The crossing keeper

Source: an original fiction extract.

The barrier came down at four seventeen. Jo stopped her bicycle beside the white gate and rested one foot on the kerb. Usually the train followed within a minute, a brief roar that made the metal basket tremble. Today the rails remained empty. On the other side of the crossing, an old man waited with a wheeled shopping bag. He glanced towards the signal box, then settled both hands on the bag's handle. Jo checked the time. Her interview at the café began at half past four, and she could already see its striped awning beyond the tracks.

At four twenty she considered calling. She imagined explaining that she was late because a train had failed to arrive and disliked how invented it sounded. A van drew up behind her. Its driver switched off the engine, switched it on again and finally leaned on the horn. Nothing changed. In the signal box a figure moved past the window. Jo raised her hand, but the figure disappeared. She looked along the road for another way across. The footbridge was nearly a mile away, behind the warehouses.

The old man pointed down the line. At first Jo saw only the bright strips of rail narrowing into the distance. Then a railway worker in orange stepped onto the ballast well beyond the crossing. He crouched beside something that looked like a bundle of cloth. Another worker joined him, carrying a long pole. The van driver sounded the horn again. Jo turned and shook her head before she knew what explanation she could offer. Across the tracks, the old man had taken off his hat.

A small dog emerged from beneath the workers' arms. Its lead had caught in the track equipment. One worker held it against his chest while the other gathered up the loose length of cord. Only then did Jo notice a woman standing behind the fence farther down the line, her hands pressed against her mouth. The worker carried the dog towards her. Above the crossing, the signal changed. The old man put his hat back on. Jo found the café's number and called, speaking more slowly than she had intended.

The train passed at four twenty-eight. Jo watched the windows stream by and thought of the gap between the rails where the dog had been. When the barrier lifted, the old man crossed first. She pushed her bicycle behind him instead of riding, though the café was now only a few doors away. At the interview she was asked whether she could remain calm when customers became impatient. She looked towards the window, where the crossing gate was rising again, and took a moment before answering.

Consider the whole source. Analyse how the writer structures the text to change the reader’s understanding of the delay at the crossing. You could consider the opening focus, the order of revelations, shifts in attention and the ending. Support your explanation with references to the source.