0:00 The wooden engine was sitting inside her slipper.0:03 Right then, love, snuggle down.0:06 Barnaby the cat is snoring by my steaming brew, so we're grand.0:11 Last week, Alex dealt with that funny cabbage patch midnight creep, but tonight's puzzle belongs completely to Maya.0:20 Now, Maya knew for a FACT that she'd parked that little painted red locomotive on the carpet rug by the wardrobe.0:29 Engines do not have legs.0:30 Slippers do not call taxis.0:33 Yet there it was, tucked right into the fuzzy fleece toe, cold wheels pointing up at the ceiling.0:40 How on earth did that happen?0:42 The next night, Maya set a little trap.0:45 Nothing wicked, just clever.0:48 She lined up the three carriages in the dead centre of her bedroom floor, perfectly straight, facing north towards her bookcase.0:58 She clicked the tiny magnet couplings together with a sharp snap.1:03 She whispered to the little wooden driver painted on the cab.1:08 "Stay put." Midnight arrived with a gentle tap of rain against the glass.1:13 Maya pulled the duvet up to her nose, watching the shadows stretch across the wallpaper.1:20 The wind gave a tiny shriek down the chimney pipe.1:24 Ooh, proper ghostly, you'd think!1:27 But it was just the Yorkshire breeze having a giggle.1:31 Then came the sound.1:32 Click.1:33 Whirr.1:33 Scritch.1:34 It was coming from the floorboards right beside her chest of drawers.1:39 Maya held her breath.1:41 Something was moving in the dark.1:43 A tiny shape, no bigger than a teacup, slid across the floorboards.1:49 Was it a bedroom goblin?1:51 A tiny, naughty Whitby boggle looking for socks to steal?1:55 Maya felt her heart do a quick little flutter against her ribs, but she wasn't having any nonsense in her own bedroom.2:04 She clicked her bedside torch on.2:07 A golden circle of light splashed against the skirting board.2:12 The three train carriages were not in the centre of the rug anymore.2:17 They were rolling in a neat, crooked line toward the bottom of the wardrobe.2:23 Only, they weren't driving themselves.2:26 Fastened to the front magnet was a trail of dried pea pods and an old brass button.2:32 And puffing away at the front, hauling with all four paws, was a very fat, very determined hamster named Barnaby-Junior.2:42 He had escaped his wire cage again.2:44 Eh, you will never guess what happened.2:47 The little rascal stopped in the bright torch beam, dropped the string of yarn he was pulling with his teeth, and looked right at Maya.2:58 His cheeks were puffed out like two furry dumplings, stuffed completely full of sunflower seeds.3:05 He wasn't a phantom railwayman at all.3:08 He was just a builder on the night shift!3:12 Maya let out a big breath and grinned, setting her bare feet on the cold floor.3:18 "You daft little sausage," she murmured.3:21 She scooped up the runaway train and gently picked up the heavy hamster, feeling his whiskery nose twitch against her thumb.3:31 He had been using the wooden wagons to cart his secret stash under the wardrobe all week.3:37 She tucked him back into his cage, clicked the wire latch down tight with a twist of blue ribbon, and set the little red engine on her bedside table right beside her pillow.3:51 The dark room didn't feel spooky anymore.3:54 It just felt full of tiny, funny secrets.3:57 A phantom train isn't a fright when the driver only weighs three ounces.4:03 Night night, sleep tight, chuck.
