The royal court? No, my father works for the bank.”

Eveline felt a tense shift in the air as she said this, and immediately regretted it.

“Well…” Floyd replied precariously, “first let’s figure out what’s up with this train shall we?”

Evie nodded warily. She was just telling Floyd what she’d heard between the conductor and the engineer when they heard raised voices and heavy footsteps headed for the carriage door.

“Sssh! Hide quick, someone’s coming,” Floyd exclaimed, throwing himself back into his large trunk and pulling the lid down but leaving a crack open.

It was the dusty engineer again, only this time he looked very smug. There was no sign of the angry conductor and the engineer moved calmly into the centre of the carriage. Eveline watched from behind the suitcase stack as he knelt to the floor and unravelled the parcel once again. The gleaming gold objects shone beautifully in the incoming morning sunlight and Eveline noticed that a gold coin had been added to the pile.

The engineer looked around before crawling to the edge of the carriage, moving aside one rather heavy trunk to reveal an arched opening fit for a mouse. Eveline squinted to see the little doorway, but the engineer’s back obstructed the view. He knocked on the wall three times.

“Please, we bring you these gifts. This has become too dangerous now, we’re asking you very kindly to get things back in order. Otherwise, the conductor will be forced to take drastic action.”

Eveline heard a firm yet gentle voice reply.

“We told you already. We ain’ workn’ til the truth’s out.”

The engineer huffed.

“I passed on the message, but he says he doesn’t know what you’re talking about.”

There was a long silence.

“Wait! Come back!”

Eveline heard the engineer call through the hole, but there was no response. He thumped his fist down onto the heavy trunk and ran his hands through his already dishevelled red hair. He stayed there for a moment before popping his head up as if he’d had some great idea and leaping back through the door.

“Floyd! Did you see anything?” Eveline called from her hiding spot.

Floyd lifted the suitcase lid ever so slightly.

“Yes ma’am, but I can’t possibly believe my eyes, nor find the words to tell!”

“Who was he talking to?!”

“Well that’s exactly it. I thought I saw… well nevermind, I think being cooped up in here is getting the better of me.”

“Tell me!”

“Well, I guess it was a person like you and I, only… he was the size of a little mouse!”

The furniture, Eveline thought. It must be for him! But what did he mean, they won’t work until the truth’s out?

“You’re too much of a grown-up! I know he’s real! I saw that engineer man holding a parcel of miniature furniture just earlier today!”

“That’s right, Little One. That’s it right there by the door.” Floyd said, still in disbelief but not able to argue with the solid evidence lying before him.

Eveline was excited now. This was more adventure than she’d ever been allowed her entire life! She was illegitimately aboard the royal train, hanging out with a rebel and a miniature man! The adrenaline carried her over to the carriage door, wedging a nearby case under the handle to buy them some time. She had to meet that man.

“Are you crazy? He’ll be back any minute!” Floyd whispered furiously, sitting up and popping his beret back onto his head.

“Ssshh, don’t you know anything about adventures? We’ve got to take risks if we want to find out the truth!”

Floyd giggled under his breath. She was the perfect rebel. So prim and proper, yet so willing to fight on the front line.

“Alrighty. I’ll find something to hold it a little longer, now you go and see what’s going on. I don’t think my logical brain can handle another blow quite yet.”

Eveline was already on her way. She sat cross-legged behind the parcel and unravelled it to reveal its mysterious contents. They were even more beautiful close up, but she had to override her curiosity, they didn’t have much time. The train was rocking violently and felt very unsteady. She knocked on the wall beside the doorway three times, just as the engineer had.

Slowly, from the shadows, emerged a figure. Floyd was right, he was the size of a mouse. He had a head full of white hair and frighteningly pale skin. He was dressed in a white cotton vest and dark woollen trousers. His clothes were filthy and he had soot marks plastered across his forehead. The moment he met eyes with Eveline he gasped and retreated back into the shadows.

“Please, Sir, I’d like to help you. We’re…we’re looking for the truth.”

After a long pause, the tiny man emerged once again looking incredibly nervous but equally as curious.

“Well I ain’ never seen a young lady like you down ‘ere before! An’ I ain’ never been called ‘Sir’ before either! What’s they got the babes takin’ the load off now?”

Eveline couldn’t really understand what he was talking about. She beckoned Floyd over, who was watching dubiously from a distance. He crept towards the two and knelt beside Eveline.

“Actually, uh, Sir…”

“Me name’s Pat. Don’ hurt yourself with them silly names.”

“Uh, yes.. Sorry Pat. Well actually, we’re not part of the train service. We’re just..uh… hitchin’ a lift. But something’s wrong you see, the train ain’t going the right way and it’s feeling a little fast. Now we’re feeling a bit like something bigger’s going on around here.”

“Darn right something bigger’s goin’ on round here! We’ve had enough! They been orderin’ us round like fools for too long! My poor Grace, that was the last straw!” Pat cried out, burrowing his face into his arm for a moment before sniffing and straightening himself out.

“But Sir, I mean Pat, well all things aside, we’re not entirely sure who you are, or what you’re doing down there?”

Pat rolled his eyes.

“Well, ain’ that a surprise. Tell you what, meet me at the far end there, behind the door.”

Floyd and Eveline nodded.

“Hey wait!” Eveline called out. “Don’t you want your furniture?”

“Ha!” Pat spat loudly. “They think they can bribe us with riches. They don’ know nothin’! Ain’ got one heart between ‘em. That stuff ain’ no good for us. The only thing worth livin’ for nowadays is death or freedom. You can keep it.”

Floyd shrugged and gestured for Eveline to take the parcel. She did so reluctantly. The pieces were beautiful, but she didn’t feel they belonged to her.

Pat disappeared once again and Eveline rushed to the door, listening carefully. She could hear low murmuring voices and the steady melody of classical tune, they were safe for now. Floyd removed the satin parasol he had wedged underneath the door handle and shoved the trunk aside. Eveline pushed the door open a good few inches to reveal the corridor connection.

“Psst. Here!” Pat called from a small gap underneath a lightweight wooden floorboard.

He was holding it up, struggling immensely. Floyd took the plank under his finger and relieved him a little. As he did so, he got the fright of his life. He gasped in shock and glanced at Eveline. The scene that lay before him was both astounding and horrifying.

“What is it?!” she asked, lying down to peer more closely through the gap in the flooring. She too became speechless, and they both stared in awe at the discovery they had made.

Pat was standing at the top of a stepladder which had been carefully crafted out of matchsticks. At the bottom of the ladder sat hundreds upon hundreds of tiny people, just like him. They were all dressed in worn, cotton clothing and with noticeable grub on their hands and faces. A murmur spread through the crowds as they all looked towards Eveline’s face peering down at them.

“Oh my…” was all Eveline could muster. The colour had drained from Floyd’s face and he looked likely to faint.

“But… but how long have you been here?” Eveline managed to find some words.

“How long? We been runnin’ this train for generations! They ain’ never let us see the light of day.”

“Running the train? What do you mean?”

Pat sighed heavily.

“You don’ know nothin’ do ya.”

Eveline shrugged apologetically as Floyd sat back and attempted to regain full consciousness. The tiny humans swayed as the train rocked violently back and forth.

“You didn’t never hear of the Locominions before?” Pat frowned, looking disappointed.

Floyd shook his head with haste. Eveline looked back at him sadly.

“I’m afraid not, Sir.”

“Who d’ya think keeps the engine runnin’? Who d’ya think lifts that coal into the fire all night?”

“That’s the engineer’s job, isn’t it?”

“As if! Those men don’ do nothin’ but eat an’ drink. Then they send us orders an’ we gotta pick up the pieces. I’m tellin’ you, my Grace was a step too far.”

“Please, Sir, who is your Grace?”

“Grace’d be my wife, if they didn’ kill her already.”

Soft wails emerged from the crowd at this sentence. Eveline felt sick to her stomach.

“Who did?”

“You ain’ met that awful man who call himself a conductor? She din’ do nothin’ wrong. She only wanted to speak her mind, tha’s all.”

Eveline softened her voice.

“What happened to her? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Pat fell silent and a mixture of terror, grief and fury consumed his face. A younger girl who looked quite like him stood up from the lit tea light candle one of the groups of Locominions were gathered around. She tugged on his sleeve and he shifted over, allowing her to climb the ladder.

“Poor Mam, they… they threw her in the fire,” the girl said quietly.

More of the Locominions cried out with grief and the mood in the oscillating undercarriage darkened even more so.

Eveline felt the pain streaming from their mouths and even Floyd was now paying full attention, listening carefully with his hand placed over his heart.

“Why would they do such a thing?”

“Cos she wouldn’ take it no more. She told ‘em, they better let us outta here or she’s gonna go speak with the royals. You see, grandaddy and his daddy before him, they never said such things. They always did as they was told, workin’ all those years for nothin’, raisin’ all these families on scraps from them rich people. They didn’ see another way. But not our Mam, she…”

“She was a dreamer.” Pat interjected. “Most beautiful dreamer of ‘em all, ain’ I right Dora?”

Pat’s girl nodded, and a few of the Locominions gave a slight whoop and a cheer.

“Tha’s what we gotta hold onto now. Tha’s why we ain’ givin’ in this time. Not for nothin’ and not for no-one. So don’ you go telling us nothin’ else! Ain’ no-one on this trains knows how to reconnect the brakes ‘cept Ronnie over there, ain’ that right brother?”

A middle aged Locominion dressed in overalls lay sprawled across a matchstick bed on the far side of the undercarriage. He nodded his head and raised his hand.

“We’d rather carry this damn train into a great canyon than take orders from these people no more.”

Eveline grew very concerned. She could see that he meant every word he said, and there would be no telling him otherwise. They were moving at an alarming speed. The nausea rose from her belly and tightened her chest. How could she not have known the trains were run by the Locominions? Did the other grown-ups know? How much else had they hidden? She was grateful for the nightdress and dishevelled appearance she’d acquired from rolling around in all these suitcases. He’d never have given her much of a chance in her usual clothing.

“We have to do something!” Eveline desperately held onto Floyd, who was now looking a little more his usual self. The sounds of the train wheels grinding against the tracks were louder from the corridor. The reality of the danger was getting too close.

It just so happened that Floyd had been waiting for this moment all his life, though he didn’t know it. He had always followed his rebel gang, taking orders alike and doing as he was told. His opinion was often shoved aside, his experience not considered as valuable. Not here, not this time. He knew exactly what to do, and what an honourable cause to be a part of!

“Tell me something, Pat. If we help you outta here, help you to start a new life for yourselves, will you fix the brakes and get this train stopped safely?”

“No doubt,” Pat replied sceptically, “but you ain’ gonna get through to ‘em anymore than we did.”

But Floyd didn’t need to.

“Okay, Little One. I need you to start searching in those trunks over there. Find yourself a pretty dress, like one of the little princesses would wear.”

He went on.

“Pat, meet me back at the other door. We’d better get this one locked up again.”

Pat nodded, returning to his underworld with Dora. Floyd wedged the carriage door shut and listened for the two men. He could hear shouting again, they were busy for now. He hurried over to Pat who was waiting in the archway.

“First, we gotta figure out where this train is headed. I was on my way to meet my comrades down in Mayfield City. Got 200 men there on strike, waiting to protest. Thought about causin’ a riot. Fat lotta good that’ll do now.”

“Actually, we ain’ too far from there now,” Pat replied, “just takin’ a lil detour. They switched the tracks when they knew we was comin’ up too fast. Can’t take those corners over 70 and stay on track, not a chance. We only gotta radio in and tell ‘em everything fixed up so they’ll switch it back. They’ll wanna roll in there like nothin’ ain’ happened.”

“Perfect, then we’ve just gotta deal with those two. We can pull right up to Mayfield City and let you out. Once they see you, there’s no going back. The truth is out, and I got 200 men there to back it up!”

Evie was dressing herself in a white, laced dress with stockings and satin gloves to match. She was feeling quite like a new version of herself. Glad to be a part of this mission to expose the truth.

“Evie, you gotta get this right. You gotta act like you ain’t seen nothin’. Go in there, tell them your father, Duke of Basington, has noticed we’re off track and sent you to tell them urgently. Make sure you stay there ‘til he makes that radio call.”

“Be quick about it, ain’ much time til we reach the switch junction. Tha’s the last route to Mayfield from here.”

There was an excitement in the air, and they were all thriving off it.

“Dora!” Pat called into the dark corridor beside him, “you better ring that engineer’s bell. Get him in here and we’ll tell the old fool we’ve given in. He won’ suspect nothin! While you’re at it, tell Ronnie he better get back to work. We need those brakes back in order and the stopping team ready to get us into Mayfield. Things about to change ‘round here!”

Returning to his suitcase, Floyd watched everything fall into place, just as he’d imagined it. He couldn’t believe his luck. The engineer met with Pat and returned to the locomotive looking smug as pie. Evie had played her role well, of course. It wasn’t too far from the truth. Now they were back on track, they were no longer in danger and he was about to expose an enormous social injustice. He couldn’t help but revel in his pride.

After some time, they noticed the train slowing. Pat had shown Floyd how to find their outer door that would connect them directly with the platform. Evie felt nervous, not knowing what to expect.

The train stopped and Evie peered out of the window. The station was full of the type of people she was used to, but since meeting her new friends, she felt an aversion to that way of life. There was so much hidden under the surface that she’d never even considered. So much suffering that her people had turned a blind eye to.

The bells rang as the conductor emerged from the locomotive with a sickening false smile spread from cheek to cheek. The station workers rushed to open the carriage doors for the royal passengers. A dozen or so onlookers and three photographers had gathered to see who would be stepping off the royal train. Floyd and Eveline slipped through the commotion and snuck around to see Pat beaming at his outer doorway, with families of Locominions lined up behind him.

“Now’s your chance, my friend, we’ll see you out there in just a mo’, ” Floyd spoke kindly.

“Good luck!” Evie offered with a trembling voice.

Pat tipped his hat to his allies and looked bravely onto the new world. He glanced back at his people, muttering a prayer as he did so. Whatever happens now, he thought, there’s no turning back.