Classification: Recurrent Transit Anomaly
Location: Memphis
Associated Location: Bellweather
Status: Unresolved

For nearly twenty years, residents of an apartment building on Weller Avenue observed the same peculiar routine. Every Tuesday morning, shortly before eight, a woman named Margaret Vale left her apartment carrying a small, battered leather suitcase.

Every Thursday afternoon, she returned with it. There was nothing particularly remarkable about Vale herself. She lived alone, paid her rent on time and was generally described by neighbours as pleasant, although private. Employment records list her variously as a bookkeeper and accounts clerk. Most residents assumed her regular absences were connected to her work. Apparently nobody thought to ask. Not at first.

The Journey

Vale did not own a car. The nearest railway station was approximately fifteen minutes from her apartment, and several neighbours remembered seeing her walking in that direction on Tuesday mornings. Yet no railway records corresponding to her regular journeys have been discovered. Neither have bus records. One neighbour, Mr Harold Pike, became curious enough to follow her in the spring of 1974.

According to Pike, Vale entered the central railway station at approximately 8:23 a.m. He entered less than a minute later. She was gone. Pike searched the platforms, ticket hall and adjoining streets before eventually abandoning the matter. When Vale returned on Thursday, he asked where she had been. She appeared confused by the question.

‘Bellweather.’

Pike asked where that was. Vale reportedly laughed.

‘You know. Bellweather.’

He did not.

Bellweather

No town, district or recognised settlement named Bellweather has been located within reasonable travelling distance of Memphis. No railway timetable held by the Archive lists it. No corresponding station has been identified. Vale nevertheless spoke of the place casually. According to neighbours, she occasionally mentioned its harbour, the weather and people she knew there. One remembered her complaining that ‘the hill from the harbour gets worse every year’. Another recalled Vale bringing home a small paper parcel from a bakery she said stood opposite the clock tower. The bakery's name has been lost. The clock tower has not.

The Photograph

Following Vale's death, several personal effects were recovered from her apartment. Among them was a photograph.

It shows Vale considerably younger, standing beside an unidentified woman on a steep residential street. Behind them lies a narrow harbour. Above the rooftops stands a clock tower. Written on the reverse, apparently in Vale's handwriting:

Bellweather, 1956.

Attempts to identify the location were unsuccessful. More troublingly, employment records place Vale in Memphis throughout 1956. She does not appear to have taken any extended leave.

Tuesdays and Thursdays

Why Vale travelled only on Tuesdays remains unknown. Why she always returned on Thursdays is equally unclear. One neighbour recalled asking whether she ever considered staying in Bellweather. Vale reportedly became quiet. After some thought she replied:

‘You can't stay somewhere just because you remember it.’

No explanation followed. Her Tuesday journeys continued until approximately six months before her death. During those final months, Vale was reportedly seen several times sitting in the railway station without boarding a train. She would remain there for an hour or more with the suitcase beside her. Then return home.

The final recorded conversation with her occurred when a station employee asked whether she required assistance. Vale answered:

‘I'm waiting for the road to remember me.’

She died in Memphis the following winter. The suitcase was empty.

Archivist's Observation

For many years, the Archive regarded Bellweather as one woman's private fiction. Then another Memphis resident remembered growing up there. Decades later, the name appeared again. This time on a map. Perhaps Margaret Vale wasn't disappearing every Tuesday. Perhaps she was simply going home.