Journey on a Runaway Train

Albert Whitman & Company

Contents

An Exciting Thing About to Happen

The tinkling of little bells woke Jessie Alden up. As she lay in her bed, she wondered whether she had dreamed the nice noises. She looked over to the window. It was very early in the morning. Her room was just beginning to brighten. The curtains billowed as a breeze blew through them. The bells sounded again and then Jessie remembered. She and her ten-year-old sister, Violet, had hung a mobile in Jessie's room the night before.

Violet's latest art project was mobile making. For Jessie's mobile, she had cut out pictures of amazing sites from all over the world. The pictures were glued to cardboard and then tied to strings hanging from a wire frame. Violet had added littlesilver bells on strings to hang among the pictures. She said she hoped her mobile would give Jessie dreams of all the places she might go someday.

Jessie listened to the bells, thinking it was almost like they were signaling her to get up. Soft footsteps sounded in the hallway as if someone was trying not to be heard. Jumping out of bed, Jessie darted over to her door and opened it. Her fourteen-year-old brother, Henry, and Watch, their dog, were just heading down the stairs. Violet and six-year-old Benny opened their own doors.

Jessie noticed no one looked sleepy. "Why are we all so awake?" she whispered.

"I was too excited to sleep late, but I don't know why," Benny said.

"I felt the same way, like something exciting was going to happen and I didn't want to miss it," Violet added.

"That's strange," Henry said. "I felt the same way."

Watch wagged his tail as if he were agreeing with them.

They stood there for a moment until Violet asked, "What do we do now? It's really early."

"First, we should go downstairs so we won't wake anyone else up," Jessie said. They went down to the kitchen. Henry filled up Watch's bowl with dog food. Watch wolfed it down.

"I'm just as hungry as Watch," Benny said. "What time is breakfast?"

"Not for a while," Jessie said. "Mrs. McGregor thought we would sleep late since it's the first day of spring break." Mrs. McGregor was the Aldens' housekeeper.

"How long is a while?" Benny asked. "However long it is, I don't think I can wait."

"I have an idea," Violet said. "Since it's finally stopped raining, it would be nice to go outside. Let's make our own breakfast and take it out to the boxcar to eat." The Aldens had their very own boxcar in their backyard. It was a special place for them. After their parents died, they had been scared to go live at their grandfather's house. Fearing he would be mean, the children had run away and found an old boxcar in the woods. They lived there until their grandfather found them. Hewas not mean at all, and he even arranged for the boxcar to be brought to his yard.

"I like Violet's idea." Benny jumped up and down. "We can have a breakfast picnic!"

Jessie smiled at Benny's excitement. "We have some blueberry muffins I made and there are some bananas. That would be a good breakfast."

"Perfect," Henry said.

"Violet, will you carry the muffins?" Jessie asked. "I'll take the plates and the bananas. Henry can carry the glasses. Benny, that means you are in charge of the juice."

They took everything out to the boxcar, squishing their way across the wet backyard.

"There is something about this morning that feels so different," Violet said as they laid out their breakfast. Rain began to ping on the roof of the boxcar.

"Except the rain." Henry sighed.

"At least the rain makes the air smell good," Violet said.

"I don't know if I've ever heard so many birds chirping this early in the spring," Jessie said. "Listen."

It did seem as if their yard was filled with birds. The children were quiet as they ate their breakfast, enjoying the sound of the birds.

"Sometimes I wish this boxcar was still attached to a train," Benny said when they were finished. "And that we were going someplace right now."

"I wish we could have an adventure this week," Jessie said. "We haven't had any mysteries to solve recently, and I'm ready for one. Anyone heard of any mysteries that need solving?"

"No," Henry said glumly. "I've even asked around. No one has lost anything or seen any strange things lately."

"It's like all the mysteries have been solved," Violet said, just as glumly as Henry.

"Don't be sad." Benny looked around at his brother and sisters. "It's still the first day of spring break. Let's play a game. Everybody close your eyes and imagine where you'd like the boxcar to go."

"There are so many places. It is hard to" — a rumbling noise drowned out the rest of Violet's sentence.

"Do you hear that?" Benny opened his eyes. "Is the train moving?"

Henry got up and went to the door of the boxcar. "No, it's thunder. Looks like it's going to storm again."

"Let's get inside before the rain gets too heavy," Jessie said. They collected the picnic supplies and got ready to run for the back door. Watch jumped out of the boxcar and then stopped, his ears perking up. He gave a bark and then dashed toward the front of the house. As he disappeared around the corner, he began to bark again.

"He's going to wake up the neighbors," Jessie said.

"Watch!" Henry called.

Watch didn't come back. He kept barking.

"We'd better go see what he's doing," Benny said. The four of them ran around the house to the front yard. Violet was in the lead, but when she got to the front yard, she skidded to a stop on the wet grass. The others nearly ran into her. "There's someone on our front porch," she said.

They could see a man standing on the top of the steps looking at Watch. Watch was on the walkway at the bottom of the steps looking back at the man.

He was an older man, about Grandfather's age. He was very small with a wrinkly face and silvery gray hair that stuck out from underneath a purple cap.

When the man saw the Aldens, he tipped his cap at them and smiled. Violet noticed the cap matched the purple bow tie he wore. He had a silver hoop earring in one ear and one front tooth capped in silver.

"Good morning, children," he said. "Lovely day, isn't it?"

Jessie wasn't so sure such a gray rainy day could be called lovely, but the man didn't even seem to notice he was all wet.

"Sorry about our dog," Henry said to the man. "Watch won't hurt you. He just barks at strangers sometimes."

"That's all right," the man replied. "I understand. Back when I was a pirate, I learned you can't trust everyone. Sometimes you need to bark at people just to let them know you are watching them."

Benny's eyes opened wide. "You were a pirate?"

The man's smile grew. "Some people called me that a long time ago. Today I'm just passing out flyers. I've put one in your door." He winked at them and then tipped his cap again. "Good day to you."

He came down the steps and patted Watch on the head as he walked by. The dog wagged his tail. The Aldens watched as the man then strolled down the sidewalk away from them. Right before he turned the corner and disappeared from the Aldens' sight, he jumped up and clicked his heels together.

"That was an interesting man," Jessie said. "Maybe he was the exciting thing we thought would happen today."

"He was interesting, but now he's gone," Henry said. "That's not very exciting."

"I wonder why he left us a flyer." Violet ran up the steps and pulled out a piece of paper that had been stuck between the door and the frame. She held it up for the others to see.

The flyer had an image of an old storage trunk on the top and the words "Reddimus Curiosities Antique Dealers" beneath.

Benny pointed to the next line. "I can read the first part. It says We make house calls. I can't read a couple of the other words in the rest of the sentence."

Violet read it for him. "It says We make house calls to appraise all your curiosities."

"I don't understand," Benny said. "What does appraise mean?"

"It means to look at something and decide how much it is worth," Henry told him. "This antique dealer comes around to people's houses to see if they have valuable old things they might want to sell. A curiosity is an interesting or rare item."

"That old trunk on the flyer looks exactly like the one we have in the study. So is our trunk a curiosity?" Benny asked.

"I guess it could be," Violet replied. "I never think about our trunk because it's always been there."

"Mrs. McGregor thinks about it," Jessie said. "She doesn't like it because it takes up so much room."

Mrs. McGregor opened the front door just then. "I thought I heard voices. What are you children doing out here on the porch?"

Jessie explained about the picnic and the man and the flyer as they went inside. "Did you let the man in?" Mrs. McGregor asked. "The floor is all wet."

Grandfather came out of the kitchen carrying a cup of coffee. "I've been looking for you, Mrs. McGregor. I let the fellow inside. He said he had an appointment with you to talk about cleaning the gutters."

"I didn't have an appointment with anyone!" Mrs. McGregor frowned. "Why would he say that?"

"The flyer doesn't have anything on it about gutters." Jessie handed it to Grandfather.

"Look!" Violet pointed at the floor. Wet footprints led down the hallway. They faded away about halfway down.

"Do you think he was trying to steal something?" Benny cried.

"Should we call the police?" Mrs. McGregor asked.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Grandfather said. "I don't think anyone from Reddimus would steal something from us."

"Do you know about that business, Grandfather?" Henry asked.

"I've heard of them," Grandfather said. "They have a good reputation."

"Why don't we see if anything is missing?" Henry said.

Jessie glanced around the hallway. "Nothing looks to be missing here. Why don't we check the other rooms?" The children split up, each taking a room on the first floor.

"I need another cup of coffee," Grandfather said. "Mrs. McGregor, you look like you need one too. We'll let the children search, but I don't think they are going to find anything missing."

They had only been searching for a few seconds when they heard Benny yell, "The trunk!" The children raced into the study. Benny stood there pointing at the trunk.

Jessie was puzzled. "Why did you yell, Benny? The trunk is right in front of us. It's not missing."

"The trunk has been moved!" he said. "It's not all the way up against the wall anymore."

Mrs. McGregor and Grandfather came in. Mrs. McGregor said, "That old thing! I wish someone would steal it. It takes up too much room and it's hard to dust. And it's not a proper storage place for important papers. Everything gets all jumbled inside."

"But it's part of the house," Grandfather said. "I can remember it here when I was a little boy, so that means it's very old. I suppose I should move our passports somewhere else though."

"I hope someone didn't steal those," Henry said.

"I'll check." Jessie lifted the lid. "They're here," she said, relieved at the sight of the documents.

"What's that?" Benny pointed at something wrapped in silver tissue paper in one corner of the trunk.

"I don't know," Grandfather said.

Violet took the object out and unwrapped it carefully. Everyone crowded around to see. Inside the bundle was a tiny painted ceramic turtle. It had a black and orange design on its back.

"I don't remember ever seeing that before." Grandfather frowned. "Do you, Mrs. McGregor?"

"No, never." The housekeeper shook her head.

"That's strange. May I see the turtle, Violet?" Grandfather's voice had become very serious. Violet handed it to him. "I need to make a phone call in private," he said. "Why don't you all get dressed and then come back down." He motioned for them to go out in the hall. As soon as they were out of the room, he shut the door so he was in the study by himself.

Henry was surprised at the sudden change in Grandfather. "Let's do what Grandfather wants," he said. "I think we may have a mystery to solve after all."

The Turtle and the Truck

When the children were dressed they came back downstairs, then Grandfather opened the door to the study and called them in. "I've changed my mind," he said. "Mrs. McGregor is right. We need a file cabinet for important papers. I never liked that trunk and I don't like that turtle. Jessie, you can call the place on the flyer and ask them to get someone over here to appraise it."

"Are you sure?" Mrs. McGregor asked. "It has been here a long time. It's not that difficult to dust."

"And it fits in with all the other old things in the study," Violet said. "Like the old telephone and the typewriter in here."

"I've decided," Grandfather insisted. "We're getting rid of it."

"I'll call," Jessie said. But she couldn't help but wonder — why had Grandfather changed his mind so quickly?

Jessie dialed the number. Someone answered the phone on the first ring. A man's raspy voice said, "Reddimus Curiosities. We're curious about everything." Jessie explained about the trunk.

"That sounds like something we might find very interesting," the man said. "We'll be over in ..." he paused and then added, "seven minutes." He hung up the phone before she could say anything in reply.

Jessie put down the phone. "They're interested. Someone will be over in ... er, seven minutes."

"Seven minutes? How do they know that's how long it will take them?" Henry asked.

Jessie shrugged. "I don't know. That's what the man told me."

Henry looked at his watch. When seven minutes were up and the doorbell hadn't rung, he said, "So they didn't really know how long it would take them."

Benny ran to the window to look out. "There is a truck out front!" he cried.

"That's strange," Jessie said as she went to the door and opened it. "I didn't hear a truck pull up."

A big old white truck was parked outside. The words Reddimus Curiosities were painted in purple letters on the truck's side. There was also a logo that consisted of a fancy R inside a circle made up of swirls. An image of an owl was placed so it looked like it was sitting on top of the letter. A man got out and hurried up the Aldens' steps. He was dressed in a very formal black suit with a white shirt and a purple flower in the buttonhole of his coat. He had on a purple bow tie just like the one on the man who had delivered the flyer.

Jessie whispered to Violet, "He's very dressed up to be driving a truck."

Violet whispered back, "He's a little scary looking, or else he's not feeling well. He's very pale."

Benny took a step away from the window. "He looks like a vampire!"

Henry put his hand on Benny's shoulder. "Benny, vampires aren't real. You know that."

"If they were real, they'd look like him," Benny said.

Grandfather opened the door. The man handed him a business card but didn't speak. Jessie caught a glimpse of it. It had the same R in a circle that the truck had on it and a few words. She didn't get a good enough look to read them.

Grandfather looked at the card and said, "Mr. Ganert, thank you for coming so promptly." He introduced the children.

Mr. Ganert shook all their hands and then said in a low voice, "Tell me about the man who left the flyer." His words came out crackly and hoarse as if he didn't speak much. "We don't have anyone in the neighborhood handing out flyers."

Jessie described him. "Did I forget anything?" she asked the rest of them.

"You forgot the part about how he had been a pirate," Benny said.

"He did say that," Jessie told Mr. Ganert. "He was probably just joking around."

Mr. Ganert frowned. "Yes. I don't believe we have any former pirates working for us. This is all very odd. I'd like to see the trunk and the turtle now, if possible."

They took him into the study. He examined the trunk and the turtle very carefully. When he was done, he said, "I need to buy both items. I'll give you five hundred dollars for the two."

Grandfather nodded. "They're all yours."

The man pulled a checkbook and a pen out of his coat pocket. He wrote a check and handed it to Grandfather. "I want to pick these up as soon as possible. I'll come back in a few hours with a helper to collect them. You will need to unload the contents you want to save. We'll take anything you don't want."

"That's fine with me," Grandfather said. He turned to the children. "Can you unload the trunk? I've got a meeting I need to get to."

"We can do it," Jessie said. "We'll get started right away." She was surprised Grandfather was going out. He wasn't wearing a suit as he usually did for work meetings.

Grandfather smiled. "I'll show Mr. Ganert out since I need to leave if I'm going to get to my meeting on time."

Mr. Ganert shook all their hands again and said, "Until we meet again."

As soon as they were gone, Violet wiped her hand on her shirt. "Ugh. His hand was cold and sweaty at the same time."

"He acted like he didn't want to be here," Jessie said.

Benny looked out the window to make sure Mr. Ganert was gone. "I hope we don't have to meet him again. I still think he might be a vampire."

Mrs. McGregor said, "Let's not worry about him any longer. I have a box in the basement I can give you for the papers in until we get a file cabinet. Benny, why don't you come down with me and you can carry it back up."

"Okay," Benny agreed and followed Mrs. McGregor out of the room.