No Stone Unturned (25 page)

Jim had a friendly, white-whiskery face. He smiled at Kelly, with glassy blue-grey eyes, and smacked his lips as he placed his pint glass down on a beer mat.

‘Hello,' said Kelly, speaking as loudly as she dared. ‘Do you mind if I sit down? The landlord said you might be able to help me with some questions I have about Wilmcote history.'

Old Jim raised his eyebrows and smiled, relishing the opportunity to be useful to someone. ‘I can certainly try, my dear. Please…' He gestured to Kelly to pull up a chair.

Slowly, she told the old man all about her school project and asked if he knew anything, in particular about the history of the quarry and the railway.

‘Yes, yes,' Jim replied, folding his arms and chuckling. ‘My grandfather used to work in the quarry. But it's all a long time ago. I don't remember much. I'm ninety-six, you know.'

‘Wow,' said Kelly, ‘that's not bad going.'

‘No, indeed. Not bad at all.' He picked up his glass and winked. ‘I put it down to a drop of the old ale. A pint a day keeps the doctor away. Isn't that what they say?'

‘Something like that,' Kelly chuckled. She liked Jim already.

‘My grandfather used to come here to the Mason's too. This was his seat. I always sit here. I see it as carrying on a family tradition. And I'm ninety-six now, you know.'

‘Yes, you said.' Kelly glanced over at the bar and, seeing the landlord eyeing her, decided to get old Jim back on track. She was about to ask a question when he picked up his thread.

‘Oh yes, this place was full of quarrymen in my grandfather's day, and labourers from the railway. He used to tell me a thing or two about what they got up to in here.'

‘Did your grandfather ever mention any names? A William Denton perhaps? He worked in the quarry and on the railway.'

‘Denton, did you say?'

Kelly nodded.

The old man screwed up his eyes and scratched his beard. ‘I don't know. It's a long time ago. I was only about your age when my grandfather died.'

He took a slug of his beer, and Kelly watched as he licked the froth from his moustache. Then she saw a flicker in his eyes.

‘Nah, I don't remember any names, love, but I'll never forget the story of those chaps who got killed.'

‘On the railway?' prompted Kelly.

‘Aye, that's right. On the railway. Four of ‘em wiped out at the same time. Terrible it was. Not many people know about that.'

‘I do,' announced Kelly, inching forwards onto the edge of her chair, ‘and I'm trying to find out what happened. Oh, please tell me you know some details.'

Old Jim lent towards her, and lowered his voice to a whisper, clearly relishing the chance to impart some of his knowledge. ‘They said it was just an accident. But it wasn't. It was downright negligence.'

Kelly's eyes were wide with anticipation. ‘Go on,' she whispered back.

‘They shouldn't have been running trains on that track at all that day. There were still repairs to do. Some folk tried to blame the driver, but the poor bugger didn't have any warning. He had no idea there were men on the track. If he had he'd have blown his whistle, wouldn't he?'

Kelly's hand had gone to her mouth. ‘So what are you saying? The men were working on the track and got hit by a train?'

Old Jim grimaced and nodded. ‘Completely splattered by it, they were. Bits everywhere. Couldn't even tell who was who.'

‘Oh my God!' Kelly exclaimed, her heart thumping. ‘So who
was
to blame?'

‘There was talk that it was the railway company's fault. It was a new line and they'd been rushing to get it finished in time for an official opening. Lots of VIPs were coming, and all that jazz. Cutting corners they were. Running trains along the line before it was ready.'

Kelly exhaled. It was too horrible to imagine.

Old Jim went on. ‘And I don't think the labourers had a look-out either.'

‘A look-out?'

‘Yes. Someone posted further up the track, to look out for trains coming. To tell the workers to step aside.'

‘So what happened?' asked Kelly. ‘How come the rail company didn't get into trouble?'

‘Oooh, I don't know, my dear. It was a long time ago. Things were different then. They didn't have all this health and safety nonsense. These companies could get away with murder.'

‘Literally,' agreed Kelly.

‘I think there was an inquest or something, but I don't know what happened with that.'

‘I do. They decided it was just an accident. I've got an old newspaper cutting about it. There was an inquest but no one was considered to be at fault. The verdict was accidental death.'

Jim snorted. ‘Hmm. That'd be right. The big boys always manage to get away with it, don't they? No one cares about the poor working folk. Ah well. It's all water under the bridge now.'

‘Maybe,' pondered Kelly.

Behind her, someone turned up the volume on the television. The horse racing was about to start at Newmarket. Jim's attention immediately switched from her face to the large plasma screen on the wall over her shoulder. Kelly could tell she was not going to get any more from him today. Besides, he had turned out to be amazingly useful, ninety-six or not.

‘I'll leave you to it, Jim,' she shouted, getting up from her chair. ‘Thank you so much. You don't know how much you have helped.'

Old Jim held out a liver-spotted hand across the table to shake Kelly's. ‘My pleasure, my dear. Any time…but don't leave it too long, I'm ninety-six, you know.'

When she got back outside, Kelly found Ben and Tyson waiting patiently in the autumn sunshine. Ben was still perched on the bench, stroking Tyson who was on the wooden seat alongside him.

As Kelly approached, Ben looked up apologetically and shrugged his shoulders. ‘I'm sorry, Kel. I'm not much help to you, am I?'

‘It's okay,' she replied, giving Tyson a biscuit from her pocket. ‘It was fine. More than fine, actually.'

‘You were gone a long time. I guessed you had found someone to talk to.'

‘I did. A lovely man called Old Jim.' She giggled. ‘He was ninety-six, you know.'

‘And?'

‘We've definitely got ourselves a cover-up. The four men were run over by a train, Ben. That's how they died. It was awful. Old Jim said the railway line wasn't even officially opened yet. They were still working on the line. And the railway company was either cutting corners because they had a deadline to meet, or hiding the fact that they had started to use the track before it was ready—or, who knows, it could have been both. I'm sure what Old Jim said wasn't just gossip. I believe him. And the more I think about it, there has to be a reason why there's no mention of how those men died on their gravestones, not even their full names. It's like someone wanted to bury the truth along with them.'

‘But there was the inquest,' Ben said.

‘Yes, but how on earth did they reach that accidental death verdict? From what Old Jim says, there were some serious questions about why those men got killed. I think I'm going to have another look on the internet. Perhaps I've missed something. There's
got
to be some more details somewhere.' Kelly picked up Tyson and placed him back on the ground. ‘Come on, I'll tell you everything Old Jim said while we walk back.'

By the time they were approaching the campsite, Kelly had pretty much repeated her conversation with Old Jim word for word and the two of them had each come up with several theories as to how the railway company managed to come out of the whole thing so squeaky clean.

‘Kel,' Ben said, stopping to look directly into her eyes. ‘Why are you doing all this? It happened so many years ago. What does it matter to you?'

‘Well, it's for our history project.'

‘Yes, I know, but it's become more than that. I can tell.'

Kelly looked down and shuffled her feet. ‘I dunno. I'm inquisitive, I guess. I like a good story, and this certainly has everything that I like in a story…death, a bit of mystery, a cover-up. Perhaps I will write it one day. Get it published.'

Ben grinned. ‘Now that would be good.'

‘Yeah,' laughed Kelly. ‘But you know, I feel like this story found me. It all began when Tyson dug up that boot. It's like the truth wants to be dug up too.'

Ben nodded. ‘You know, I think you've pretty much got all the answers to this mystery already. You just need to piece them together.'

Kelly agreed, wondering if Mr Walker might be able to help her. ‘Shall we meet Monday evening? You could come and say hello to my mum and dad at last.'

‘I was thinking that you could come to my cottage,' said Ben. ‘After school. For supper. It's time for you to see where I live.'

Kelly didn't argue. She was thrilled to bits. ‘That would be lovely. I can meet your family.'

Ben nodded and smiled back at his friend. ‘See you, Kel.'

‘See you, Ben.'

Ben started to walk away, then suddenly he turned, ran back to her, and kissed her on the cheek. His kiss was so light that Kelly touched her face, not even sure if she had really felt his lips at all.

‘What was that for?' she squeaked, taken aback.

‘I just wanted to say thank you,' said Ben. ‘For being inquisitive. For being you.'

Chapter 31 – 28th September 1860

B
illy's trousers were wet and filthy by the time he sprinted onto the brand new platform at Wilmcote Station. He had run all the way down the muddy track from the cottage, trying to leap the deepest, grittiest puddles, desperate to catch up with George and the others. They were already there on the platform, gathered around their foreman, as Billy appeared round the corner and slowed to a walk. In spite of the cold, Billy was in a bath of perspiration inside his jacket, and he was breathing so hard he wouldn't have been able to speak, even if he'd wanted to.

‘You're cutting it fine, William Denton,' remarked the foreman, checking his pocket watch.

Billy bent over, catching his breath, and held up his hand by way of an apology. Before straightening up, he pulled his cap down even lower over his eyes and turned up his jacket collar to obscure as much of his face as he could. He was glad for the excuse of the wind and the rain. Even so, as he glanced to his side, he spotted Ted, his father's closest friend, squinting at him from a few yards away. Ted's eyes widened in recognition, but to Billy's relief, he remained silent and switched his attention back to the foreman, who was now giving the men his instructions for the morning.

‘The test runs threw up some vibration on the Bishopton bend on the northbound line,' the foreman announced in a loud voice. ‘The ballast must have been laid too thin. Ain't no surprise, really, the speed we've been made to lay this track at. But if we don't pack it deeper now, the soil underneath will sink. So set to it. I want it done by lunchtime.'

The four labourers all nodded and turned to head off in the direction of the Bishopton bend.

‘One more thing,' said the foreman, calling them back, a note of nervousness in his voice. ‘You'll need to listen out for trains.'

‘What?' asked George, squinting at his boss through the rain, the angle of his eyebrows conveying his confusion.

‘They said they might be running a couple of test trains today.'

‘On the southbound side, though, yes? Not much point running a test on the northbound side till we're finished.'

The foreman looked embarrassed. ‘To be honest, I'm not sure. It was all a bit vague. Best keep your wits about you, just in case.'

George shook his head in resignation, and signalled to the others to start making their way down the track.

As soon as they were out of the foreman's earshot, Ted sidled up to Billy and caught his arm.

‘What the hell do you think you're doing, son?' he muttered under his breath.

Billy's eyes darted over his shoulder to George and Lewis, who were a few paces behind. They hadn't heard. Billy lowered his voice to a whisper. ‘Dad's not well. I think you probably know why. I'm here to take his place and earn his wage and make sure my mother sees that bonus. I'm old enough.'

‘If the foreman finds out…'

Billy cut in. ‘My father needs to keep his job, Ted. And you need me. If this job doesn't get done this morning, no one gets that bonus, including you.'

Ted smiled wryly. ‘Then you'd better get to work Billy lad. Just do as I tell you, and no slacking. I'll clear it with George and Lewis.'

Billy went on ahead down the track while Ted dropped back to have a word with the other two men. Glancing back, he saw them nodding their heads in understanding and felt the relief wash over him. All he had to do was keep his head down and help them finish packing the ballast, and they were in the clear.

By now, the clouds had dropped so low that, as Billy looked into the distance, it was hard to see where the ground finished and the sky began. He wiped away the driving rain from his face and tried to focus on the dark lines that were the railway tracks. Less than thirty yards ahead, they too were swallowed up in the grey blanket of mist, as they disappeared around the Bishopton bend.