Carly hugged Laurel so tight her ribs hurt. “I wish you could come with me, Carly.” Laurel extracted herself from her best friend’s grip.
“Me, too. But Dad wouldn’t hear of it. Missing a week of school, not to mention the expense. Make sure you email me every day, and post tons of pictures on line. It’ll almost be like I’m there with you.” Carly gave her quick hug and stepped back. “You need to go through security soon, so go say good bye to your folks.”
“Still, I’d love for you to meet Aisling, Gort, and Coll.” She glanced around the crowded baggage check in area. “Where’s Chance? I thought he might show up to say good bye.”
A red flush rose up Carly’s face. “He didn’t want to. Why is he mad at you? Did you two have a fight or something?”
Laurel shook her head. “I don’t know, he’s been strange ever since I came home. And he gets all snarly whenever Coll’s name comes up. What’s with that?”
“Are you blind? It’s plain as day how he feels about you.” Carly sighed in exasperation.
“How he feels about me? What’s to see? He’s one of my oldest friends.”
“Chance has the hots for you and you never seem to give him a second look,” Carly explained.
“What?” Laurel was astounded at her friend’s revelation. “Really? You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“God’s honest truth.” Carly laid a hand over her heart.
“Seriously? Man, I gotta go, but we’re gonna talk more about this later. It just feels so unreal.” Laurel picked up her carry-on luggage and gave her mom a hug. Dad was as bad as Chance, refusing to come to airport to see her off. Once Gramma Bella was back home, she’d have to find a way to get the two of them together and resolve whatever the problems there were between them.
Laurel paused by the entrance to security and looked back at Carly and Mom one more time. Mom had her arm around Carly’s shoulders and they both waved. She got through the line up in record time and set out to find her gate. Once there, she pulled out her tablet to finish the last chapters of a book she needed to read for school.
After a long and boring trip across the ocean in the plane, Laurel was more than happy to collect her luggage and catch the Heathrow Express from the airport to Paddington Station. She had a ticket for the Cornish Riviera Express where Mom had booked her a berth with a bed and wash basin all to herself. The hustle and bustle of Paddington Station unnerved Laurel when she first stepped off the Heathrow train. Damn, I wish Carly was here. Rolling the large suitcase along beside her, Laurel stopped at the ticket office to ask where she should wait to board the night train. The attendant showed her to a well-appointed lounge and told her someone would come and let her know when the train was available to board.
Her feet resting on her suitcase, Laurel flipped through a magazine someone left on the chair beside her. She tossed it back where it came from and closed her eyes. Excitement warred with weariness. It was so hard to believe she was back in England. It didn’t seem real at all. In just a few hours she’d be stepping off the train in Penzance. Hopefully, it would be a clear day and Saint Michael’s Mount would be visible off to the east across Mount’s Bay. I wonder if I’ll see Corm again, if we go there. Only this time I’ll know he’s the spirit of Cormoran, the last giant ever seen in Cornwall. The first time I thought he was just a nice old man. Her thoughts drifted to what Carly said about her brother. How had she missed the fact Chance wanted to be more than friends? He had tons of girls chasing after him at school and at high school rodeo events.
“The Cornish Riviera Express is now available for boarding. Please have your boarding passes ready,” a First Great Western Rail employee announced.
Startled out of her thoughts, Laurel got to her feet and collected her things. She exited the lounge. Even at this hour of the evening Paddington was busy. Pushing her way through the milling crowds she searched the overhead information boards to find the track for her train. She finally found it and started off toward Platform One. She stopped beside the long sleek blue car emblazoned with Night Riviera Sleeper. A man in a First Great Western uniform approached and Laurel showed him her ticket.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to find my berth. Can you help me, please?” Laurel was totally at a loss to figure out which car to get on, and how she was supposed to figure out which berth was hers.
The man explained how to read the ticket and took her to the correct car. “Once you’re on board, the berth numbers are on the doors. If you have any trouble, there should be an attendant around to help you out.”
“Thank you so much,” Laurel said and allowed the man to lift her luggage on board.
“You’ll be all right then, miss?” he asked.
“Yes, thank you again,” she replied, although she was still a bit nervous. The last time she rode the train, it was daylight and she had a seat in the first class car. Finding her place then was so much easier than in this narrow corridor with windows on one side and a bank of closed doors on the other stretching the length of the car.
Another uniformed gentleman came to her rescue and showed her to the correct door and explained how things worked. Laurel thanked him and stowed her belongings. She swayed a little as the train pulled out of the station. Once it was well underway, Laurel went off in search of the Lounge Car for something to eat. Happily, it was easy to find and Laurel was soon back in her berth and ready for bed. Snuggled under the duvet, the sound of wheels on the rails kept lulling her to sleep, even though she tried to read. Eventually, she gave up the fight and let her eyes close. I wonder what it will be like seeing Coll? It’s been a long time since I saw him. Email and phone calls just aren’t the same as being together.