The Last Ride

by Alan Wilkinson



The Pleasure Beach was closing as we left the Horsehoe Bar and headed, not for the exit, but for the famous Ghost Train. It was our staff do and I’d arranged this as a surprise.
“Right team it’s not compulsory, you don’t have to be scared witless we won’t mock you at work tomorrow if you don’t come on board. Jane you’re coming on?” shouted Bill.

“Of course, wouldn’t miss it for …I’ll think of something.”
Bill pushed his way through,”Ill sits next to you Jane, protect you from the Hooded Claw.”
“It's you I need protection from “I said, secretly I was assuming he would want to sit with me. Tonight he was chasing me, for a change.
“Is everybody here?” asked Sue, the Pleasure Beach Organiser. ”The Ghost Train's waiting.” Sue opened the gate to the platform. “This way everybody, careful with those drinks you shouldn’t really bring drinks onto the ride.”
I looked around to make sure everyone was in the queue, “No pushing guys, remember you’re English” I chided.”
“I’m not English," said Prakesh from accounts.
“Nor am I”, said Dai from Wales.
“Oh well! You don’t want us to show you up, so queue like your English.” I climbed aboard, deliberately flashing a leg, for Bill.
“Think I need protection from you,” said Bill swigging a bottle of wine.
“No one's forcing you to sit with me.”
“Mm this carriage is cosy,” said Bill climbing in all over me
“It's cramped now,” I said.
“Here we go,” Prakesh shouted from the front carriage.
As the train lurched into the dark tunnel everyone screamed a rite of passage into the darkness. And Bill jumped on me.
The train rattled along in the darkness, the ones in the front cars signposting with screams the next scary moment.
Then the train stopped. Mock and real screams intermixed. Bill and I barely noticed at first: bare being the operative word.
“Hello feels like we’ve stopped “
“Honey, I’ve just started,” Bill said, cheesily. “All part of the fun, I suppose.“
“I didn’t plan this,” I said. “Slow down, Bill I think we should wait 'til it starts again. Then again, the Ghost train makes me feel very sexy.”
“Me too. Jane just jump out quickly, I need to readjust your clothing, it’ll only take a minute”
“OK. I’ll help you get those tights off. Hey the train's moving.”
“Damn! I cant chase it. Not with my tights around my ankles."
“This is your fault, Jane.”
“Mine? Get lost. Geesh! OK, let's follow the track.” I swore inwardly at Bill and awkwardly pulled my tights back up.
“Look there’s an exit sign,” Bill said.
“Ok”, I said. “Let me look. My smart phone has got a light on it. Hey slow down. I think there’s a…”
“I want to get back on the... Ow! Damn! There’s a drop. I’ve slipped down, I’m OK but my ankle's sore. I think I can walk.”
“I was about to say there’s a drop on the other side of the door.”
“Not soon enough, Jane. Thanks very much, come and help me.”
“I think I can get down. Made it. There’s more track here, Bill. Might even be a bit of the original Ghost Train Sue mentioned.”
“And look, Jane. That might be an old Ghost Train tableaux.”
“Wow, two fake skeletons in a carriage with a message pinned to it,” I said, touching the message.
“What does it say?”
“It's just a prop Bill. My light's fading and we need to phone. Let's take the message with us.”
“Give Sue a ring. They’ll be getting worried.”
“I doubt they’re as worried as us ...I cant get a signal, all this metal and concrete or just a flattish battery.”
“How on earth do we get out of here? Jane, this is your fault?”
“Thanks for that. Follow this tunnel it must lead somewhere.”
“We shouldn’t have gone through that exit door,” Bill whined
“OK. OK." Annoyed I shook off his clutching hand.
“Jane, don’t let go of my hand.”
“You're right. It's so dark and we need to hold on to each other. Look which way there’s a branch line?”
“Listen a voice calling.”

this way 

“Down there, c’mon doesn’t sound far.”
We hurried on along old track to another exit door and on the other side through a storage area and up some stairs. We were back at the train station, everyone laughing, talking. They seemed not to have missed us, even though we’d been ages in that wretched tunnel.
“Phew! Hello guys. Anybody missed us?” I asked.
“We know what you were doing,” came the bawdy reply.
“No. When the car stopped we got out to see if we could shift it and as we did the train left without us.”
“I was alone in the dark with Jane.”
“We'd figured that much you lucky beast.”
“No. We were lost. It wasn’t fun. It was Jane’s fault never use her as a guide.”
”Yes guys. I got us lost. But we found a lost section of the old Ghost train."
“Really, that’s interesting,” said Sue.
“Yes we came across an old tableau two skeletons in a carriage on the old track with a large message pinned on the carriage.”



“We couldn’t read it down there so we brought it out. Here, Sue, it's quite old and might be a prop from the old Ghost Train. You might want to frame it.”
“Thanks Jane. Wow give me some more light to see…"

Help if you read this message please rescue us were stuck down a siding Suddenly all the lights went out and never came on again-we wrote this by the light of a rag we burned. Just might be able to find a hole or something to push the message through 

“Spooky”, said Sue I thought I knew all the tableaux old and new, but I’ve never come across this one I thought all the old Ghost Train was ripped out in 1936, when the Pleasure Beach decided to install a larger Ghost Train. But I'll frame this and put it in the station area."