It wasn’t a long bus ride to this Stolberg place, during which I recounted my funds, thirty two euros and some shrapnel. At this rate that's not going to last very long, I really need a plan, urgh, you really are a stupid moo Madeline. The bus pulled up at what I guess is ‘Mitte’, a sort of bus station in the town centre, I guess the clue was that the driver turned the engine off.

I followed the other passengers off and after a short debate with myself, crossed the road into what seemed to be the main shopping street. But what now? How do I get to the Bond’s, well I guess it would help if I actually knew where I was, I spotted what looked like a book shop, well they have maps right? I found the right department without too much issue to be confronted with more cartography than I thought could exist.

“Kann ich Hilfe?”

I nearly jumped out of my skin.

“Tut mir leid, Entschuldingen!”

The girl seemed to be apologising, I managed a thin smile.

“Okay?”
“Er yes, I mean yar.”
“English?”
Thank heavens, “er yes,” I agreed.
“You are looking for a Karte?”
Just when you think you have it cracked, “erm?”
“Sorry, a map?” she indicated the shelves I was stood at.
“Er yes.”
“For the area? or Ausland?”
“Um, not quite sure, maybe with Cologne and Bonn?” well its in the right direction.

If she thought my vagueness was strange she didn’t say anything.

“So, here we have the local area,” she pointed to one end of the section, “Aachen, the Eifel, Rheinland, Ardenne, Belgie, Nederland.”
“Er thanks.”
“No problem,” she smiled before heading off on some other errand or other.

Well at least I had a clue now, I skimmed past the town plan type things and found what looked like a more regional map. Least ways it had Bonn and ‘Köln’ on the little diagram so I pulled it out to have a look. It took me a minute to find Stolberg, now where are the Bond’s?

I found a name I recognised from Gab’s missives, Remagen, if I head there I’ll be quite close. Question is how? There’s obviously public transport, trains and buses but I’ve not exactly got a lot of money at my disposal. The map would be useful but would make a big hole in my resources, I scribbled a few names down, a sort of route across to this Remagen place then slipped out of the store while the assistant was serving someone else.

But now what, according to the clock on the church its already half four, I checked my phone, three thirty, huh? Then it dawned on me, they’re an hour in front of us in the UK, have to remember that. Not helping me get there though.

A bakery gobbled a couple more euros for a big cake thing and another cup of coffee, hopefully i’ll get to the bonds later this evening. Back outside I spotted the first link in my onward journey, another bus with a destination of ‘DÜREN’, a name I recognised from my map list. Once on board I settled into a seat down at the back, a bit happier now that I’m heading in the right direction to end this nightmare.

It was several more minutes before the bus set off, its one of those bendy ones so quite big, even so there were people stood and the seat next to me occupied by the time we’d made a couple of stops. As we moved out of the built up area, the numbers dropped and I was able to spread out again. At which point my phone started beeping.

I fumbled it out of my bag, I’ve got a signal! No I haven’t, its just telling me its nearly out of power, bum! Well, given I can’t get a signal I might as well turn it off I guess, I hit the power button and put it back in my bag.

“She’s still not answering,” Shelle pointlessly told James and Rob, closing her phone.

They were waiting for the ‘full English’ promised by their host at the ‘Balmoral’ b&b, Maddy knew where they were staying so they hadn’t been too bothered when she went off. Alarm bells should’ve rung when she hadn’t turned up by ten but she was obviously having an extended sulk.

“Bet she’s gone home,” Rob opined.
“Why’d she do that?” James queried.
“Because you wound her up with the tattoo stuff?” Shelle suggested.
“I thought she’d be all for it.”
“After the grief she got from her olds last time? Really?”
He shrugged, “it was only a suggestion.”
“You don’t think she’s preggers?” Rob offerred.
“Don’t be daft!”
“Well you guys are at it like rabbits all the time.” Shelle agreed.
“She is on the pill.”

Shelle gave him a look.

“She is right? I’ve seen them,” James paled, “has she said anything?”
“Just saying,” she stated with a rise of her brows.
“She’ll be at home,” Rob confidently stated, “if she wants to be a moody cow she can, we’ve got a Con to slay!”

Compared to the first bus ride, this one was a bargain, the same price and I’ve been on it for over an hour. It clearly hadn’t been the most direct route, turning this way and that, at one point even retracing a bit of road after going around a housing estate. we’ve made more progress after that, taking a more scenic and hilly route through some forest before dropping back into a more urban area.

Not being quite sure, well having no idea really, where the bus was going, I stayed on until it pulled into some open bus stops by what looked like the railway station. Maybe I can get the train from here? To be honest I’ve hardly ever been on a train, there isn’t a station in Warsop, you have to go to like Worksop or Whaley, its easier to get the bus.

Inside the station I looked for a ticket office but there didn’t appear to be one – leastwise not open. A sort of printy noise attracted my attention, a chap was at a machine which looked like a ticket machine – bingo! There was another of the red and grey blocks next to him so I strolled over to try and make sense and see if I have enough to buy a ticket.

And phew, by pressing a little Union Jack it all came up in English, sweet! I worked out how to check for the fare to Remagen and sagged, twenty nine and a half euros. If I hadn’t had that bun earlier I’d have just had enough, bum, bum, bum! Now what?

I walked out onto the platform to have a thunk but was distracted by one of those map things showing all the stations and lines. Yeah, up there to Cologne then down through Bonn to Remagen which was as far as the map covered, so near, yet so far. Hang on, there’s another line here, Euskirchen then it goes to Bonn, I wonder.

Oh yes! Twenty three euros, I’ve got enough. Lets see, day of travel today, one way, one person, immediate travel, buy. The machine grumbled for a second before a message flashed up, now what? ‘no journeys today, please check your choice’ eh? I tried again and got the same thing, you’ve got to be kidding.

There was a list of departures on the wall, I checked the time, six o’clock, bum, the last train to Euskirchen was ten minutes ago, I scanned the timetable forward, the next one’s in the morning looking at this. Now what, I can hardly wait here all that time. Another play on the ticket machine suggested that if I can get to Euskirchen there are trains from there to Remagen until like midnight – wonder if there’s another bus?

I headed back outside to the bus stands and looked for some sort of timetable, not finding one I started walking along the platforms. Stop three A was the one, good news is there’s a bus this evening, bad news is its two hours away – oh well. Spotting a bench under the trees I headed over resigned to the wait.

Well I was bored after five minutes so I set off to explore the immediate area which is how I spotted the direction sign. It pointed under the railway and stated ‘Euskirchen Zülpich’ with a little bike next to the place names, a bike route I guess. Pity I don’t have a bike, I could ride there, hang on, maybe I could walk?

Hmm, I’ve got trainers on, no sign its gonna rain or even change much from the warm sunny evening that's here. Why not, I can probably get the bus up the road somewhere but I won’t just be hanging about here. I set off along the path that took me into the town centre, the last bus brought me through half an hour ago.

I set off with a determined stride, I might not be exactly dressed for hiking, but its not like I’m climbing mountains is it. There was a supermarket as I left the town so I bobbed in for some water and left with a banana and a couple of packets of biscuits, it only came to just over a euro, I’ve still got plenty for the train. Whilst there was a path alongside the main road, I followed the signed route and soon found myself walking through open fields.

At first it was quite fun, more so after I did a quick strip to take off my tights, tights under shorts might look cool but they quickly get a bit, erm sweaty if you are walking far and this is far. There were signs at all the junctions and my confidence grew with every step – get to Euskirchen, train to Remagen, I can probably walk the last bit to the Bond’s, be there by about ten. I came into another village and decided to take a short break, after all I’ve been walking quite a while.

My feet were getting a bit sore now, I checked the time, eight thirty, where has all that time gone? Goodness knows how far I’ve come, how far is left to get this train, maybe the bus will come along soon? I collapsed on the grass and took my trainers off – ah, that's better.

Two hours later and it was getting dark, and colder and I haven’t got a clue where I am. This is all your fault James, okay so maybe I’ve made some daft decisions, walking instead of waiting for that damned bus being just the latest. Urgh, I can’t walk any further, have to find somewhere to stop.

It was nearly dark by the time I reached the next place, Fussenich and I was ready to just knock on a random house door to seek sanctuary when I spotted the open church door. I checked around, I hadn’t seen anyone for ages, a car passed a few minutes ago but that's been about it, anyhow I was soon inside the church. There was someone inside but they were busy flower arranging or something which let me slip unseen down the side towards the altar where I slipped behind the table cloth thingy out of sight.

I was pretty sure that they wouldn’t be here much longer, I listened to their humming for about fifteen minutes before I heard another voice. There was a short discussion before it went dark and with a heavy clunk, the door closed. I let out a sigh and climbed out of my hidey hole, there was just about enough light through the windows to navigate around which is how I found the cloakroom or whatever they call it.

The toilet was useful but more so were the robe things that I used to make a sort of bed for the night. Of course I couldn’t get to sleep, the creaks and groans of the old building, my head in a complete swirl, this whole thing is just insane. it’ll all be over tomorrow, it has to be, I’ll get to the Bond’s and I can borrow some clean clothes and go home, yeah, home.

Dong, dong – dong, dong – dong, dong– dong, dong– dong, dong– dong, dong– dong, dong

What the? I sat up with a start, my brain scrabbled to make sense of both the noise and my location. Bells, dark space, but its not draughty or especially cold, slowly though it started to all come back, the camper and of course the stupid decision to walk last night. Hang on, its Sunday, bells, church – sugar, I need to get out of here!

In a perfect world I would’ve got my gear together and slipped out of the church without being seen and carried on with my journey. But life’s not like that is it else I’d not be here in the first place, the toilets in Brid would’ve been open, there wouldn’t have been the camper, the ferry – well you get the drift. Listening for voices and expecting imminent discovery, I cracked the door but there was no indication anyone had come into the building.

A loud click startled me and I realised that the bells were actually on some sort of automatic system, maybe even a recording. Still, I should make myself scarce before anyone does turn up. I did take the time to change my knickers, dur, what girl doesn’t carry a spare pair, put my tights back on and after a quick tidy of my ‘bed’ slipped out into the church.

Talk about weird, in proper daylight the place was much less daunting, the silence not complete, but not scary either. I quickly made my way to the door, listened for anyone outside then opened the door. Or not, I rattled the handle about but the ancient door, although moving a little, refused to actually open – bum, the flower woman, they must’ve locked the door, now what?

I guess I’m stuck here until someone comes, its Sunday so there must be a service, I’ll be able to slip out when the priest or whoever turns up. Clearly my overnight hidey hole would be pushing my luck but after a quick look around I found a spot behind a heavy curtain, it didn’t look like anyone had been behind it for a while, the stacks of tables and chairs having a fine layer of dust. My watch claimed six thirty, add an hour – when do churches start on a Sunday?

The bells marked eight o’clock at which point I risked a dash to the toilet and whilst there topped up my water bottle. I’d only just returned to my hiding place when I heard a key at the door, slipping my bag over my head I got myself ready to move. There was however not just one person but by the voices, at least four or five people, who chose to congregate just beyond the curtain.
Now what?

Maddy Bell © 07.06.2018