Page 84 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

Katy’s laughter faltered. ‘Will you really have to sell it?’ she asked, with a sudden frown.

‘I think so,’ replied Ryan. ‘I’ve been doing the sums this morning and it’s still not enough. The station needs another source of income and we’ve nothing else to offer the bank.’

‘If you leave, what will your dad do about the steam engine?’ she asked.

Ryan gulped. ‘I don’t know.’

He heard her soft sigh but didn’t say anything. They both knew how heartbroken his dad would be.

‘There’s nothing else to be sold,’ he said, his eyes moving from the train workshop to the two old carriages that were still on the end of the track at the side. ‘I don’t suppose we’ll even get any money from those to tide us over.’

Katy followed his gaze to the carriages. ‘Well, don’t give up hope,’ she told him after a short pause. ‘We’ll think of something.’

‘Shame you can’t do something with all that hospitality experience that you’ve got,’ he joked.

‘What, out here?’ she laughed, gesturing her hand around the station.

The cold wind blew down the platform once more and this time they both gave a shiver. ‘Come on, let’s go grab a coffee,’ he told her.

But as they walked side by side along the platform, he noticed that Katy kept looking across at the railway carriages with a thoughtful look on her face.

45

When she had been sitting on the platform with Ryan, Katy had tried not to be too excited in front of him, but she had had an amazing idea.

Not that she wanted to share it with anyone yet, especially not Ryan, just in case it wouldn’t work. Not until she had done her research.

It was the railway carriages. She had hardly noticed them before Ryan had pointed them out to her, but now she couldn’t stop thinking about them. It had been the talk about hospitality that had triggered the thought.

The carriages were separate. Unique. Incredible, really. They were an opportunity to create a really special place for people to stay in. And she knew that bijou, unique places would command a good price for overnight stays.

Despite her lack of decorating skills, she could envision the inside clearly in her mind. She supposed it would be described as retro chic, with some classic but comfortable furniture and even some of Bob’s spare train memorabilia dotted around.

Back up in the apartment, she stared out of the window of her bedroom, her mind racing. A light bulb had come on and she was reluctant to turn it back off again. Then she drew out her phone to start the job of researching.

The first thing to establish was the local competition, if any. A quick google only brought up the Black Swan Inn in Cranbridge. According to her friends, it was really lovely accommodation. Very cosy and the food was great. But it was just an inn. It didn’t have that unique style that she was looking for. Of course, she had persuaded Flora and Grams to rent out their spare rooms in the farmhouse but again, that shouldn’t be in direct competition as Katy was intending the railway carriages to be a more exclusive type of accommodation. The last thing Katy wanted to do was upset either of them when the future of the farm was already so fragile.

Beyond that, there was a small but tired-looking hotel in Aldwych, which was ten miles away, as well as a couple of guest houses. The local competition was minimal, and for unique accommodation it was non-existent.

Now what she needed to establish was were the carriages in any kind of state where they could be lived in.

So she shrugged on her coat and went in search of Bob and Eddie, who, of course, were in the workshop.

‘I thought that perhaps I’d take a look in the railway carriages to see if there’s anything else worth saving,’ she told them in a casual tone.

She was anxious not to share her idea with them quite yet. Not until she was certain that it could be done.

Eddie offered to show her the old carriages and so they walked together, stepping carefully over the old lines as they went.

‘Aren’t they smashing?’ he said, as they drew nearer. ‘They’re Pullman carriages from the 1950s.’

‘Lovely,’ said Katy, trying to focus on the classic shape and charm of the carriages, rather than their somewhat dilapidated state.

They were both uncoupled but on the same short piece of railway line. Katy looked at the view across the fields and even back to the station and nodded her head. It was peaceful and pretty, she told herself. She just wondered whether they would be big enough.

She followed Eddie up the small steps and into the first carriage, screwing her face up in thought as she looked around. It did have a certain charm, she thought. It had been a first-class carriage and the original stickers were still on the windows.

‘Is it structurally sound, do you think?’ she asked.