The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (20 page)

And there were three other pictures, and they were very small, and they were a palace and a beach and a palace. And this is what the orangutans looked like

227. And I kept my eyes closed and I didn't look at my watch at all. And the trains coming in and out of the station were in a rhythm, like music or drumming. And it was like counting and saying, "Left, right, left, right, left, right. . ." which Siobhan taught me to do to make myself calm. And I was saying in my head, "Train coming. Train stopped. Train going. Silence. Train coming. Train stopped. Train going. . ." as if the trains were only in my mind. And normally I don't imagine things that aren't happening because it is a lie and it makes me feel scared, but it was better than watching the trains coming in and out of the station because that made me feel even more scared.

And I didn't open my eyes and I didn't look at my watch. And it was like being in a dark room with the curtains closed so I couldn't see anything, like when you wake up at night and the only sounds you hear are the sounds inside your head. And that made it better because it was like the little station wasn't there, outside my head, but I was in bed and I was safe.

And then the silences between the trains coming and going got longer and longer. And I could hear that there were fewer people in the little station when the train wasn't there, so I opened my eyes and I looked at my watch and it said 8:07 p.m. and I had been sitting on the bench for approximately 5 hours but it hadn't seemed like approximately 5 hours, except that my bottom hurt and I was hungry and thirsty.

And then I realized that Toby was missing because he was not in my pocket, and I didn't want him to be missing because we weren't in Father's house or Mother's house and there wasn't anyone to feed him in the little station and he would die and he might get run over by a train.

And then I looked up at the ceiling and I saw that there was a long black box which was a sign and it said

3 Queen's Park

7 MIN

And then the bottom line scrolled up and disappeared and a different line scrolled up into its place and the sign said

i Harrow & Wealdstone l min 2 Willesden Junction 4 min

And then it changed again and it said

l Harrow & Wealdstone k* STAND BACK TRAIN APPROACHING **

And then I heard the sound like sword fighting and the roaring of a train coming into the station and I worked out that there was a big computer somewhere and it knew where all the trains were and it sent messages to the black boxes in the little stations to say when the trains were coming, and that made me feel better because everything had an order and a plan.

And the train came into the little station and it stopped and 5 people got onto the train and another person ran into the little station and got on, and 7 people got off the train and then the doors closed automatically and the train went away. And when the next train came I wasn't so scared anymore because the sign said

TRAIN APPROACHING

so I knew it was going to happen.

And then I decided that I would look for Toby because there were only 3 people in the little station. So I stood up and I looked up and down the little station and in the doorways that

went into tunnels but I couldn't see him anywhere. And then I looked down into the black lower-down bit where the rails were.

And then I saw two mice and they were black because they were covered in dirt. And I liked that because I like mice and rats. But they weren't Toby, so I carried on looking.

And then I saw Toby, and he was also in the lower-down bit where the rails were, and I knew he was Toby because he was white and he had a brown egg shape on his back. So I climbed down off the concrete. And he was eating a bit of rubbish that was an old sweet paper. And someone shouted, "Jesus. What are you doing?"

And I bent down to catch Toby but he ran off. And I walked after him and I bent down again and I said, "Toby. . . Toby. . . Toby," and I held out my hand so that he could smell my hand and smell that it was me.

And someone said, "Get out of there, for fuck's sake," and I looked up and it was a man who was wearing a green raincoat and he had black shoes and his socks were showing and they were gray with little diamond patterns on them.

And I said, "Toby. . . Toby. . ." but he ran off again.

And the man with the diamond patterns on his socks tried to grab my shoulder, so I screamed. And then I heard the sound like sword fighting and Toby started running again, but this time he ran the other way, which was past my feet, and I grabbed at him and I caught him by the tail.

And the man with the diamond patterns on his socks said, "Oh Christ. Oh Christ."

And then I heard the roaring and I lifted Toby up and grabbed him with both hands and he bit me on my thumb and there was blood coming out and I shouted and Toby tried to jump out of my hands.

And then the roaring got louder and I turned round and I saw the train coming out of the tunnel and I was going to be run over and killed so I tried to climb up onto the concrete but it was high and I was holding Toby in both my hands.

And then the man with the diamond patterns on his socks grabbed hold of me and pulled me and I screamed, but he kept pulling me and he pulled me up onto the concrete and we fell over and I carried on screaming because he had hurt my shoulder. And then the train came into the station and I stood up and I ran to the bench again and I put Toby into the pocket inside my jacket and he went very quiet and he didn't move.

And the man with the diamond patterns on his socks was standing next to me and he said, "What the fuck do you think you were playing at?"

But I didn't say anything.

And he said, "What were you doing?"

And the doors of the train opened and people got off and there was a lady standing behind the man with the diamond patterns on his socks and she was carrying a guitar case like Siobhan has.

And I said, "I was finding Toby. He's my pet rat."

And the man with the diamond patterns on his socks said, "Fucking Nora."

And the lady with the guitar case said, "Is he OK?"

And the man with the diamond patterns on his socks said, "Him? Thanks a fucking bundle. Jesus Christ. A pet rat. Oh shit. My train." And then he ran to the train and he banged on the door, which was closed, and the train started to go away and he said, "Fuck."

And the lady said, "Are you OK?" and she touched my arm so I screamed again.

And she said, "OK. OK. OK."

And there was a sticker on her guitar case and it said

records

And I was sitting on the ground and the woman knelt down on one knee and she said, "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

And if she was a teacher at school I could have said, "Where is 451c Chapter Road, Willesden, London NW2 5NG?" but she was a stranger, so I said, "Stand further away," because I didn't like her being so close. And I said, "I've got a Swiss Army knife and it has a saw blade and it could cut someone's fingers off."

And she said, "OK, buddy. I'm going to take that as a no," and she stood up and walked away.

And the man with the diamond patterns on his socks said, "Mad as a fucking hatter. Jesus," and he was pressing a handkerchief against his face and there was blood on the handkerchief.

And then another train came and the man with the diamond patterns on his socks and the lady with the guitar case got on and it went away again.

And then 8 more trains came and I decided that I would get onto a train and then I would work out what to do.

So I got on the next train.

And Toby tried to get out of my pocket so I took hold of him and I put him in my outside pocket and I held him with my hand.

And there were 11 people in the carriage and I didn't like being in a room with 11 people in a tunnel, so I concentrated on things in the carriage. And there were signs saying There are 53,963 holiday cottages in Scandinavia and Germany and VITABIOTICS and 3435 and Penalty £10 if you fail to show a valid ticket for your entire journey and Discover Gold, Then Bronze and TVIC and EPBIC and suck my cock and oQ Ostructing the doors can be dangerous and BRV and Con. IC and TALK TO THE WORLD.

And there was a pattern on the walls which was like this

And there was a pattern on the seats like this

Then the train wobbled a lot and I had to hang on to a rail and we went into a tunnel and it was noisy and I closed my eyes and I could feel the blood pumping in the sides of my neck.

And then we came out of the tunnel and went into another little station and it was called Warwick Avenue and it said it in big letters on the wall and I liked that because you knew where you were.

And I timed the distance between stations all the way to Willesden Junction and all the times between stations were multiples of 15 seconds like this

0:00 Paddington

1:30 Warwick Avenue

3:15 Maida Vale

5:00 Kilburn Park

7:00 Queen's Park

10:30 Kensal Green

11:45 Willesden Junction

And when the train stopped at Willesden Junction and the doors opened automatically I walked out of the train. And then the doors closed and the train went away. And everyone who got off the train walked up a staircase and over a bridge except me, and then there were only 2 people that I could see and one was a man and he was drunk and he had brown stains on his coat and his shoes were not a pair and he was singing but I couldn't hear what he was singing, and the other was an Indian man in a shop which was a little window in a wall.

And I didn't want to talk to either of them because I was tired and hungry and I had already talked to lots of strangers, which is dangerous, and the more you do something dangerous the more likely it is that something bad happens. But I didn't know how to get to 451c Chapter Road, London NW2 5NG, so I had to ask somebody.

So I went up to the man in the little shop and I said, "Where is 451c Chapter Road, London

NW2 5NG?"

And he picked up a little book and handed it to me and said, "Two ninety-five."

And the book was called LONDON AZ Street Atlas and Index, Geographers'A-ZMap Company, and I opened it up and it was lots of maps.