‘You’re too late—it’s closed!’ said one of the men as Arthur sprinted over to them.
‘But I need to go that way to get home.’
‘Where’ve you come from, then?’
‘From the lake.’
‘Impossible—the lake was cleared hours ago.’
‘OK, but that’s where I’ve come from, honestly.’
The soldier eyed him suspiciously.
‘Wait,’ he ordered, pulling a radio from his belt.
‘Colonel, there’s a kid here who says he needs to take the track path to get home… Says he’s been at the lake all this time… I don’t know, he just appeared holding a fishing rod… maybe ten, twelve.’
‘I’m twelve.’
‘Yes, Colonel, I thought it’d been cleared too… Yes, Sir, yes, Sir, I understand.’
‘Alright, you can go through, but you need to keep moving, do you hear me?’ he said, signalling to let Arthur pass. ‘This whole area’s been closed off. You shouldn’t be here.’
Thanking him, Arthur hurried up the steep railway embankment, stopping for a second at the top to catch his breath. About to set off again, a sound, a short way up the tracks, caused him to turn around and look. There, parked in a shaded siding, was a completely black, windowless train. Not very long, but coupled to a massive engine, it seemed to consist entirely of a number of very strange-looking, oblong-shaped carriages. Having never seen any trains use the siding before, and wondering for a second if he might not be able to sneak a closer look at them, a group of soldiers emerging from the surrounding woods made him change his mind and hurry on his way.
Back at the cottage, Arthur found his stepfather, Sasha, busy painting the front fence.
‘You’ll never guess what I’ve just seen,’ he said, bursting through the gate. ‘A whole load of helicopters landing at the lake. Seven of them to be exact.’
‘Seven?’
‘Yep. And they were carrying a load of men dressed in black.’
‘Dressed in black? Well, that’ll be the army, I expect,’ said Sasha, without looking up from what he was doing. ‘Probably on exercise or something. There’s a big base near here.’
‘I know. But they didn’t look like normal soldiers.’
‘Well, I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. Right now, I’d be worrying more about the fact that you’re late again.’
‘I’m not worried. I was just wondering what they were doing. I’ve never seen them at the lake before.’
‘And I just said that you’re late again.’