The Day We Caught the Train 
I took the urchin on the train today into the city centre. He has been to our town centre before but this was his first trip to the big city. We ate ice cream in the bull ring. He never let go of my hand and was just looking up at all the buildings. He said it was awesome.
He loves the train and on the return journey our carriage was nearly empty which means he can try all the window seats out, and open all the windows. There was three young men who were messing around a little. A family were the only other passengers. They assembled by the door to get off at Bournville/Cadbury station. I paid very little attention until the train started to move again. Then i heard a scream. It was a little girl from the family. At first i thought she had been crushed in the doorway. Thankfully she hadn't. The doors had closed before she got off and her family were running after the train.
She was really crying. I looked around for the alarm to stop the train but i couldn't see it. I tried to comfort her as best as i could. She couldn't tell me how old she was (about 4 or 5 i guess) but she told me her name was Emily.
I thought 'shit' why can't i think of something logical to help her. The three young men were clearly not going to help. There was no access to the carriage in front or indeed the driver. Shit.
My only option was to get off with her at the next stop and run to the front of the train and alert the driver. We got off and i knew i would have to be quick. I said to the urchin "wait here with Emily" and i ran to tell the driver. I knew they couldn't keep up. Anyway the driver was a gormless prick. He told me to take Emily to the ticket office and he would hold the train for me. He said the lady in the ticket office would call the transport police and they would deal with it. Emily had been seperated from her folks about 15 mins.
I asked him if he had radio contact with Bournville and when he confirmed he was in contact i told him to tell them to locate the little girls family and tell them to wait at Bournville. Then i had to get the kids across to the other side (subway and hundreds of steps) quickly as i knew a train was due and we boarded it (without tickets
) when it came.
That one stop journey seemed like forever. It had been about half an hour when we pulled into Bournville again. It was great to see her reunited with her Mom and Dad and two brothers. Mom had been crying which i expected. I know i would have been beside myself.
I am glad i took that action. If i hadn't then Emily would likely have spent a lot longer separated from her family.
I forgot to say that the few mins i left the urchin with Emily he was holding her hand and showing her his tape measure
I was really pleased that he had followed my instructions. In the past, any kind of situation have not resulted in me demanding anything of him. I always ensure his safety. It is my priority. This situation was different as i had to think about Emily too.
He was still talking about Emily when i tucked him up in bed.
