UNRAVEL THE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED STATION
Written By - Prabir Rai Chaudhuri
© All Copyright Reserved By Prabir Rai Chaudhuri- 2020
A pretty river, called the Lesse, runs
through the village of Houyet in Belgium. A waterway very popular in summer
with kayaking enthusiasts. At the exit of the village, there is an important
starting point for the long descent of eighteen kilometers and with rugged
terrain.
When you
follow the river, by canoe or on foot on the path that runs along it, you
quickly see on the right a disused building made of large gray stones. A
building with a large, circular interior courtyard, from which a path starts,
now overgrown with brambles, but which leads to the high wooded hill that
dominates the medieval-style site.
Formerly,
this building served as a station for King Leopold II. His train stopped there.
The king passed through the round courtyard at the back and got into his carriage
which, pulled by horses, climbed the hill to the castle, built on the height.
Today,
kings no longer go to this house. The station, abandoned, is disused. The train
still passes there. A line that serves the south of the province, but without
stopping there.
At the
exit of the village of Houyet, along the river, stretches a fairly long
campsite. We find our friend Ethan, eleven years old, in the company of his
parents. His friends and girlfriends enjoy a few pleasant days with him. The
two girls and the two boys live in tents for their greatest happiness.
In
short, our four friends were spending happy days, at the start of the long
summer holidays, at the water's edge.
One
particularly torrid afternoon, Ethan suggested that his companions follow the
long-distance footpath which runs along the river. Just dressed in light and
comfortable clothes, the ride promised to be pleasant, as it was often
interrupted by many refreshing swims.
After
half an hour, they came in sight of the old station. It reared its gray walls
against the blue sky, along the railway track, between the bridge over the
river and the tunnel dug in the hill.
The four
children climbed through an age-rusted barbed wire fence, crossed the tracks
(no train in sight), and entered the deserted building. They went into the back
yard, overgrown with weeds. They noticed, as they turned around, a turret, also
of gray stone, built above the roof of the station. She dominated the site.
They
decided to play a game of hide and seek in the ruins. The scenery offered
plenty of places to hide. Alex began counting to fifty. Everyone had agreed not
to stray too far.
Linnea
entered the right wing of the building. The station was completed by two
constructions in a semicircle, like two giant arms, above which the royal
carriage once passed. She slipped noiselessly into a sort of damp, cold black
cellar, always sheltered from the sun. She shivered.
Looking
around, she made out two large brick columns. She stood behind the first. The
hiding place seemed excellent.
Her eyes
adjusted to the surrounding darkness. She noticed, just in front of her, a
paper folded and slipped into a slot between two bricks. Curious, she grabbed
it and unrolled it. Something was written, numbers maybe, but it was too dark
to read them. Keeping the paper in hand, she joined the others because they
were calling her. She showed them her find.
The
message consisted of a letter and six numbers. First a crossed out T, then
06.21.48.
The children
thought first of a telephone number, then of a secret code. But neither
hypothesis held water. After a long moment of reflection, Ethan proposed a
reasonable solution.
-06, he
said. It's July 5. How about a date for tomorrow, July 6 ? 21.48 would then
correspond to 9:48 p.m.
What was
going to happen at 9:48 p.m., July 06, at this disused place? And what did the
crossed out T mean? All four, very curious to know what event was going to
happen in this old abandoned station, decided to return the next day to the
scene, a little in advance and to observe.
The
following day, therefore, they arrived in sight of the building around 9:30
p.m., with the authorization of Ethan's parents to take a long walk at
nightfall, without specifying the purpose of their adventure.
They
entered the station.
It
seemed rather sinister to them in the last rays of the sun and in the first
light of the moon. The lengthening shadows evoked a haunted castle, a mansion
squatted by ghosts, ghosts, ghouls, perhaps...
They
heard the sound of a harmonica.
A young
man, who looked to be about eighteen or twenty, was playing leaning against the
wall of the inner courtyard. The four children saw him as they entered. He put
the harmonica in his pocket.
-What
are you doing there ? he said rather curtly.
"We're
taking a walk," replied Alex.
- This
is neither the time nor the place to walk around. Go, disappear, he shouted.
As our
friends hesitated, he pulled a switchblade from his jacket.
-And
like that, you understand? he said, suddenly menacing.
All
four, impressed, left the yard and crossed the rails again.
-Missed,
said Linnea.
-What do
we do ? added Alex. We won't see anything if we walk away.
-Let's
walk to the campsite, Ethan suggested, but we're not going to get very far. Girls,
keep quietly moving away, speaking loudly, so he can hear you. Name our names,
he'll think we're all leaving. But we will divide. Alex and I are going back to
the building. We will hide to observe in the shadow of the ruins.
The
girls, chatting aloud, walked along the river towards the village, while the
boys, in silence, turned around and retraced their steps. They finished their
approach on all fours, then crawling along the tracks, near the tunnel.
At 9:47
p.m., they heard that slight crackling of the electric wires that one often
hears when a train arrives. The two boys moved, then straightening up, stuck
against the gray stone wall of the old station.
The
locomotive passed over the bridge over the river, then skirted the old quay.
Our friends saw an individual throw a brown package through the open window of
one of the wagons. The convoy roared away and disappeared into the tunnel
immediately following the station.
The
young man with the harmonica, joined by an accomplice whom the children had not
noticed earlier, took the package and ran towards the river below.
Our
friends, convinced that they were dealing with two thieves, followed them. The
two young people took a narrow path lined with brambles and nettles. Alex
stopped after having scratched and pricked his legs several times. Ethan, also
in shorts, forfeited in turn.
The two
individuals were coming back. The boys lay face down in the brush so they
wouldn't be spotted. Fortunately night, now completely fallen, hid them.
The two
young people passed without seeing our friends, then, following the old route
of the royal carriage, they disappeared into the woods up the hill.
Alex and
Ethan found Linnea and Celeste. They told the girls everything they had just
discovered.
The next
day, the four of them returned to the scene. Dressed in long jeans or overalls,
this time they followed the path taken by the two young people. They arrived at
the edge of the water. A small island here divided the river into two unequal
parts. You had to wade through an area of mud to get there.
The
island, two meters wide and twelve long, was overgrown with brambles. A few old
trees covered the place with their tall foliage.
No
matter how hard our friends searched the ground, they found nothing. Thorns
scratched their ankles and nettles stung their arms. Then, disappointed, they
turned around and headed back to the old disused station.
-I would
go back to the hiding place where I had found the appointment paper the day
before yesterday, Linnea thought aloud. There may be another.
Accompanied
by her friends, the little girl entered the dark cellar and approached the
column. Well seen ! A new message was waiting, slipped like the other time
between two bricks.
At first
everyone thought they had come across the previous text, put back in place
after having read it yesterday. But this time, the crossed out T was followed
by 09.17.24.
A new
appointment was fixed for two days later, at the end of the afternoon.
Our
friends reflected, sitting all four at the edge of the river. They thought of
the two young people they had glimpsed. Were they drug couriers? Or
counterfeiters? Were they hiding gold, stolen money, documents?
"And
why not spies?" ventured Ethan. And what does this crossed out T mean?
Then
they made their plans for the next meeting. We had to organize well so as not
to take too many risks.
-These
individuals can be dangerous, feared Celeste.
"Especially
since it will be broad daylight," added Linnea. The appointment is at 5
o'clock in the afternoon.
After
making several proposals, immediately rejected because of their weaknesses or
insufficiencies, Ethan submitted to his friends a strategy that everyone
adopted.
- Celeste,
said the boy, do you have your digital camera?
-Yes, at
the campsite.
- Well,
take it the day after tomorrow. You will stand along the rail, just after the
bridge. From there, a bend in the track will allow you, with a little luck, to
photograph the individual who throws the package on the platform when the train
passes.
"Okay,"
said the little girl.
- Linnea.
Of us four you are the most flexible. You climb trees the best. You will return
to the island and hide in the branches.
-They
will see me when they come...
-No. No
reason for them to raise their heads. Instead, they will look down or behind
them to make sure no one is following them.
-Good.
-Jean
Claude. Climbing is yours. Do you think you can manage to reach the platform
that serves as the roof of the old station?
-I think
yes.
-When
you then climb up the turret, you will have an eagle's nest, a perfect position
to observe the train, the thieves and their departure for the island.
- And
you, Ethan, what do you do?
- Me, I
will climb in the hill by the old royal way and I will observe the places with
binoculars, if I find some.
Thirty
minutes before the meeting, two days later, each of our friends was in his
place.
Linnea,
sitting astride high in a tree on the island, was reading a book to pass the
time.
Celeste had
just turned on her camera. Her position was perilous, because if she got too
close to the rail, she risked getting hit by the train, and if she strayed too
far from it, she would overhang the river and could fall into it.
Alex was
on the roof of the station. Hidden behind the crenellations which served as
decorative battlements, it tanned in the sun.
As for Ethan,
he followed the royal road, strewn with stones and overgrown with wild plants.
He stopped at a place where the view was clear. He clearly saw his boyfriend,
and as he knew the presence of the girls, he guessed Linnea in the tree and Celeste
along the railway, near the bridge. He sat down on a small wall, his legs
dangling.
At 5:10
p.m., fourteen minutes before the train arrived, Ethan heard a noise behind
him. Someone was coming down from the top of the hill. This he did not expect.
He saw the young man playing the harmonica, accompanied by another. They
followed the path that passed in front of him.
The boy
could only do one thing, leap across the wall he was sitting on, get on his
stomach, and pray not to be spotted. While jumping, he slipped in a puddle of
mud which stagnated there.
-Why did
I choose this place? grumbled our friend in a low voice. No luck.
She was
sticking to him now everywhere. His shorts, his t-shirt, his sneakers,
everything was impregnated with it. He remained lying behind the wall and
waited stoically.
The two
bandits approached and passed without seeing him. Ethan heard snippets of their
conversation.
-Here, look.
I see a kid on the roof of the station.
-I
recognize him. He was hanging out in the cellars a few days ago. A dirty little
spy, you might say. He must suspect something.
Ethan
wanted to warn his friend by sign, but Alex was looking the other way. One of
the two young people reached the foot of the tower. The other entered.
-You,
the boy, up there, get down from there.
For a
moment our friend considered the idea of replying to them: “Come and get me
if you can,” but he didn't dare. He joined them with fear in his stomach.
The two
young people took a step towards our friend.
-Approach.
Alex
came forward, obedient. One of the men pulled a switchblade from his pocket. He
pointed it against the boy's chest, which was not giving off, and stabbed him
through his t-shirt.
-The
next time I see you hanging around here, I'll stick the knife in. Go away.
On
leaving, much obliged, Alex shouted his anger and his disappointment.
- Not
only are you hunting me, but also with a switchblade. The weapon of cowards.
Our
friend first moved away a little, then, changing his mind, he headed for the
island where his sister was hiding. He lay down in the tall grass and waited,
ready to step in if needed.
Celeste
heard the train approach behind her. He passed a few centimeters. She felt the
gusts of wind moved by the wagons. She clung to the iron post she was leaning
against.
Then,
after the van passed, she planted herself well on her own two feet, grabbed her
digital camera and photographed just as two hands threw a brown package out of
a window. One of the youngsters grabbed it and sped towards the island.
Linnea
saw him arrive. She closed her book and looked. He slipped into the muddy water
and advanced toward the southern tip. There he stooped and pushed aside ferns,
brambles, and branches. He swept away some dead leaves, revealing a wooden
trapdoor.
The
bandit lifted the lid, put the bundle in the hole, then put the dead leaves and
plants back in place. No one could suspect the presence of a hiding place
there.
He left
to join his accomplice. Both went up the hill by the king's way. They passed
near Ethan who hid again. The boy followed them.
At the
top, the path stopped at the edge of a road. A motorcycle was waiting tied to a
tree. They got in one behind the other, put on their helmets and drove off.
Ethan
went back down to find the other three. They all ran to the island. Linnea
showed them where the thieves were setting up their hiding place.
Our
friends pushed aside the dead branches and leaves and lifted the hatch. Three
tied packages were piled up there. They took one out and tore the brown paper.
These bags contained small sachets of white powder.
"Drugs,"
said the four friends to each other.
The
village pharmacy might still be open. It closes at seven o'clock. Taking one of
the bags, they rushed into it after putting the trapdoor and the dead leaves
back in place.
The
pharmacist examined the powder. He confirmed the presence of drugs. He advised
the children to go and entrust this to the gendarmerie as soon as possible.
- I
eliminate this horror, he said. And don't play with it.
Our
friends went to the village police station. They recounted their adventure. The
attendant only listened half-heartedly. He hardly believed the story. And to
their misfortune, the photo taken by Celeste was completely blurry and
unusable.
-Try to
amuse yourself with other games during your holidays, said a commissioner.
Tourists are numerous and our time is very precious. Don't bother us anymore
with your little adventures.
-Access
to the old disused station is prohibited, launched another who had just entered
the office.
"You
have too much imagination or you read too many books," said a third.
One of
them left his business card, with a telephone number, as he drove them back to
the street.
-If you
see real bandits, call us. But that would surprise me. Our village lives in
peace, far from all these things.
Alex
took the box and our friends headed for the campsite for the evening meal,
quite disappointed.
They
returned to the station the next morning. They saw no message in the slot in
the column of the old cellar. In the afternoon, they could not take care of
their business. They were going on an excursion with Ethan's parents.
The next
day, July 11, they discovered a new text in the usual place. T 12 22 12.
This
time, the letter T was not crossed out. But what is the meaning of this letter?
The
future appointment therefore seemed fixed for the following evening. They asked
the parents for permission to go for a walk at night.
-
Granted, provided you remain very careful, added the mother.
How
right she was!
This
time, our friends split into two teams. As luck would have it, Ethan and Celeste
would stay together. Linnea inherited from her brother.
Given
that the thieves knew Alex, whom they had already met twice, it seemed
preferable that he not show himself. Ethan, author of the plan, decided that
his friend would hide with his sister along the royal road, on the hill
overlooking the old station. He was counting on staying in that dark, damp
cellar with Veronique. The one where Linnea had discovered the messages.
Night
was falling. Veronique was shivering. Ethan offered his friend to hug her to
warm her up, but she refused.
The two
young people, the one playing the harmonica and the other, went down the hill.
They reached the station and sat down on the platform.
Two
minutes before the train arrived, one of them got up and turned on a red
distress lamp which began to flash. He went to put it down along the rails at
the entrance to the tunnel.
At 10:11
p.m. the convoy approached. The driver saw the light and thought that work or
some danger existed in the tunnel. He stopped his train. He got out of the
locomotive and picked up the lamp. He turned it off and then returned to his
post. He called the Houyet station, upstream.
-Hello,
Paul? Maxim here. Train 048. I'm at the old King's station. What's going on in
the tunnel?
-Nothing,
why ?
-I just
saw a hazard lamp lit on my track.
- We
don't know anything here. Advance slowly. Anyway, the convoy following you
doesn't pass until 12:25 am. Take your time.
The
train departed.
During
the stop, the door of one of the carriages had opened, and a man had come out
onto the platform. He had shaken hands with his accomplices.
And here
is the explanation of the famous T. barré, nobody left the convoy. Not barred,
that means: stop the train, the leader goes down to the platform.
-Change
of program, said the man who got off the train and who was the boss of the group.
I have to show you something first. We go to our hiding place. On the way, and
fast.
Celeste,
who was shivering with cold in her too light clothes, sneezed.
The man
who had just got off the train grabbed a gun from his pocket. The harmonica
player opened his switchblade. The third turned on a powerful flashlight. They
walked quickly towards Ethan and his friend.
-You
again, shouted the individual on the harmonica.
- Have
you ever seen them? said the leader of the band.
-It's
two others, but I bet their buddies aren't far away. A gang of four kids.
They've been lurking around here spying on us for a week.
Ethan
and Celeste, always under the threat of the revolver, weren't leading the way.
-Come
on, cried the leader, and don't try to run away.
Our two
friends, much obliged to obey, went up the king's road.
Alex and
Linnea watched without intervening. Against three men and a gun, what could
they do?
They
followed the group discreetly, up to the top of the hill. There, passes a
concrete road. The thieves advanced towards two motorcycles hidden behind the
wall of a ruined house.
- We'll
get the car, Bryan and I. You, he said to the harmonica player, you are waiting
for us here with them. Lock them in the basement of this shack. I give you my
gun.
The
motorcycles moved away. The one who remained forced Ethan and Celeste down a
staircase that led to a cellar overgrown with plants and rubble. He closed the
door behind them. Then he sat down on the steps in front of the house.
-If you
go up or try to flee, I will hear you and I will shoot you in the legs, so you
won't get far. Understood ?
The two
friends, very frightened, sat down against the wall of the dark and dilapidated
room. Unable to escape. A narrow screened window seemed inaccessible. The
stairs led to the bandit who was waiting for his leader, the weapon resting on
his knees.
Alex and
Linnea had followed their friends. They were thinking, well hidden and
protected by the night. No one suspected their presence a few steps from the
ruined house.
"I'm
going to try to free them," whispered the boy.
-How
will you do ? his sister worried.
-I'm
going to try to go behind, making a detour through the woods. Like in a boy
scout night game. If I'm caught, run for the police.
-All
right. I promise you. But be careful. He could use his weapon.
-Yes,
it's very dangerous, conceded the boy, but they are our friends.
He
walked for a while away along the road which he crossed after two or three
hundred yards. He was far beyond the hovel. He plunged into the woods, a land
crowded with low plants that scratched or stung.
Suddenly
he set foot on a dead branch which snapped under his step. Alex froze and
listened, his heart beating. We should have heard it. Fortunately, in the dark
night, he was out of sight. No moon in sight yet.
The man
with the gun stood up. The boy mimicked the owl's cry.
-Hou…Hou…Hou…
The
suspense was at its height. But a few moments later, the other sat down on the
front steps of the house.
Our
friend resumed his progress. He moved forward, even more cautious, looking
twice before putting his foot down. He came to a broken window in the ruined
building.
After a
moment of hesitation, he climbed over a low wall and reached the stairs leading
to the cellar. He was barely two meters behind the bandit who was watching the
road and not the inside of the house, nor the back, blowing into his harmonica.
"Come
on," murmured our friend, opening the door to their closet.
He
helped them pull themselves up the wall to avoid passing near the thief. Then
they moved away from the hovel behind, as quickly as possible. A car was
arriving on the deserted road at this time of night. They ducked so as not to
be in the light of the headlights. The chief came back with the biker.
-Nothing
in particular ?
-No
boss, apart from a fox or an owl prowling around.
-Good.
Go get the kids. We take them.
The man
entered the ruined house and came running back.
- They
are no longer there!
-Well
done! I think your fox was funny. Come on, get in the car, let's go.
The
thieves left without wasting their time looking for our friends in the night.
They disappeared around the bend in the road.
Relieved,
the four friends went back down to the river and sat down for a moment at the
edge of the water, near the tents of the campsite. They didn't tell anyone
about their adventure, not even their parents. Barely listened to, then
dismissed by the police, no doubt overwhelmed with calls for the high tourist
season, and, as often, in insufficient numbers unfortunately.
A little
disappointed, the children decided to try something on their own. They wanted
to incapacitate these thieves and their very dangerous drug business.
The next
day, gathering all their pocket money, they rented two two-seater kayaks to go
down the river. Alex and his sister in one, Ethan and Celeste in the other, of
course.
Paddling
hard, they arrived at the island, near the old abandoned station.
They
anchored the boats in the brush with care, then headed for the cache which they
opened. They removed all the packages it contained, six big brown bundles now,
and distributed them among their boats. Three on one, three on the other.
Linnea
had the idea of going to the hiding place to see if there wasn't a new
message there. She ran there, passing between the brambles and the nettles,
while her friends waited for her.
She came
face to face with the three thieves as she entered the circular courtyard. She
let out a little cry and wanted to hide, but too late, she was spotted. She
ran. She hurried towards the river, but recognized by the bandits, they pursued
her.
She
jumped into the water and joined the others.
"Quick,
on the way!" cried the little girl.
Steering
their boats towards the middle of the current, and paddling as best they could,
they moved away between the banks covered with brambles and brushwood.
One of
the men entered the water to try to catch up with them, but it was a waste of
time, impossible to follow someone in this way. He gave up.
The
other two, smarter, ran along the shore, on the long-distance trail that runs
alongside it, but our friends were rowing well and the current carried them
away. They gradually got ahead and disappeared around a meander bordered by
steep rocks. The thieves gave up pursuit.
-I know
a bridge downstream, cried their leader, five or six kilometers away. We take
the car. We will get there before them and we will wait for them there. We will
find them there, a necessary passage by boat.
They
went back to their vehicle parked at the top of the hill, following the path of
the king.
During
this time, the four friends, noticing that they were no longer being pursued,
slowed down the pace. Alex approached his friend's boat.
- Say,
Philip.
-Yes.
-The
thieves could wait for us at a bridge located downstream, if they think about
it. We risk being spotted. I propose to hide the drugs somewhere, in a safe
place, along the river. Then we'll call the police and show it to them.
The
others accepted.
"Look
at those rocks over there," Linnea said. This is an ideal place,
inaccessible by the bank. Let's approach with the kayaks.
It
seemed perfect. They slid the bags dry into a crevice. Then they covered them
up by laying a few dead branches and leaves over them, the better to conceal
them, and set out again on the water.
Two
hours later, they saw the bridge over the river. People were walking by.
Children leaned over to observe the stream. A man was watching through
binoculars.
Ethan
warns his friends.
-Attention,
someone watches the arrival of the kayaks. I can't make it out yet, but it
might be one of the bandits.
-What do
you propose ? asked the others.
-We
leave our boats and continue on foot to the campsite.
The
children docked and pulled their kayaks up the bank. Then they crossed the
village of canvases and caravans on foot.
-Let's
go on the phone, said Linnea. I recognize the man on the bridge. The leader of
the bandits.
Our four
friends do not have cell phones.
- Yes,
and hope that this time we will be believed, added Celeste.
The
owner of the refreshment bar lent his cell phone. Our friends had just
explained to him that they had to call the police urgently. The purser believed
them this time and asked them to hide for fifteen minutes inside the small
establishment, then to walk slowly towards the bridge, remaining together.
The
children crossed the campsite holding hands, as they were asked, in order to be
easily recognized by the gendarmes, and discreetly observing the bridge. The
bandit did not move. He scanned all the people who came down the river and
passed near him, on the water.
Moments
later, two plainclothes police approached our friends. These indicated the
position of the thief. The leader was immediately apprehended.
His two
accomplices were listening to a football match on the radio, sitting in their
car. The gendarmes took them away.
Our
friends detailed where the bags of drugs were hidden. A team set out to pick
them up. Their contents were destroyed.
Alex, Linnea,
Ethan and Celeste discovered their photo the next day in the newspapers of the
region. It described their courage and resourcefulness.
They
spent the rest of their vacation very pleasantly.
© All Copyright Reserved By Prabir Rai Chaudhuri- 2020
