I was on the train a good twenty minutes before it pulled out of Euston. There’d been a few berths still available but they were expensive and, while they were a nice idea in principle, I’d always found them a little claustrophobic. The seats were fairly comfortable so I took off my shoes and curled up under my coat.
I put my head against the window and watched the lights slipping past.
It was seven hours to Edinburgh. I must have slept for some of it. The important thing was that I didn’t cry.
We were over the border when the sun rose. Misty gold and rumpled sky and Scotland’s indecorous beauty. So different from England’s neat patchwork.
We arrived pretty much on time, and even though you were allowed half an hour to collect yourself, I grabbed my bag and dashed across the platform i
