The Last Train Home

Chapter Forty-Seven

Alec's strange behaviour continued to plague me for the rest of the evening and through to Sunday, but come Monday it became the last thing on my mind.

Jonathan decided to wake me up that morning by throwing his entire body on the foot of my bed, crushing my legs and startling Goose in the process. Goose wasn't all that bothered by it and moved up to the small gap beside me so she could go back to sleep. I awoke to the sensation of my legs being crushed and stared down at Jonathan who looked at me with the biggest grin possible spread across his face. He quickly scrambled off my legs and sat crossed legged at the foot of my bed, the grin not leaving his face.

"What time is it?" I mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and pushing myself up to a sitting position.

"Almost time for your birthday present." Jonathan bounced up and down.

"Right, my birth-" I stifled a yawn, "-day."

"Come on, wakey wakey! It'll be here soon!"

"What do you mean?"

"You'll find out." Jonathan winked. "Get up, get dressed and come downstairs. Quickly."

He kept off my bed and appeared to giggle a little to himself, as though he kept the world's biggest secret. Goose, fed up with being disturbed, jumped off the bed and trotted after him, most likely hoping she'll be fed if she goes with him. The two of them disappeared through the door whilst I sat in bed and tried to debate whether to go back to sleep or not. It wasn't as early as I had been woken up in the past and I got the feeling that all my chores had already been completed, but I did want to go back to sleep.

I knew Jonathan would most likely come back if I didn't emerge from my room within half an hour so I had no choice but to get up. Light streamed into the room through the curtains as I pushed the blanket off my legs and slowly started to get myself ready for the day. Downstairs, I could hear Jonathan talking and it almost sounded like he was trying to whisper, although he wasn't succeeding since I could still hear him. The door muffled the words so I didn't know what they were talking about, but Jonathan was excited about it (although he got excited over breakfast).

Once I had washed my face and brushed my teeth in the bathroom, I returned to my room and ran a brush through my hair. In the year that I had been with the Goodwin's, my hair had grown past my shoulders and had started to creep its way down my back. It had become increasingly harder to do much work without it falling into my face and I had considered cutting it all off on more than one occasion. Still, I managed to tame it a little and quickly pulled on a light blue dress and stockings. Jonathan had told me the day before to dress nicely and that I wouldn't be doing any farm work.

"Hurry up, Sybil!" Jonathan yelled.

"I'm coming," I replied, pulling my stockings up.

I slipped my feet into a pair of buckled shoes before finally emerging from my room. The smell of sausages and eggs wafted through the upstairs hallway as I started to walk downstairs. Neither Jonathan nor Barbara were in the living room when I appeared at the bottom of the stairs, but Goose stood up and bounded over to me for her morning fuss. I scratched the top of her head and moved through to the kitchen where Barbara had just finished plating up breakfast.

"You give the girl an extra hour in bed and she moves slower than a toddler on their way into church," Barbara said, but she had a slight smile on her face. "Happy birthday, Sybil."

"Thank you."

"Fifteen, eh Syb? You're getting old," Jonathan said.

"Not as old as you."

"I'll let that one slide, birthday girl." He winked. "Right, eat up and then you can open the present and card from your mum. By then, your present from us should be here."