Loving & Beloved – Competition Week 1

Well folks, here we all are at the start of another mini-epic competition from Monaghan’s 4th largest workwear store.

Each week we will offer a clue and then you have to put them together to determine the answer.

The first prize will be €500 cold hard cash plus €500 worth of Brix workwear.

Second prize will be €250 cash and €250 worth of workwear.

And third prize will be a…………..mystery prize !!!!

There will be a bit of a story each week and the clue will be within it……

Loving & Beloved #1

Amiens Street Station was at it’s most active in the mornings and Abraham usually avoided it if he could, but as Inspector of Petty Sessions he was sometimes under pressure to complete his annual inspections and this year , 1877, was proving to be chaotically busy. Poor harvests , evictions and Home Rule agitation were all adding to an already overburdened court system and Abraham’s inspections were each taking longer to conduct than normal simply due to the volume of cases.

By accident rather than design Monaghan had avoided his gaze for too long and he’d only recently been made aware that his predecessor hadn’t been there since 1871 so he knew that he’d have to spend the week there wading through old files in order to bring the inspections up to date.

And that was why he found himself queuing at the ticket office window this November Monday morning in order to catch the Great Northern Railway’s 7.15 to Monaghan. He was reading the Times as he queued and was slightly startled to find himself at the front of the queue, being addressed by the Ticket master.

“Yes Sir, how can I help you ?”

“First Class weekly return to Monaghan please.” He handed over the fare absentmindedly and that’s when he caught her reflection in the ticket office window. She was clad completely in black with a large bonnet and a veil covering her face and holding a single red rose. He was mesmirised.

“Sir, sir ! Your ticket ?”

He looked down to see the Ticket Master holding out his ticket.

“Sorry, miles away.” He nodded, tipped the front of his hat and took the ticket. He turned to look at the Lady in Black but she was nowhere to be seen. He called for a porter to place his bags on the train and went to the telegraph office to send a message ahead to Monaghan Courthouse to prepare an office for him, prepare the files from 1871 and 1872 and to have someone collect him and his bags at the Monaghan Train Station at 10.30 and then he boarded the train.

It wasn’t an overly busy service so there was only one First Class carriage and there was only one other occupant when he entered, it was the Lady in Black sitting silently looking out the window her gloved hands joined on the table, the red rose lying beside them.

“Good Morning Ma’am” he said as he took off his coat and hat, placing them in the rack above the seat, and then sat down opposite her. She simply nodded a greeting in return. He smiled and nodded back and then opened his paper and became engrossed in the theatre reviews, so much so that he barely noticed the train moving off. They continued in silence until the tea service arrived and the caddy laid out cups and saucers for them both.

He was startled when she said “May I ?” as she reached for the sugar and blurted out , “Of course, of course…”

As she reached for the sugar and her gloved hand extended a gap between the end of her glove and her sleeve revealed  a badly mutilated wrist. It looked to him like a severe burn that had never really healed. He grew red with embarrassment as he realised that he was staring and that she had caught him. She quickly pulled down on her sleeve to cover any bare skin and then stirred her tea. He was now thoroughly embarrassed and looking steadfastly at his feet. He could hear her hat rustling as she was removing the veil in order to take her tea, but he didn’t dare look up for fear that she was scarred there too.

“You’re being silly now” she chastised him.

He looked up and smiled with relief that she had seemingly forgiven him his earlier embarrassment and also that she was radiantly beautiful.

“I do apologise for earlier” he said , holding out his hand in greeting “ Abraham Stoker , at your service.”

She took his hand, smiled and answered “Apology accepted.Emily”

Quiz

We’ll start with an easy one.

How long was the train journey from Dublin to Monaghan ?

Toodles,

Paul