Bit of a Saga Holiday

 

The Athogion – Part One - Desperate Departures

In the thirty second year of King Andrweg and Queen Margaret’s reign, in the kingdom of Gwynedd, news reached the peaceful holiday resort that trouble was a'brewing in far off London Town.  All were filled with fear and dread, because that was a long way away.  Not a single citizen volunteered to come the the royal couple's aid.  So the beautiful princess Joanwern step forward.  “Send me” she called, “for I have a young person’s railcard - just (ends on the last day of her 26th year), and fear no guard.”

And so, with a heavy heart, the king and queen sorrowfully agreed, and with a small (and appropriately economic) entourage, journeyed with their daughter to the departure point in the middle of a great marsh.  Uncertainty gripped the air.  That very evening, news had arrived of a fearful and savage attack further up on the line.  Indeed, one 60-year-old man had died of a heart attack. Fifteen others had got away with minor injuries. 

But despite protestations from her concerned parents, Joannwern the brave, determined to travel on, even if this meant she might have to spend a night sleeping rough on the rude boards of a railway waitingroom. 

And in time, the train arrived, on time.  But the lily-livered engine driver refused to travel on into certain doom. Joannwern would only travel as far as Machynlleth, a short distance down the coast.  Vast tracts of land still stood between her and her mission.

Taking destiny in both hands the gallant princess forged on, with a prayer to the Almighty God, and a furtive scrolling of various timetables, she embraced her quest.  From Machynlleth, her journey took her by oxen cart through the Badlands, on to the kingdom of Shrewsbury.  In that county the trains worked reasonably well.  For certain she would succeed.  Doubts remained. Strange foreboding was heard on the tannoy. But onward the journey went, to Wolverhampton and then to Reading.  Here the passage came to an abrupt halt. Joannwern may have been unceremoniously thrown out into the dark inhospitable night, but for a kindly horseman who swept her up behind him on his steed and taxied off into the night.  Before the final stroke of midnight, Joannwern arrived at London (well, on the outskirts- it is a very big place). 

In the next episode - find out what the quest actually is.   Does Joannwern succeed in resolving these terrible issues so far away?  Was that awful journey worth it?  Do the royal parents ever see her again?  All will be revealed in the next episode of The Athogion.