Rose sat in one of those cheaper carriages. Her family could hardly afford the unnecessary expense of a train journey, and so she had taken the third class option. She hadn't traveled by train since she had been fired from her position in York, almost a year ago, and in the morning, she had enjoyed the sights of the forest, the rivers, the moorland, the hills and valleys, that made up the area around her town, yet that she usually saw so little of. On her way back, she had tried to catch glimpses, but it had been getting dark, and by the time the train noisily approached the station, she could only make out the street lanterns and lights coming from windows.

She had gone to visit her sister and her brother-in-law that day. She had not seen Alice since the wedding, and with her own wedding approaching fast, Rose knew she had only a small window of opportunity to visit. Surely once she was married there would be all kinds of chores to attend to in the bakery, not to mention making the home more... well... homely, and other wifely duties. And Alice could use something to cheer her up. The girl was nearing the end of her pregnancy and was clearly feeling quite miserable and alone. Yet Rose wasn't sure whether she had managed to cheer Alice up today. Her sister had been rather cold and distant in her manners and had seemed irritated by her presence, and for the whole journey back, this had sat in the back of Rose's mind.

As she picked up her linen bag and made her way to the door the conversations and images of that day replayed themselves once again in her mind and she hardly paid attention to what she was doing. She stepped out onto the platform, turned and looked along the length of the train without really seeing it. She didn't pay attention to the people passing by hurriedly as she stood there, apparently frozen in time.