by Charles Tang
“I think I’ll have a snack,” Benny said.
“Just get a drink for now,” Jessie said. “It’s almost time for dinner.”
Benny smiled at the thought of dinner and looked out the window of the club car. He said, “I know we’re moving and the trees are standing still. But when I look out the window, it seems as if the trees are running away.”
Benny got a drink and they sat and watched the people parade through the train. The train was filled with people of many ages and some were quite dressed up. Others wore jeans and T-shirts or sweaters. There were four women who were playing cards at a table next to them. Other people were talking or reading. Some stared out the window at the darkening sky. Everyone looked very relaxed.
A woman in uniform came through ringing a bell and singing out, “First call for dinner.”
“We’d better go,” Henry said. “Aunt Jane is waiting for us.”
“I wonder what dinner will be like,” Jessie said.
“Let’s get Aunt Jane and go and see,” Benny said.
When they returned, Aunt Jane was sitting in her little compartment reading. She asked, “Well, did you see everything?”
“Not everything,” Jessie admitted. “It is a very long train.”
“We saw a lot,” Benny added. “We saw the coach cars and the snack bar in the club car.” Then he added, “Is it time for dinner yet? I’m hungry.”
Aunt Jane laughed and said, “I suppose we can go to the early seating. Then you might want to watch the sunset from the dome coach.”
“Where is the dome coach?” Henry asked. “We missed that.”
“The dome coach is the only two-story car on this train,” Aunt Jane explained. “We have to climb some stairs and then there’s a coach that has a glass roof. We can watch the sunset and the stars.”
“That sounds great!” Violet said.
The dining car was almost full when they got there. Henry said, “The tables only hold four people. We’ll have to split up.”
“That will be fun,” Jessie said. “We can meet new people.”
Violet and Aunt Jane sat with a young couple. Benny, Jessie, and Henry were joined by a man who was all alone. He was a slender, dark-haired man with a dark beard. He was wearing sunglasses.
“Is this your first train trip?” Benny asked the man.
He nodded his head but said nothing.
Benny thought he had better not ask any more questions, since the man didn’t seem to want to answer.
There were menus on the table and Benny looked his over carefully. When the waiter came by to fill his water glass, he said, “I’ll have a hamburger, please.”
“You must write out your order,” the waiter explained. He showed Benny the order pad and pencil. “First, circle your drink choice,” the waiter said.
Benny circled milk and then he wrote down the word “hamburger.” He handed his order to the waiter and said, “I’ve never had to write down an order before.”
“Trains always ask you to write down your choices,” the waiter explained, smiling. “It saves a lot of trouble.”
“It’s a good idea,” Benny said.
The others all wrote down spaghetti with meatballs. Then Benny said, “I bet they have you write everything down because of the noise.”
“It is noisy,” Henry agreed.
“I like the sound,” Jessie said. “It sounds like the wheels are singing.”
Very soon, the waiter came back with their orders and Henry, Jessie, and Benny started eating their dinners. When they were about halfway through, the man at their table stood up and nodded, then left.
“He didn’t eat much,” Jessie observed.
“I think he was having trouble with his beard,” Henry said. “He seemed to let it get in his way when he tried to chew.”
“Maybe it was a new beard,” Jessie said.
“It takes a while to grow a beard that long,” Henry said. “I don’t think it could be too new.”
“Why do you think he was wearing sunglasses?” Benny asked.
“Maybe he’s a famous movie star and doesn’t want to be recognized,” Jessie said.
When dinner was over, Violet came over to their table and sat down at the empty place. She said, “That was fun. Now we have two new friends. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were married last week and they’re going to visit her mother in Madison, Wisconsin. They were very nice. What was the man who sat with you like?”
“We don’t know. He didn’t say a word,” Henry said.
Jessie added, “I had a hard time not laughing. His beard kept getting into his soup.”
“That’s probably why he was so quiet,” Benny said. “I’m glad I don’t have a beard to get in my way when I eat dinner.”
“He was sort of strange,” Henry said.
“I wonder what happened to that art student,” Violet said. “Do you think we’ll see her again?”
“Probably,” Jessie said.
“Maybe not,” Henry said. “It’s a big train.”
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see,” Violet added. “Let’s go find the dome coach and watch the sunset.”
The four children made their way through the cars until they came to the dome coach. They climbed the stairs to the second story and looked around. There were many chairs and two sofas arranged so that they looked out of the big open windows.
The chairs on the side of the sunset were all filled so the children stood as they watched a big red sun sink below the city buildings. “I wonder where we are,” Henry said. “I have a map but I’m not sure if we are still in Massachusetts or New York state. I’ll ask the conductor.”
“I don’t know where we are now,” Jessie answered. “But Aunt Jane says when we wake up in the morning we’ll be in Indiana.”
The sun was almost completely gone. There was just a small red stripe behind the trees they were passing. Benny said, “I’m sleepy. Is it time to go to bed yet?”
“Not quite,” Henry answered. “Are you really sleepy or do you just want to see how our room turns into a bedroom?”
Benny smiled and said, “I think it will be fun to sleep on the top bunk. Can tonight be my turn?”
“Sure,” Henry answered, “but it is too early to go to sleep. Want to walk around some more?”
“Let’s stay here,” Violet said quickly. Then she whispered, “That red-haired art student is over there. I’d really like to talk to her.”
They all looked in the direction Violet pointed. The young woman they’d seen on the platform was sitting in a chair at the end of the observation car. Henry said, “She is drawing. Maybe she really is an art student.”
“I guessed right,” Violet said. “Does she have her portfolio with her?”
“No. Just a sketch pad.”
“I’m going to talk with her,” Violet said. Violet went over and sat down in the empty chair beside the red-haired young woman. She didn’t seem to notice Violet and kept right on working on her drawing.
Violet sat for a while and then she said quietly, “I’m Violet Alden. I’m an artist, too.”
The young woman looked up and smiled. She said, “I’m Annie Perkins. I’m not really an artist but sketching is my hobby.”
“Were you sketching the sunset?” Violet asked.
“No.” Annie shook her head. “It is too difficult to draw landscapes from a moving train. Besides, I like to sketch people. I was sketching that woman over there.” Annie nodded her head slightly.
“May I see?” Violet asked.
Annie passed the sketchbook over to Violet. Violet looked at the drawing and then at the woman. “It’s great, it looks just like her.”
“That’s because she’s got a long nose,” Annie said. “It’s easy if people have at least one unusual feature.”
Violet and Annie began to talk about drawing. “I like to draw noses,” Annie said. “I usually get them right. The hardest parts of people are their chins,” Annie said.
“Yes,”
Violet agreed. “Noses are easy. But my favorite thing to draw is ears. I’m very good on ears.”
“Are those your brothers and sister over there?” Annie asked.
“Yes,” Violet answered.
“Why don’t you ask them to come over?” Annie said.
Henry, Jessie, and Benny joined Violet and Annie and everyone introduced themselves.
“Do you have other sketches with you?” Violet asked. “I would love to see some of your other work.”
“Yes,” Jessie agreed.
“I only have the one drawing,” Annie said.
“We saw you carrying a large portfolio when you got on the train,” Henry said. “Do you have your artwork in that?”
Annie shut her sketchbook quickly and said, “Those drawings don’t count. They’re old.”
“I’d love to see even the older things,” Violet said. “I’ll bet I could learn a lot from you.”
Annie seemed very nervous as she said, “I don’t have any other sketches to show.”
“Oh, well, we’ll have lots of sketches by the end of the trip,” Violet said.
“We’re going to see my Uncle Andy in San Francisco. His wife, Aunt Jane, gave us this train trip as a special surprise. Where are you going?” Jessie asked, trying to change the subject. It was clear Annie didn’t want to talk about her portfolio.
Annie smiled quickly and said, “I’m going to San Francisco, too. Now that I’m out of high school, I can live wherever I want. I’ll go to art school in San Francisco and live with my Uncle Bob there.”
“Was that woman on the platform your grandmother?” Henry asked.
Annie flushed. “You saw the quarrel on the platform? That was my Aunt Ellen. She’s really my great-aunt. My parents were killed five years ago in a car crash and I’ve been living with her. But now I’m going to live with my father’s youngest brother—Uncle Bob.”
“Your aunt seemed very upset,” Violet said gently.
Annie said, “I guess she was upset that I was leaving. But I need to live my own life. My aunt doesn’t want me to go to art school. She tried to take my portfolio from me so I wouldn’t have anything to show. Then the art school wouldn’t let me in.”
The Aldens noticed that Annie’s face was flushed and she was looking down at her sketchbook as she said this. Annie stood up, said good night, and quickly left the dome coach.
Then Jessie said, “I think all that talk about Annie’s aunt upset her.”
“Yes, she seems unhappy about something,” Violet said. “When I asked to see her work, she seemed quite nervous.”
“Maybe the portfolio doesn’t have art in it at all,” Benny said.
“It’s very big but thin,” Jessie said. “Not much else would fit in a portfolio.”
“There is something in there that both women wanted,” Henry said. “That was quite a tug-of-war on the platform.”
“It could be stuffed with stolen jewels,” Benny said. His eyes lit up.
“Annie’s not a jewel thief,” Violet said quickly. “She’s just a young art student who is moving from Massachusetts to California. If she says she has her artwork in her portfolio, I believe her.”
“If the artwork is only Annie’s then it can’t be valuable,” Henry pointed out. “She’s just a student.”
Violet shook her head and said, “Annie was really nice. Just because she seemed nervous doesn’t make her suspicious. But you know, I do think she’s upset about something more than leaving her aunt.”
CHAPTER 4
Changing Trains
The Boxcar Children watched the night sky and talked about their first day on the train until it was time to go to bed. Then Henry said, “Let’s hurry. I really want to see how they turn that compartment into a bedroom.”
They walked quickly through the train and when they got to their car, they saw Annie standing in the corridor right next to Aunt Jane’s room. “Hello, Annie,” Violet said. “Is your room in this car?”
Annie seemed very friendly again. She said, “Yes, I’m right here. I guess we’re neighbors. That’s nice.”
“Your compartment is right next to Aunt Jane’s,” Benny told her. “We’re down the hall. Our rooms are opposite each other. I’m going to sleep on the top bunk.”
“That sounds like fun,” Annie said. “I’m waiting for the porter to finish making up my room.”
Just then, the porter backed out of Annie’s room and said, “It’s all ready to go, Miss.” He was carrying her portfolio.
Annie reached for the portfolio quickly and said, “That’s mine.”
“It’s too big for your compartment,” the porter said. “I’ll put it in the baggage car.”
“No!” Annie said. She grabbed the portfolio from the porter and took it into her compartment. Then she quickly shut the door.
The porter shrugged and turned to make up the girls’ room. As the Aldens stood in the corridor waiting for him to finish, Benny whispered to the others, “That’s the same porter that we saw the older woman give money to earlier.”
Jessie nodded. “Maybe whatever is in that portfolio is really valuable, after all.”
“Maybe Annie’s aunt paid the porter to take care of the drawings,” Henry said. “Or maybe she paid him to return the portfolio to her.”
The porter popped his head out of the compartment and smiled. He was a tall, good-looking man. He said, “Hi, my name is Vincent.”
Each of the Aldens introduced themselves and they watched as Vincent tucked in the sofas and table and pulled the beds down from the walls. As he pulled down the two top bunks, Henry asked, “Will Annie be able to store her portfolio on her top bunk?”
“Annie?”
“The young red-haired woman whose room you just made up,” Jessie said.
“We saw you talking to Annie’s aunt on the train platform,” Henry said.
“You mean back in Boston? Was she the red-haired girl’s aunt?” Vincent answered easily. “I figured it was her grandmother. She asked me to watch out for the girl. I think she thought she was too young to travel alone.” Vincent smiled and said, “She’ll be fine, though. Not much can happen on a train.”
“Those your sketches?” Vincent asked Violet. He picked up her sketchbook and looked through it. “You’ve got a lot of blank pages to fill.”
He left the compartment, whistling as he went down the corridor. Soon, every compartment was ready for the night and Vincent moved on into a different car.
“Vincent certainly seems like a nice guy,” Jessie said as she and Violet climbed into their beds.
Violet said, “I hope the noise of the train doesn’t keep me awake.”
“Me, too,” Jessie said. “But the way the wheels go round and round is sort of like a song, isn’t it?”
“I suppose so,” Violet answered.
Within minutes they were all fast asleep.
The next morning they woke up early and went into breakfast before most people were up. Aunt Jane sat with some other people and the children shared a table. As they ate, they talked about their trip.
“I really like riding this train,” Benny said as he put a forkful of pancake in his mouth. “I don’t think I want to change trains in Chicago.”
“The next train will be even better,” Henry promised. “It’s a double-decker and we will go through some of the most beautiful scenery in the United States. The brochure says . . . ”
“But I like this train,” Benny said.
“We have to change trains,” Henry reminded him. “This one just turns around and goes back to Boston.”
Violet saw Annie come into the dining car and waved to her. Annie waved back and sat down at a table directly across from them. She ordered toast and coffee and orange juice.
Henry finished his breakfast of eggs and potatoes and said, “I’m going to get a timetable from the conductor. Then I’m going to plot the times on our map, so when we look out the window we will know where we are. See you later.”
&n
bsp; Henry left and Violet suggested that Annie bring her coffee over to their table. When Annie joined them, Violet said, “Henry’s our navigator. He is keeping track on our map. He marks down the time and that’s the way we know where we are. He’s going to do that all the way to San Francisco.”
“I can’t wait to get to San Francisco,” Annie said. “I’m going to enroll in the California Arts Academy. My Uncle Bob says it’s one of the best schools.”
“Is your Uncle Bob nice?” Benny asked.
“I hope so.” Annie looked scared as she spoke. “His letters are really wonderful. My aunt never talks about him so I don’t know much—just that he is my father’s stepbrother.”
“So you sort of ran away from home?” Benny said.
Annie shook her head. “Not really. My Aunt Ellen knew I was going. She was upset but she drove me to the train station.”
The Aldens were silent as they remembered the quarrel between the two women on the platform.
After breakfast, they introduced Annie to Aunt Jane. Their aunt invited Annie to spend the time during the train stop in Chicago with them. She said, “Since you are taking the same train we are why not stick together? We’re going to walk to a great German restaurant I know. Would you like to join us?”
“I’d love to,” Annie said eagerly. Then she added, “But I really can’t. I need to stay with my luggage.”
“Vincent said he’d put our luggage on the next train for us. He’s going to San Francisco also. I’m sure he would be happy to take care of yours as well,” Aunt Jane said.
“No, I really must stay with my things,” Annie said. “But thanks for asking me.”
The Aldens didn’t see Annie the rest of the morning. About eleven-thirty, Vincent came to their compartments and loaded their bags onto a cart. “I’ll have them all stowed for you on the California Zephyr,” he promised.
The train pulled into the Chicago station right on time and the Aldens walked up another long platform to the main waiting room of the station. There were lots of people and noise but this trip was easier because they didn’t have to carry their bags.
As they walked, Annie came running around the corner and almost knocked Jessie down. “Vincent!” she gasped. “Have you seen Vincent?”
