As he neared the light he began to get suspicious. Instead of being the moonlight he first thought it was it turned out to be of a red colour. He just couldn’t understand it, he was so sure it had been white but now it was red. Was it his imagination or had the light changed and if it had, why? He decided he wanted to know where the light was coming from. Before looking down the passage from which it was shining he carefully looked around him to make sure no one was watching. When he was quite sure that he was alone he turned back to the passage and was about to start walking down it when suddenly he heard a noise from above him which startled him. He waited a few more minutes. When the noise didn’t occur again he decided that it was probably just rats. He began making his way down the passage trying to make out markings on the wall but the dim red light made it hard.
As he put his head up to look in front of him he saw what had made the light go red and was struck with horror. The light had been white underneath but now a red, blood like liquid had dripped down onto it from the ceiling and had nearly engulfed the light. Slowly he raised his head to look up at the ceiling to see where it had come from. Just as he did a drop went down his back, it sent a shiver down his spine. Getting nervous he quickly looked up to see bright red blood seeping through the cracks in the ceiling. As soon as he saw this he heard the noise again, it was as if someone was walking on the floor above him and was about to come down the stairs that stood to his left.
As the movement above seemed to be nearing the stairs he turned and ran back down the passage. As he reached the main tunnel he saw what, this time, was definitely moon light. He gave a sigh of relief when he reached the mouth of the tunnel as he knew he was nearly safe. He continued to make his way along the track at a brisk pace as he wanted to put as much distance between him and the tunnel as possible. Once he arrived at the path which he had used to descend to the level of the track he began to make his way up it in a hurry to reach the comfort and safety of his home and a chance to put the night behind him.
He was awoken from his sleep by a loud knocking on his window. He raised his sleepy head from his pillow hoping he might get a glimpse of who had caused him to arouse from his deep and worry free sleep. A few moments later he found himself pulling on his trousers from the night before and his coat as he walked out the back door trying to find the person who had knocked on his window. When no body was there he returned to his warm kitchen and began to make himself some breakfast. Just as he reached the pan which contained his boiled eggs, there was another knock at the door, he panicked and dropped the pan on the floor, the boiling water going over his feet. In a lot of pain he hobbled as quickly as he could towards the door determined to see who it was. As he flung the door open he saw the old shrivelled face of Mrs McMahon, her piecing grey eyes staring at his. This unnerved him and he shifted uneasily on his tender feet. Suddenly she pushed her frail body past him and headed for the big arm chair by the fire.
Tom, still hobbling because of his painful feet made his way over the fire and lent against the mantel piece returning the stare from the grey eyes opposite him. Slowly Mrs McMahon raised herself from the chair and understanding her hand jesters Tom took her place in the chair. Tom shifted so he was comfortable when the wrinkled lips of Mrs McMahon started to open. Her cold voice broke the silence that had filled the cottage all night. Tom listened intently, as she warned him never to go near the railway again. He was confused as to how Miss McMahon knew about his encounter with the railway and began to get curious. He had told no one what he had planned to do and he was sure it had been just him and the dark figure present. Tom thanked Miss McMahon for her advice and got up and walked towards the door so the frail old lady knew it was time for her departure.
He kept his eyes on her as she slowly made her way across the field that lay between Tom’s house and the village, leaving a trial in the dew covered grass. As she disappeared out of sight he shoved his green mud covered wellies on and pulled his wax coat, which was still damp from the night before, over his shoulders and began to make his way towards the village following the trail that lay across the grass. As he reached the bottom of the field he noticed the trail changed direction. Instead of going straight on to the village they went to the left and through the woods. More curious then ever he decided to continue following the track. He soon realised it wouldn’t be as easy as he thought, once inside the woods the dew was no longer there and neither were the tracks.
He was about to turn and go home when he saw a dark figure hobbling across the clearing in front of him. Recognising the walk at once to be that of Miss McMahon he continued to follow, increasing his pace so that she was always in sight. Every so often she would stop and make a 90º turn then continue. It wasn’t long until they came out of the woods and then the red mouth that belonged to the tunnel could be seen. As the figure faded into the darkness of the tunnel Tom stopped to think, if it was Miss McMahon that he was following then why was she now in the tunnel when less than an hour ago she had warned Tom about how dangerous it was. He decided to keep following as he was now intrigued as to why Miss McMahon was down there. He followed the light that he could see ahead of him. He kept tripping on the sleepers as this time he had no torch himself and his eyes were fixed on the figure ahead of him as he was determined not to lose sight of Miss McMahon. It wasn’t long until he saw the figure disappear down the same passage he had been down the previous night. He hung back round the corner until he was sure that Miss McMahon had gone up the stairs.
As he turned the corner into the dim passage which still had a red glow. As he looked forward he saw that the light was still covered in the red liquid but unlike the night before it was dry and of a dark red colour. He put his first foot on the bottom step, listening carefully to any noise. When he was certain he could hear no signs of movement above him he began to ascend up the stairs being careful to look around him as he went. As he put his foot firmly on the last stair he gasped. Straight ahead of him there was a light. It was flickering on and off so it didn’t give of much light but the light it did give off showed something that had shocked Tom. He stood there stunned by the sight that lay in front of his eyes the eerie sound of ropes squeaking as they swung gently in the breeze, ringing in his ears.