The Mystery of the Missing Platform 4

The Mystery of The Missing Platform - Chapter 1

 Becky, Iris and W-Sam were wandering outside in the garden of their house. It was summer holiday, so there was a big break from school, which ws a relief to all three of them. Well - Iris and W-Sam, at least. Not Becky. Becky loved school. Considering she was the youngest, that actually came as a surprise.

W-Sam was poking the grass with a long stick. 'I'm bored,' he said for the hundred and fourth time.

'So am I, duh,' Iris said. 'You said that like, one hundred times already. Should we visit one of my friends or something?' Iris was fifteen, and she had plenty of friends in high school and was free to visit them anytime. But, to be honest - she was bored visiting them. Two reasons: they talked too much, and it didn't really catch Iris's interest. Two: Iris didn't have a chance to talk.

'Let's go over to your friend - what's her name? - Sadie's house,' W-Sam suggested. He was thirteen, turning fourteen in a few months, and he didn't have a lot of friends. He wasn't good at making them. He preferred being alone, either studying or reading.

Iris rolled her eyes. 'Agnes,' she corrected. 'And no. I'm not taking the train all the way to her house again. Remember the last time she tricked us into going to a Platform 4? I tell you what. There was no frickin' Platform 4.'

It happened last week. Agnes had called Iris over the phone, and Iris had agreed to visit her, so they could catch up on their summer school project together. When Iris asked her what platform she should go to in the train station, Agnes told her to go to Platform 9. And for hours, Iris had slaved, hunting for a platform 4, which was not to be seen. There was Platform 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 ... but no 4.

'She probably informed you incorrectly,' W-Sam said doubtfully. Suddenly, Becky jumped up, shrieking excitedly. She had been messing around with slugs for the past hour with leaves.

'I know! We're going to find out where Platform 4 is. It's a mystery. I read this book yesterday, and it's a jolly good myst -'

Iris groaned. 'Please, not with the mysteries again. Those only exist in stupid kids' storybooks. Get a life, Becky.'

'I will if you do,' Becky retorted. The corners of her mouth twitched to a smile. 'Agnes might have been lying to you all, to drop hints.'

'Tell me why she would drop hints when she could have easily told us the truth,' Iris said testily.

'I don't know. Those kinds of stuff happen in a book.'

'Well, we're not in a book. It's time to stop having your head in the clouds, Becky. You're seven.'

W-Sam sighed. 'Why don't we all just go?' he said, tired of the commotion. 'Since we've got nothing to do, and considering Becky's been messing around with slugs the past hour.'

Iris stayed put. It was clear she wasn't budging. 'You can be a child like Becky, and go solving so-called mysteries,' she said contemptuously.

'Fine. Be it like that, then,' W-Sam got up and Becky jumped up as well. 'MOM!' W-Sam yelled, approaching the front door to the house. 'We're going to the station!'

A few seconds passed, then his mother's voice rang through the hallway. 'Where are you going?'

W-Sam paused. 'To visit Sa - Agnes,' he said.

'Oh, right. Don't be back too late!'

W-Sam and Becky headed down Main Street to the train station, which wasn't far away. Becky was practically skipping throughout the whole journey cheerfully when a voice interrupted them.

'OI'

Startled, W-Sam swung around. 'Whoa. Chill. What are you doing here?' He faced a sweaty-faced Iris, who was drenched in sweat and puffing.

'D'you really think I'm going to stay there alone with ridiculous slugs and being roasted by the sun?' she shrieked. 'No, thankyouverymuch. Let's go.'

'Let's go solve Becky's so-called childish mysteries,' Becky mimicked in Iris's voice. Iris swung around and glared at her. 'Shut up!'

W-Sam snorted. 'Just like you to change your mind.' And he trudged off.

A few minutes later, they arrived in a dark train-station. No guards guarded the place. No lights were switched on. The escalators weren't working. All that showed life of the station was a flickering LED light that was on and off, on and off again.

'Why is this place so ... deserted?' Becky said, looking around. 'Did they leave work early or what?'

'I don't think so,' W-Sam said in a troubled voice. 'Seems kinda suspicious ... where is everyone? Everything is so dark and - and gloomy ...'

'Looks like a train station which hasn't been finished constructed yet,' Iris said dubiously.

'Why aren't the escalators working?' Becky's voice rang around the empty station. She climbed up one, and both W-Sam and Iris followed her. They saw a pillar made out of brick, and a number hung on the wall dully - Platform 3.

'Platform one's over there,' W-Sam pointed. 'Then two ... then three, which is here ... then - five.'

There was a long silence. What was of missing Platform 4 was just plastic and dirty, used soda cans rolled along the ground. No Platform 4. The huge gap between 3 and 5 consisted of large sheets of plastic, and it looked as if the whole station was being reconstructed.

'But Agnes clearly said four,' Iris said in a troubled voice. 'I know it. I heard her. And I swear, she said four.'

'Did she mean another station?' W-Sam asked, in a slow, deep voice. Chills were sent down his spine.

'No. There aren't any other stations near our house. The nearest one other than this is a few miles away. Probably more than a few.' Becky knew the surroundings of their town too well.

'Becky's right. So what did Agnes mean?' W-Sam said, turning to face Iris. 'Was she lying? Was she playing a prank on you? Iris? Iri -'

Iris had reached towards the many sheets of plastic on the ground, and had dumped one in a corner. She was squatting down, looking at something on the ground with wide, horrified and amazed eyes. Becky leaned forward to look. Once she saw what Iris was staring at, Becky let out a gasp and her hand flew to her mouth.

W-Sam panicked. 'What? What is it?'

Neither Iris or Becky gave him an answer. They were being mortified, and too stunned to speak.