“Wow,” Violet said. “More chandeliers!”
“It’s very fancy,” Benny said. “Especially just for milk and cookies.” White tablecloths covered each table. On top of them sat vases of flowers and silver salt and pepper shakers.
“Wait until you see it all set up with china and crystal for breakfast,” Emilio said. “Train dining cars were like fine restaurants. It was a real treat to eat in one. We have quite a long way to go. If you would like to see our route, I’ve laid out a map on one of the tables and marked our journey in red, so you can follow along. We’ll be going west to Chicago and then heading southwest to Santa Fe.”
Benny traced his finger across the country. “New Mexico is a long way from Connecticut.”
“Yes, it is. We’ll cross several states. It’s so far, we are going to make a stop in an hour for another engine. It’s going to be attached to the front of the train to pull the steam engine and all our cars. Old steam engines need too much water and fuel to travel such long distances. Even with a modern engine, it will take us a little more than two days to get there as long as we stay on tracks.”
“Why wouldn’t we stay on the tracks?” Benny asked.
Emilio made a silly face. Everyone laughed. “It was just a little train humor,” he said. “Say, do you want to hear a train joke?”
“Sure,” Benny said. “I like jokes.”
“Why don’t elephants like to ride on trains?” Emilio asked.
“I don’t know,” Benny said.
The porter grinned. “Because they hate leaving their trunks in the baggage car.” He chuckled. “Get it? Trunks?”
Benny laughed. “I get it. That’s a good joke.”
“Oh, I’ve got plenty more. They can wait until tomorrow though. Why don’t you all have a seat and I’ll bring you some milk and cookies? I’ll be right back.”
The Aldens examined the map while they waited for Emilio. Henry looked at the mileage key on the map and then used his hand to measure the distance. “I estimate it’s about two thousand miles following the route that’s marked,” he said.
Benny yawned. “I’m glad we can sleep some of the way and that someone else is driving the train. I’m getting tired.”
Emilio came back in carrying a tray with a pitcher of milk and four glasses. His expression had changed. A frown replaced the smile.
“I was sure I had a box of cookies among the supplies,” he said. “I don’t see them anywhere. I don’t understand how they disappeared. There’s no one on the train who would take them.”
Violet hadn’t thought about how they were the only ones on the train besides the driver and the fireman. It was a little spooky thinking about all the empty cars.
“You’ll have to settle for just milk tonight,” Emilio added. “I’m sorry.”
“That’s all right,” Jessie assured him. Benny was disappointed but didn’t say anything. He knew he could look forward to breakfast.
When they were finished, Emilio said, “Let’s show you where you will sleep. The Pullman sleeper car is the next car back.”
They walked through to the sleeper car. It was as fancy as the other cars, though it looked more like a modern train car with pairs of seats facing each other.
“Last time we were on a train, we slept in little compartments,” Violet said. “I don’t see any, unless that part at the back has compartments.”
“It does, but there are only two in this car. I thought your grandfather would like one.”
“I would,” Grandfather said. “That way I can snore as much as I want.”
“So do we all sleep in the other one?” Benny asked.
“No, I’ll show you where you sleep in a few minutes,” Emilio replied. “But I forgot, I have some things for you in the next car back. You will get to see another car tonight after all. Why don’t you come with me to help carry your things back in here?”
“Great!” Benny said. “I can’t wait to see the whole train.”
Emilio motioned for the Aldens to follow him. “Be careful,” he said as he led them down to the end of the dining car. “Several of the lights in the other car aren’t working for some reason. They were fine earlier this evening, but when I came through there a little while ago, some were out and others were flickering. We’ll have to get them checked out. The wiring in that car is the original. We’ve added some modern conveniences like Wi-Fi and air conditioning, but we haven’t updated everything.”
There was a light on over the door of the car, but once inside only a few other lights were on. It was difficult to see much besides some dark furniture shapes. “This is a library car,” Emilio explained. “When this train was in use for passengers, it had all the latest newspapers and magazines, along with books. There’s even a writing desk for passengers who wanted to write letters or postcards. Tomorrow you’ll be able to see it better in the daylight if we can’t get the lights fixed.”
He walked over to a table against one side of the train and pulled something out from under it.
“It’s our trunk!” Jessie cried.
Benny ran over and put his hands on top of it. “I thought we wouldn’t see it again.”
Violet joined him. “I didn’t either. I’ve been thinking I would miss seeing it in the study.”
“We needed to bring it along,” Emilio said. “You’ll see why.”
The Aldens were surprised to see the trunk had a new combination lock on it. They’d never locked it before. Emilio turned the dial of the lock until it opened, then he lifted the lid of the trunk.
Henry looked inside. “It’s got our backpacks in it.” He took them out of the trunk and handed them to his brother and sisters.
“My laptop is in there too!” Jessie cried. She liked to keep it with her to look up information if they couldn’t get to a library.
“There’s one more bag.” Violet reached in and took out a small dark-brown leather suitcase.
“I believe that one is mine,” Grandfather said.
“Who packed our things?” Jessie asked.
Grandfather’s eyes twinkled. “Mrs. McGregor did. I let her in on the plan.”
Jessie understood why Mrs. McGregor had hugged them. She knew they were going on a trip.
Benny leaned over and peered in the trunk. “There’s something else in there.”
On the bottom of the trunk were six little boxes wrapped in newspaper and tied with twine.
Emilio picked one up. “These are the items you will deliver to the Reddimus agent. I’ve got a bag for you to put them in. I’ll give it to you tomorrow.”
“I’m glad they are here, so we don’t have to figure out where they are. That’s one less test we have to pass,” Benny said.
Violet frowned. “They don’t look very special just wrapped in old newspaper.”
“They aren’t supposed to look special,” Emilio explained. “You might say they are disguised. Inside each wrapped parcel is a locked wooden box that doesn’t look very special either. And inside that is a very special box, also locked. It’s very sturdy and padded on the inside. Museums use those sorts of boxes to transport small valuable items so they don’t get damaged.” Emilio noticed Benny yawning.
“We can talk about the boxes more tomorrow,” the porter said. He put the box back in the trunk and locked it. “Since you are going to be in charge of the items, I’ll give you the combination. It’s 1859. Can you remember that?” The Aldens all nodded, even though Benny wasn’t sure he really could remember.
“Now, let me show you your beds. You go first. I want to shut off the lights.” Back in the Pullman car, the porter showed the Aldens how the lower seats could be changed into beds by sliding them together. “Each bed can be separated by curtains,” he said, taking off the ties that were holding the curtains against the wall and pulling them toward him.
“And if you like to sleep up high, you can have an upper berth.” He unhooked a clasp on a panel near the ceiling, lowering the panel down to reveal a mattress, bl
ankets, and pillows.
“Everything for both the upper and lower berth is stored here,” Emilio explained as he took down what he needed. They helped him make up the beds.
When everyone had enough pillows and blankets, Emilio said, “Who wants to sleep in the upper berths?”
“I do!” Violet and Benny said at the same time.
“That’s good,” Jessie said, “Because I’d like a lower berth. Those have windows and are a little bigger.”
“Yes, I’d like a lower berth too,” Henry said.
“Excellent! I’m glad everyone can be where they want to be,” Emilio said.
“How do we get up there?” Benny asked.
“I’ll be right back.” Emilio went to a small storage compartment at the back of the car and pulled out two wooden ladders, attaching each one to the edge of an upper berth. “And if you want, you can close the curtains around the beds.”
“How do we do that?” Benny asked.
“I just noticed the brass rods,” Henry said, pointing up to the ceiling. “That’s how you close them.” Emilio showed them how to unfasten the curtains and draw them across the rods.
“That’s everything,” Emilio said. “I’ll see you in the morning. I’ll be in my berth, which is in the baggage car right behind the engine. Good night.”
Once everyone had their pajamas on and were ready for bed, Grandfather went to his compartment. The children climbed into their berths and turned off their lights. Watch lay down in the aisle.
Even though Benny had been sleepy before, he found he was still too excited to go to sleep. For a while, he listened to the clackety-clack of the train going over the rails and the chugging of the engine. He decided he’d turn on the light above his bed and then climb down to get a book out of his backpack. But the light didn’t work. He remembered his new flashlight. Where was it?
He pulled open the curtains and leaned over the edge of his berth. “Henry, Jessie,” he whispered. “Are you awake?”
There was no answer from either of them, but Violet opened up her curtains and said, “What’s wrong, Benny?”
“I don’t know what I did with my flashlight.”
Violet raised herself up on one arm and looked over at Benny. “It’s probably in the pocket of your jeans. That’s where I put mine. So it’s probably in your backpack with your jeans. Why don’t you look?”
Benny turned his light back on and climbed down the ladder, trying to be quiet so he wouldn’t wake up Henry and Jessie. He rummaged around in his backpack, which was on the seat nearest to their berths. “It’s not here. Maybe I dropped it in the parlor car when the train started to move. No, wait. I remember. I did put it in my pocket, because I started to take it out in the library car when Emilio said some of the lights were out.”
“You probably dropped it in there then. We can find it in the morning.” Violet gave a loud yawn. “Good night.”
Benny climbed back up into his berth and tried to go to sleep, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the flashlight. He could go look, he told himself. No one said he had to stay in his bed. It would be awful if he could not find the flashlight. Mrs. Silverman wouldn’t like it if he lost the first thing they’d been given. That would be failing a test for sure.
He climbed back down the ladder. In the dim light, the train car seemed bigger and longer than he remembered. Watch got up and wagged his tail. “You’ll go with me, right, Watch?” Benny said. Remembering he and Watch would have to go outside the Pullman car to get to the door to the library car, he put the dog’s leash back on him.
“We’ll only be outside for a few seconds, Watch, right? You won’t mind that.” Taking a firm hold of Watch’s leash, Benny walked down the aisle toward the door. When he opened it, he was glad to see the library car was still lit, though with so many of the lights out, it still wasn’t all that bright. He took a step toward it and then remembered Emilio had said he was going to turn off all the lights in the car. Had he? Benny couldn’t remember.
“Benny!” A voice came from behind him. “What are you doing?” It was Violet.
“I really want to find my flashlight,” he said. “I’m going to go look for it.”
“You shouldn’t go by yourself,” his sister told him. “If I go with you, will you come back to bed even if we don’t find it?”
“Yes,” Benny said, glad Violet had volunteered to come too.
When they went into the library car, Benny stopped so fast that Violet ran into him. She started to ask him why he had stopped, when he raised his arm and pointed. There was another person in the car. A woman with a blond ponytail wearing a porter’s uniform knelt in front of the trunk. Her back was to them, but they could see she was speaking into a cell phone.
The woman shifted. Light reflected off the woman’s shoes. Violet looked more closely and saw the porter wore fancy sneakers with a reflective stripe on each side. They didn’t go with the old-fashioned uniform.
“The trunk is locked,” the woman said into the phone. “I’ve got an idea about that problem.” As she moved to stand up, Watch growled. The woman leaped up and whirled around, dropping her phone at the sight of them. She was very tall, taller than Grandfather even, and she towered over them. Watch growled again, louder this time.
“What are you doing in here?” the woman demanded.
A Close Call
“I…I lost my flashlight,” Benny stuttered.
The woman stared at them for a moment and then reached down and picked up her phone. Her cheeks had bright red blotches on them. She looked angry. “I’ll call you back,” she said, shutting it off. “I haven’t seen a flashlight,” she told Benny and Violet. “You should be in bed.”
“We came to look for it,” Benny said, hoping the woman would offer to help them.
She didn’t. Her phone rang. The woman answered it and said, “Hold on a minute.” Ignoring Benny and Violet, she walked away from them and went out the door at the back of the car.
“I didn’t know there was another porter on the train,” Violet said.
“Maybe Emilio forgot to tell us.” Benny looked over at the trunk. “Why was she trying to get in there? She said she had a plan to get them. She meant the boxes, but Emilio said they were our responsibility now.”
“I don’t know. I don’t like this. We should wake someone up and tell them.”
“That means we’d have to leave the boxes in the trunk. What if she comes back and takes them?”
“I can go wake up Henry and Jessie and Grandfather and you and Watch can stay and guard the trunk,” Violet suggested.
“I don’t want to stay here by myself!” Benny cried. “Not even with Watch. I’ll go wake people up and you can stay.”
“I don’t want to stay by myself either.” Violet went over to the trunk. “We could take the boxes back with us. That way we know they’ll be safe.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ve forgotten the combination. It’s the man’s birthday who wrote the Sherlock Holmes stories, but I didn’t remember the year.”
“I do,” Violet said. “It’s 1859.”
They opened the trunk and took out the boxes. Violet wrinkled her nose when she pulled out the last box. “I didn’t know this trunk was so dirty inside. It’s got blotches all over the bottom. It looks like when Grandfather spills his coffee. Maybe he spilled some when he was putting something in the trunk sometime.”
Benny leaned over into the trunk so he could see better. “There are a lot of blotches. Whoever it was spilled a lot of coffee. I wish I had my flashlight.”
“Here, take mine.” Violet handed hers to Benny. He shone it in the bottom of the trunk. “Someone scribbled all over the bottom too.” He laughed. “Not Grandfather. He doesn’t scribble.”
“He might have when he was a baby.” They both giggled at that. It was hard to imagine Grandfather as a baby.
The train’s whistle sounded, startling them. They jumped up, remembering that the woman could come back in at any time. “
Let’s go!” Benny said, putting the end of Watch’s leash around his wrist and grabbing some of the boxes.
“Let me lock the trunk back up first,” Violet said. “We don’t want the lock to get lost in case we need to put the boxes back in it.” She closed the lid of the trunk and locked it then picked up the remaining boxes. They hurried back to the sleeper car.
When they got to their section of the car, they felt the train slow down. Henry and Jessie were still sleeping soundly. Benny and Violet set the boxes down on the seat next to the berths. Benny was still worried about them so he put his and Violet’s backpacks in front of them to hide them a little more. “Wake up,” Benny said. He reached into Henry’s berth and shook his brother’s shoulder. “Wake up, Henry.”
The train slowed even more and then stopped. Jessie woke up. “What’s wrong? Why did we stop?”
Henry turned over, opened his eyes, and then sat up when he realized everyone else was awake. “We’re stopped,” he said as he rubbed his eyes.
“I don’t know why we stopped. That’s not why we woke you up.” Violet explained what happened. She finished by saying, “There was something strange about that porter.”
Before anyone could respond, they heard another train roar by them, so close everything rattled inside the car. Henry got up and looked out the windows on both sides of the train. “We’re on a side track,” he said. “I suppose we had to move out of the way so the faster train could go by.”
“What about that porter? She wasn’t very nice,” Benny added. “Should we tell Grandfather?”
“No.” Henry came back to them. “We don’t need to wake up Grandfather. I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding. Why would a Reddimus porter take the boxes?”
“From the way she was talking on the phone, she was planning on taking the boxes,” Violet said.