Chapter 3: Chapter Two: Timothy’s New Friend

Saturday morning was bright and cheerful. Timothy had awoken in good spirits. There was no school today. Rachel would probably be playing at her friend's house, and David would probably be going to play football. He picked up his favourite flame shorts and hurriedly slid his legs into them, without taking off his disposable bedtime briefs. He gazed out of the window which overlooked the canal. Already there were a few boats chugging along. The morning sunshine glistened brilliantly off of the ripples of the water, which reflected the almost cloudless blue sky. Timothy bent down and pulled his shorts up, the thin plastic of his briefs squeaking softly in protest as they were concealed underneath. After putting on his blue shirt, Timothy opened his bedroom door and made his way downstairs for breakfast. Once he had finished, he decided to ask if David was going to be busy.
"Are you going to play football today, David?" Timothy asked,
"No, Timothy. The field is still too wet. I have to wait until next week,"
Timothy sighed. This meant he wouldn't be allowed to go down to the station to watch the trains by himself. If David wasn't at football practice or otherwise busy, the rule was that he had to stay with his older brother.
"I'm going to ride my bike along the canal though, if you want to come,"
"Oh, okay!" Timothy agreed. He did like riding his bike, but seldom got the chance to actually ride somewhere.

 

It had indeed rained heavily overnight, and the morning sunlight sparkled off of the soaked, green grass. Timothy clambered onto his little red bike and began to pedal, riding down the footpath towards the canal towpath. David mounted his big blue bike and set off too, overtaking Timothy at the end of the street and trundling down the little dirt path that linked it to the canal towpath, before turning to the right. His gears clicked as he changed from the starting lower gear into a higher gear so he could ride along at a leisurely pace. Timothy's stabilizers scraped and clattered noisily as his bike trundled along the footpath. The sound became muffled as he followed David on the little dirt path. The overnight rain had made it a little bit muddy and for a moment, the back wheel of Timothy's bike slipped. His stabilizers kept him upright and he turned his pedals faster. Once he reached the tarmac path alongside the canal he turned to the right as David had done, his stabilizers once again clattering and scraping along. He tried his hardest to keep up with David, who rode at a leisurely pace ahead of him.
As David and Timothy passed under the bridge that carried the dual carriageway over the canal and railway, the path changed from paved tarmac to fine gravel. Timothy found it harder to pedal his bike and he struggled to keep up with his brother. He began to puff and pant at his exertions, but he was determined. As the canal curved to the left, there was a momentary break for Timothy as they passed over a concrete part of the path, albeit with a slight slope. Then the gravel began again. Timothy looked to see David was further away, and he tried his hardest to catch up.
Timothy puffed and panted. David had stopped for a break up ahead. He finally caught up and struggled to catch his breath.
"Getting some real exercise, huh? It'd be better if you didn't insist on keeping your training wheels on,"
Timothy didn't answer. As he regained his breath he heard the telltale whine of a train passing by. He tried looking over the bushes to see it go past, but they were too tall. Timothy sighed unhappily.
"Come on, let's go on. We can go as far as Rye House station before we have to turn around,"
Timothy nodded and followed behind David.
A few moments later, the path changed again. The gravel gave way to soft woodchips on dirt, which was wet and muddy. Timothy tried his hardest to keep up with David, but he was going slower and slower despite his efforts. His bike ground to a halt. Timothy pumped his pedals, but it didn't move. He looked at the back wheel of his bike – it was spinning, but he wasn't going anywhere. Timothy stood up and pedaled, but he still didn't move; he couldn't understand it, why wouldn't his bike move? Timothy anxiously looked to see his older brother had gone, riding on ahead without him. Timothy kept pedaling, but no matter how hard he pumped his pedals he couldn't move his bike. He just sat propped up on his stabilizers, spinning in place as he tried to move.
“David! I'm stuck!” Timothy called out, but his brother didn't come back. Timothy suddenly felt very alone, he began to wonder if he had a good idea to ride his bike in the first place. As Timothy struggled, a tall, slim boy was walking along behind him. Timothy looked over his shoulder and noticed him approaching. He whimpered as the much older boy strode towards him, he leaned forwards and pedaled harder, but still he just sat in place with the back wheel of his bike spinning uselessly.
“He's so much bigger than I am, what is he going to do to me?” Timothy thought with worry, but the boy positioned himself behind Timothy's bike; putting his hand on the seat he then pushed the bike free of the deep gravel. Timothy instantly felt much better as his bike gained traction again, and he realized that the stranger meant him no harm.
“Thank you!” Timothy said in his squeaky voice, staring up in awe at the slim, flame-haired boy. He recognized him almost immediately, it was the same boy he had wanted to talk to at the station yesterday.
“Not at all mate. I'm Robin,” he answered, smiling back at Timothy. "Robin McAshton,"
“I'm Timothy... Timothy Button,” Timothy stuttered awkwardly, “Thanks for helping me, Robin. I have to catch up with my older brother,”
“I hope we meet again someday,” Robin said
“I hope so too! Bye!” Timothy replied, and he pedaled his bike after his brother, who was just a tiny speck in the distance outside Rye House station. Timothy rode as fast as his little bike would let him.

When Timothy managed to catch up to David, he was puffing and panting like a steam engine. David didn't ask Timothy what had happened, he just cycled away. Timothy followed him, and the two boys made their way to onto Rye House station. They parked their bikes at the stands, and walked onto the platform. As they reached the platform, a multicoloured train painted in red, white, black and blue rumbled in from Hertford East.

As the train screeched to a halt, David turned to Timothy.
"I'm just going up to the little shop to get something. Can you stay right here? I won't be long,"
"Okay!" Timothy nodded. He then went and fetched his little red bike and clambered onto it, pedaling along the platform as the train accelerated away, making a familiar whirring noise - though a somewhat different one than Timothy was used to. He stopped his bike at the end of the platform and watched as the train joined the mainline in the distance, the signal changing from double-yellow to red. Timothy hadn't known about this station, he'd never been here before. He clambered off his bike, leaving it propped up on the stabilizers. He felt his shorts were slipping down and hastily pulled them up, looking down at the untied blue laces and wishing he knew how to tie them. His thoughts were interrupted at the sound of a horn, and a noisy clickety-clack noise getting louder and louder. Timothy looked on down at the mainline just in time to see a train speeding along, whirring loudly as it disappeared from view.
"That was probably going to Stansted Airport," said a familiar voice behind him. Timothy jumped as he was startled, but breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was Robin.
"You know about trains?"
"I've always liked trains. Ever since I was a little kid," Robin answered.
Timothy smiled as he looked up at Robin.
"Did you see the train that left a little earlier?"
"Yeah. Those trains often run on the mainline. It's quite uncommon to see it running a Hertford train,"
For quite a while, Timothy and Robin talked. Then Timothy saw David coming back, and he clambered onto his bike.
"I'd better go now,"
Timothy pumped his pedals, but the back wheel of his bike just spun again.
"Oh no!" Timothy squeaked, trying harder but not going anywhere.
Robin chuckled softly and stood behind Timothy, "I'll give you a push"
Timothy puffed and panted at his efforts. "Why am I stuck?"

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"It looks like your stabilizers have high-centred your back wheel. It can't get any grip because it's off the ground. Hold on, Timothy,"
Robin leaned forward with both hand on the saddle. The back wheel of Timothy's bike gained traction again and he trundled along the platform to join David.

As Timothy rode along the path, once again he got stuck in the muddy bit. He pumped his pedals but didn't go anywhere. David groaned and threw his bike down onto the grass.
“Why don’t you ever get off your silly little bike instead of struggling for all-to-see whenever you get stuck?” David exclaimed, callously.
Timothy started to cry at David's outburst. He stopped pedaling and sat propped up on his stabilizers, sobbing. David sighed,
“I’m sorry Timothy, it’s just… you know… my patience is a little thin,”

Timothy looked back hopefully at David, though he also wondered if Robin was coming along behind them.
"What's that?" David said, suspiciously.
"What's what?" Timothy asked, innocently.
"Why are you still wearing your diaper? You're only supposed to wear those at bedtime!"
"I...I woke up dry. I just forgot,"
David sighed and shook his head, "Come on, we'd better get home,"

When Timothy and David arrived at home, their Mum had just made lunch.
David went into the house first, and Timothy followed miserably. Why was David so mean to him whenever he needed help? He sat at the kitchen table and ate his jam sandwich very slowly, which wasn't like him at all.
“Is something bothering you, Tim?” asked Mum.
“He got stuck in the mud – why does he still need training wheels on his bike?” asked David, “He's seven years old, not three!”
“Timothy's just a slow learner, that's all,”
“Slow? Backwards more like,” muttered David.
Timothy sniffled at David's callous remark, and he left the remains of his jam sandwich. He went upstairs into his bedroom and began to play with his train set.
About half an hour later, Timothy heard the doorbell ring. He let go of his toy train and listened...
“He's upstairs,” David said.
“Who's come to see me?” Timothy wondered.
Timothy soon found out – it was Robin!
“Oh, hello Robin!” Timothy smiled.
“You're pretty interested in trains too I see,” Robin said.
“He is – ever so, it gets annoying sometimes,” David said to Robin, “I've tried time and time again to get Timothy to play football, but he just doesn't get it,”
“I had thought I was the only person in the village who liked watching the trains. Maybe we could be friends... I live a few doors down,” said Robin.

“You live nearby?!” asked Timothy, excitedly.
“Uh-huh. Well, I must be going, I've got to help my Mum with dinner. It was nice to meet you both,” Robin said, heading back downstairs.
“Well, Robin seems nice,” commented David.
“He is nice. He helped me when my bike got stuck,” replied Timothy.
“Look, I'm sorry for upsetting you, Tim,” said David, “It's just... well I don't see why you still need your training wheels on your bike. I learned to ride without them when I was five,”
“I don't want my training wheels taken off, I won't be able to ride my bike without them,” replied Timothy, anxiously.
“Well... you've got to learn sometime. Nobody else your age rides with training wheels, you know,” said David.
“I don't care. I need my training wheels,” said Timothy, stubbornly.
“If you say so,” said David, turning to leave and closing the door behind him.
Timothy shuddered at the thought of trying to ride his bike without his stabilizers. He knew he wasn't any good at balancing, and he'd more than likely hurt himself if they were taken off.

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