“Come on slow poke.” Bern urged as I trailed my pregnant friend across the main road to the Bahnhof.

“I'm coming.”

“Yeah like a snail.” She opined.

I mean if she hadn't insisted on me wearing this stupid jumper… and Dad dropping that on me this morning too, I mean he coulda said last night that we were travelling up tonight couldn't he? Hmm maybe he did, I wasn't paying that much attention to be fair.

You won't be surprised to know that everyone else was already waiting when we go to the platform and the Express was in sight by the time the pair of us arrived.

"What's this mornings excuse?" Anna asked with a smirk.

"Twinkle toes forgot to pack for tonight." Bern advised.

"I did not forget, I didn't know I needed to." I huffed.

"So you say."

"Come on, there's some seats up front." Connie told us.

We clambered on and headed to where the rest of the gang were talking to Myleen.

"Mornin'."

"Hi guys."

"Morning girls, nice top Gaby." Myleen added.

"Er thanks."

"Pia tells me you are off to Bonn, it looks to be a nice day for shopping."

"Yeah we all need stuff for the school dance." Steff supplied.

"Shopping with a purpose, so much more fun!" the conductor grinned, "better go, looks like some paying customers."

"So what's this about tonight Bern?" Connie enquired.

"Mr B has booked us accommodation up Hannover way so we're not driving up at the crack of dawn, this muffin forgot to pack." she pointed at me.

“I did not.” I pouted.

“Well it wasn't me running round like a demented fly at seven thirty this morning.”

I wasn't gonna win this one was I?

“You guys certainly get about,” Nena mentioned, “Trier last week, Hannover this.”

“Its not exactly sightseeing.” I pointed out.

“Still,” Brid picked up the thread, “most of us hardly get beyond Köln or Koblenz.”

Well I guess that's true but it's not my fault is it.

The conversation turned to other subjects and before long we were running through Remagen Bahnhof to get the already waiting north bound Rhein Express.

“So where are we headed?” Anna enquired as we emerged from Bonn station.

“Well I need the Karstadt.” I opined.

“As good a place as any to start.” Steff agreed.

We joined the throng of Saturday shoppers heading into the city, just another herd of teens out for a day's entertainment.

So you like know how these things go right? We trawl through the stores picking at stuff, maybe even trying stuff on but rarely parting with any cash. It's the way of teens everywhere. Today though is a bit different, we pretty much all have stuff to get for the dance, me more than most seeing as I need to get stuff for Max too. How did I fall for that?

“Meet you in C&A then.” Con agreed.

“‘Bout ten minutes.” I confirmed.

The others headed off across the square as I scooted back inside. My excuse was a bit lame but it was all I could come up, and a quick trip to the lav's wouldn't go amiss. However instead of the toilets I headed to the hosiery department, I did at least know what I was looking for. Now one thing I have noticed, in my wide experience, is that here in Germany they are much more into socks and tights an' stuff as real parts of an outfit rather than just foot and leg coverings.

The hosiery department is huge and it took a couple of minutes to locate what I was looking for. Firstly I needed some short lace top socks for my Anju costume, geez they're not cheap! Maybe I can make my own, I hunted out some plain white ankle socks, three pairs for the price of one lacy pair. So do I buy one pair or three, couldn't they just sell the plain ones singly? I picked up the lace topped creations and started the search for Max's leg wear.

I pulled out the picture of Karin I printed off this morning; he really will be a hit in this! Over knee striped socks were no problem, well they'd be over knee on me I'm not so sure about on the Baron. Spotting the lingerie dept next door I had a bit of inspiration.

“What took you so long?” Bernie enquired.

“Long queue.”

“It must've been, you've been half an hour.” Steff mentioned.

“Well I spotted some socks for my costume, so what've I missed?”

“A couple of cute lads.” Nena mentioned.

Purleeze!

“ Pimkie ?” Steff suggested.

My Max shopping list still had a lot on it and I was never gonna find anything in there but, well you know.

Two hours and many shops later I had everything but the shoes. A plain blue miniskirt came from H&M , as did a pink long sleeved t-shirt and bizarrely a shoulder length wig cut in a kind of oriental style. It was only €6 so it wasn't like a major expense and it could go in the Cosplay dress up box after the dance. ‘Accidentally' picking up the ‘wrong' sizes was easy enough; the shoes might be a bit more of a problem though.

Of course I wasn't the only one buying, there were quite a few bags bearing various shop logos being toted around.

“What time do you guys have to be back?” Anna asked as we rested our weary feet before the next assault.

“Dad wants to leave about five.” I supplied.

“We need to get the 3.12 train then.” Steff always seems to know the timetables backwards.

“What time is it now?” Bern enquired.

“Just turned twelve.” Connie advised.

“Plenty of time, we can do the new shoe shop, I wouldn't mind going in HMV too.”

“We should have time to eat before the train too.” Pia added.

My stomach rumbled in agreement.

We arrived back at the railway station just before three to find the platform quite a bit busier than usual. The rest of the shopping had gone well, I got the shoes I needed for Max on a two for one offer, I now have a pair of strappy heels that the girls conned me into. I don't have to wear them do I? Along the way I picked up a cheap shrug to finish off Max's outfit and even managed to dive into the model shop for ten minutes. I got the Volvo I was looking for but I couldn't resist the little Piaggio motor trike either!

Food ended up being from the Maccy D's near the bus station, time was running out and its not like we have burgers that often. So anyway, the station was stupidly busy.

“Shitza, the express is running late.” Brid noted checking the departure board.

‘Etwas spatter 5 min.'

“Myleen will wait for it to come in.” Nena suggested.

“I wonder why so many people are waiting for it?” Anna mused.

Just then the tannoy crackled into life with an announcement at the same time the departure board clacked away to clear.

‘ We are sorry to announce that the 3.12 Rhein Express is cancelled due to an incident on the track. The next southbound train will be the 3.55 stopping service to Koblenz .'

“Sugar!”

“What kind of incident would stop the trains, the northbound are still running.” Steff noted.

“I'd best ring Dad, he'll go ballistic.”

“Its not your fault.” Con pointed out.

“As if that matters.” I sighed pulling out my Handy and hitting the speed dial.

“Dad?”

“What's up Kiddo?”

“The trains have been cancelled.”

“From Remagen? I guess you want fetching.”

“No we're still in Bonn, there won't be any trains till nearly four, some incident on the line apparently.”

“Geez,” Dad sighed, “your bags are ready yeah? And Bern's?”

“Mine are by my bed,” I turned to check with Bern, “where's your bag for tonight?”

“Bedroom.”

“In her room.”

“I'll pick you up from Bonn then, outside the station.”

“Okay, oh can you bring my camera please?”

“Sure, anything else?”

“Hang on, Dad wants to know if you need anything else, he's gonna pick us up here.”

“Just my trainers.” Bern advised.

“Bern needs her trainers.”

“Right, I'll be there in about an hour.”

“Bye.”

I clicked the phone shut.

“You're papa is picking you up directly?” Pia enquired.

“Yeah, ‘bout an hour.”

“We found out what the incident is.” Anna mentioned.

“Yeah apparently someone jumped in front of a train at Brühl station.” Steffi filled in.

“How terrible.” I noted, “Why would someone do that?”

“To kill themselves?” Nena suggested.

“What about the poor driver, that must be terrible seeing someone jump and not being able to do anything.”

“I never thought of that.” Connie mused.

The rest of the gang made their own calls home, if the four o'clock doesn't happen the rescue team will be launched!

In the end the train did arrive and the girls departed Bonn before Dad arrived.

“I wish he'd hurry up.” I mused as we whiled away the minutes on the station steps.

“Give him a chance Drew, it's only been an hour since you rang.”

“I guess.” I allowed.

“So what'd you get?”

“You know what I got.”

“Don't try that one with me, I saw those shoes you picked up.”

I sighed.

“Well I suppose I can show you later, I got like the whole costume.”

“Great!” Bern beamed.

The tooting of a car horn, our car's horn, attracted our attention and ended the conversation.

to be continued....

Maddy Bell 11.10.09 © 2009

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