No conductor about

Chapter Six

ALL I could see was swirling mist. Of sky and fields I could see neither; nothing save a patch of road lit by the headlights.

I judged that the bus was travelling at about five miles an hour. I felt a little relief that the driver was sensible enough to slow down in the mist. It did not surprise me that we had not reached a town, travelling at such a slow speed.

Out of the corner of my eye I thought I saw cigarette smoke. Had the conductor come down? I did not want to turn quickly, which move might indicate guilt, so I pretended to tie my shoelace and slyly looked along the aisle. There was no conductor.

Mist had swirled onto the deck. It curled about the seats like snakes. A chill ran up my spine; but it was not the mist that made me stiffen. The sound of footsteps came from the upper deck!

I followed the heavy tread with my eyes. The footsteps reached the top of the stairs and stopped. I felt absurdly nervous. My heart began to pound.

"Surely once I explained he would allow me to pay my fare some other time?" I thought anxiously, "It was not as though I was taking up needed room. There were no other passengers."

That thought made me curious. Had we stopped while I had dozed? Had other people boarded and gone upstairs?

I stood still waiting for the conductor. I strained my ears, but besides the low moan of the engine I could hear no movement. I decided to go and look up the stairs to see if I could see the conductor.

I might as well get my explanations over with; besides I wanted to talk to someone, to tell them of my misfortune and probably laugh about it now.

The mist crawled like rats around my legs as I made my way to the stairs. Upon reaching the bench seats next to the boarding platform I stopped to listen.

I heard nothing except the steady groan of the engine. I sat down on one of the bench seats. Perhaps I had been mistaken about hearing footsteps?

I was very tired and a tired mind plays tricks. I was reluctant to call. The silence seemed to have a comfort in it. Nevertheless, I stepped down onto the boarding platform and peered up the stairs.

The moment I saw the conductor's legs I quickly drew back. He was standing still, a few steps down from the top of the stairs.

At first I thought that he might be attending to the destination sign; but he was not winding the roll, he was just standing there doing nothing. He was doing nothing wrong, but I thought it odd that he should just stand there, neither coming down, nor going up. I thought it weird.

A gust of wind blew a cloud of mist on board; it billowed and drifted round me like a shroud.

"Trust my luck to get a weird conductor.' I thought sullenly.

I moved back and sat on the lip of a bench seat. I waited for a minute and then when he still did not come down I decided to speak.

"Excuse me" I said, leaning forward to look up the stairs, "Excuse me, do you know when we'll get to the next town?"

My question was met with silence.

"The thing is, I've had an accident with my car - a puncture - and I want to get somewhere to stay for the night.

Unfortunately I don't seem to have any money on me, although I do have a credit card. I'm glad that you came along otherwise I'd have been stranded."

I stepped down to the boarding platform again. I could see up the stairs far enough to see the conductors waist, around which he had a ticket machine strapped, but I could not see his face. I began to get annoyed by his silence.

"I nearly missed your bus." I said brightly, "The driver probably didn't see me."