Page 10 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

She knew deep down that she could have gone anywhere for a few weeks away from the apartment. With her savings, she could have flown off to lie on a beach, sipping cocktails and enjoying one of the many history books that she had downloaded but not had time to even start reading yet. But she also knew she would have been bored and she had always found holidays by herself lonely. Besides, the thought of Bob’s tears spurred her on to return to help.

So on Monday morning, Katy made the long train journey back to Cranfield to start her week-long job.

With the change of location came a change of clothes as well, so this time she was wearing far more appropriate jeans and a smart but casual shirt. However, she had teamed it with her favourite high-heeled suede boots to give her self-confidence a boost in such an unknown environment.

She felt weird heading to work without wearing her normal working attire of business suits, but, frankly, having seen the state of the station, there was no way she would be ruining any of her clothes whilst she got the place shipshape. So one of the small suitcases she had brought with her was filled with a capsule autumnal wardrobe, along with some old cloths for cleaning, all of which should get her through the following week, as well as two more pairs of her favourite boots.

The second suitcase was packed with smarter clothes for the upmarket hotel she planned on checking in to just as soon as the job in Cranfield was complete.

She also had a large shoulder bag, which held her iPad, essential for organisation, as well as antiseptic wipes, rubber gloves, a first-aid kit and spare chargers. She had also placed some Pot Noodles packets into her suitcase. Bed and board had been mentioned, but she wasn’t quite sure what food would be available in a quiet place such as Cranfield when she inevitably finished work late in the evening.

She still couldn’t believe anyone could let a place get as untidy as the station had been. Which made her wonder just how bad the upstairs apartment was going to be where she would be staying!

She gave a small shudder before brushing the thought aside. It didn’t matter. She had given herself one week to turn things around. She would assess the whole place on her arrival and then prioritise what could be achieved in seven days.

The taxi dropped her off at the front of Cranfield railway station and Katy took a moment to look up at the place once more. Eddie had told her that it had long since closed down, along with the train line, she presumed. The faded railway sign intrigued her, though, and she found herself wanting to know more about its history. How old was it and how long had the trains run from there?

The history of such places had always excited her from an early age. Whilst being dragged around the country throughout her childhood, following her dad’s dreams, whenever they had settled into a new city, Katy and her mum would find a local museum to visit. They shared a love of history and had enjoyed many happy afternoons together learning about everything from the industrial revolution, to fashion and even dinosaurs.

Since living in London, though, it had been a long time since she had visited the vast array of fantastic museums in the city. She had always been too busy working, she thought with a pang of regret.

She looked at the station once more. Structurally, the building looked all right, but cosmetically it could certainly do with new paint and the windows were filthy as well.

But that wasn’t the task in hand, she reminded herself. Her job was to clear as much clutter as she could in a week. It sounded easy enough. After all, she had taken apart many messy hotels and reorganised them so that they ran smoothly.

As she stood there, Katy gave a start as a large hairy dog suddenly appeared out of the alleyway nearby and swiftly headed over to take an interested sniff of her suitcase.

‘Paddington!’ called out a red-headed woman following him around the corner. ‘Come here.’

The dog sheepishly hung his head and went over to his owner.

‘Sorry about that,’ said the woman, with a friendly smile. ‘Like all golden retrievers, he’s completely harmless unless you’ve got any biscuits anywhere on you and then he’s the devil with his big oh-so sorrowful eyes. He had two breakfasts this morning using that sad face!’

Katy smiled back at the woman, wondering what a vibrant person like her was doing in such a quiet village as Cranfield. She was about the same age, with amazing long red hair and a pretty, friendly face.

‘Don’t tell me that you’re Katy?’ carried on the stranger.

Katy nodded, somewhat surprised to be recognised. ‘Yes. That’s me,’ she replied.

‘Gosh! Bob mentioned to me yesterday something about you arriving, but I thought he must have been joking!’ She stepped forward. ‘Anyway, welcome to Cranfield. I’m Harriet and you’ve already met Paddington here.’

‘You live here?’ asked Katy, wondering whether Harriet was Ryan’s girlfriend as she appeared to have come from the station platform.

Harriet nodded. ‘I live in Lavender Cottage with my boyfriend Joe. It’s just a few doors down from here. But I work in the Lavender Spa.’

Katy was nonplussed. ‘The Lavender Spa?’ she repeated, a little bewildered.

‘I can show you if you’d like?’

Taking Katy’s silence as affirmation, Harriet and Paddington the dog headed down what appeared to be a small passageway so Katy felt she had no choice but to follow her. It turned out to be a shortcut through to the railway platform between the main station and a much smaller building.

‘This is me,’ said Harriet, turning left and stopping directly in front of the one-storey structure that was separate from the rest of the station.

Katy looked up at the sign above the doorway, where the purple lettering declared it to be The Lavender Spa, before taking a peek inside. She was amazed to find a professional-looking beauty salon that was both modern but cosy and comfortable. Inside, the bare brick walls were the same sandy-coloured brick as all the buildings in Cranfield, but the room was filled with a crisp white leather bed and chair, white fluffy rugs and lots of fairy lights. It felt luxurious as well as relaxing.

‘What’s that amazing smell?’ asked Katy, taking a long deep breath.

‘The lavender from my fields,’ Harriet told her with a proud look on her face.