Chapter one

Michael surfaced with relief from a nightmare in which he’d been pursued down a flight of stairs by something sinister in a baby’s pushchair. He stared into the darkness, his heart thudding as the dream faded and slipped away leaving nothing more than an elusive hint rumbling around in his mind. As if to echo it a night train passed on the track that ran alongside the back of the house, leaving its own rumble hanging in the air for a second before falling silent. The silence bothered him and he wished another goods wagon would labour along the track leaving a chatter of conversation in its wake.

When he and Joseph had first considered buying the house they’d wondered whether the sound of the trains would be intrusive, but decided they liked the property enough to risk it. Built in the Victorian era it had been the residence and workplace of a succession of Station Masters before becoming a place of domicile only. It retained some original features, including a handsome enamelled moulding of a steam train, which was screwed to the red brick wall at the front of the house. Underneath the moulding was a heavy brass plate engraved with a plain statement, The Station Master’s House. Michael had wanted to replace it with a new plate engraved with a merger of their names, or similar. Joseph wouldn’t hear of it. The plate was a part of the history of the house and it would remain. Besides, he had patted Michael’s’ bottom, The Station Master’s House had a ring to it he rather liked.