Girl on the Platform

Girl on the Platform
Josephine Cox

A quick read from the bestselling storyteller, Josephine Cox. Love at first sight and a mysterious disappearance.Best friends Mark and Pete board a train to London for a night out.As Pete finds a seat he notices a girl sitting on a bench. She looks sad and lonely. When the train leaves, he can't get her out of his mind because in her he has seen a glimpse of himself.Over the coming months Pete sees the girl often, but when tempted to speak to her, his courage fails. Then one day she simply disappears. Hopelessly besotted by this girl he believes to be his kindred spirit, Pete will not rest until he finds her…

Girl on the Platform

JOSEPHINE COX

Copyright (#ulink_4a922726-3f0d-571e-b6e5-d37f58d8f29c)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers 2008

FIRST EDITION

Copyright © Josephine Cox 2008

Josephine Cox asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Set in Stone Serif by Palimpsest Book Production Limited, Grangemouth, Stirlingshire

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

EBook Edition © AUGUST 2009 ISBN: 9780007343423

Version: 2017-08-10

Dedication (#ulink_6d7da103-4e4a-589f-ac01-a1eb7cfa1feb)

This book is for my Ken, as always

Table of Contents

Title Page (#uf9fb3d2a-eb7a-533f-aa11-9fb441c27619)

Copyright (#ubc70b626-f2ba-57ab-9960-f449848b5d76)

Dedication (#uea18c5f8-ec00-54a2-b708-0373a0b70d33)

Part One (#ufd3d91ec-14d2-5bff-8295-dc18027c6205)

Chapter One (#u1eff9d8b-68fd-57bb-a709-78e1b37a3020)

Chapter Two (#u5cbce891-d6a3-5183-bd72-8db8c7c85755)

Chapter Three (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

About The Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Other Books By (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

PART ONE (#ulink_52982923-84a4-534e-823b-2978b60facf4)

Friday August 2007

Woburn Sands

Boys’ Night Out Chapter One

Chapter One (#ulink_a30e35ef-ebd6-5089-89a8-580d65840fa8)

‘A night in London?’ Mark had never been to the city. ‘That sounds good to me.’

‘Great!’ Pete slapped him on the shoulder. ‘I promise you, we’ll have a cracking time, but you’d better be ready and waiting, or I’ll go on my own.’

‘You won’t!’

‘Just watch me!’

‘All right, keep your shirt on. I’ll be ready.’

At first, Mark wasn’t sure if he wanted to go to London and see a show. His idea of a good night out was down the pub, enjoying a pint of beer and a game of pool. If he pulled that was a bonus, but Pete had convinced him and now he was really looking forward to it.

Pete explained the plan. ‘Remember, you’ll need to be here by six-thirty or we’ll miss the train.’

Pete was fed up with the same old routine—go to work, come home, have your tea. Then down the pub. And now that Cathy had finished with him again, he was feeling miserable. So when his dad won two tickets to the hit show Joseph, he gave them to Pete. ‘Take Mark with you,’ he said, ‘it’ll make a change for you both.’

Pete thought it was a great idea. This was the last day of his holiday, and he really needed to do something different before he went back to work on Monday.

As agreed, Mark drove up in his old Ford at exactly six-thirty. Pete told him to park it on the street: ‘So Dad can get in and out of the drive.’