Mystery on the Train (3 page)

“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.”

T
he 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.”

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?”

She didn’t really wait for them to answer, but ran as fast as she could run down the platform. “Annie’s in trouble,” Violet called out. “Let’s help her.” Violet began to run and soon all the other Aldens were running as well.

They came into the huge waiting room and looked all around. There were hundreds of people and many of them wore uniforms like the one Vincent wore. “Look for Annie’s red hair,” Henry said.

The Aldens stayed together but looked in four different directions. Finally, Benny shouted and pointed, “She’s over there!”

Annie was sitting on top of her suitcase, clutching the portfolio in her arms. Her face was flushed and she was obviously out of breath.

The Aldens ran over and Henry asked, “What happened?”

“Vincent took my bags,” Annie explained. “I just turned my back for a minute and he loaded my bags onto his cart and took them. I called out but he didn’t hear me. I almost lost him.”

She was shaking and she held the portfolio close to her. Her face was very red.

“It’s his job to move bags,” Henry said. “He was probably trying to be helpful.”

“Why were you so upset?” Violet asked softly.

Annie looked from one Alden to the other and smiled. “I guess I just got a little excited,” she explained. “I expected to carry my own bags and when they were gone, I was really surprised.”

Annie looked so upset and worried that Violet had to ask her, “Annie, is something else wrong?”

“Nothing you can help with,” Annie said. She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief and looked away.

“Are you crying?” Benny asked. “Can we help?”

“I just have something in my eye,” Annie said. “I’m not crying.” She stood up, picked up her suitcase and walked slowly away.

The four Aldens and Aunt Jane had a wonderful time walking in Chicago. Since they had plenty of time, they stopped and looked in several shop windows. Each of them bought a postcard to send to Grandfather. Henry and Jessie selected scenes of the tall buildings. Violet chose a famous modern painting from the Chicago Art Institute. Benny chose a postcard of a sailboat and wrote,
“Dear Grandfather, The train feels like a sailboat most of the time. Love, Benny.”

The children enjoyed the German restaurant. Their soda was served in heavy old-fashioned mugs with scenes of Germany on them. They ordered German sandwiches and tried some special dishes. Jessie liked the red cabbage but didn’t like the sauerkraut. Henry liked the applesauce and Violet liked the potato pancakes best.

Benny said, “I like German food.”

“What did you like best?” Aunt Jane asked.

“Everything,” Benny said with a smile.

T
he Aldens and Aunt Jane got back to the train station in plenty of time before the train had to leave. As they walked out onto their track, Jessie pointed and said, “Look, that’s Annie over there.”

She was still sitting on her suitcase and holding the portfolio tight.

“She looks as if she thinks the portfolio will run away from her,” Benny said.

“She is really nervous about it,” Henry said. “I wonder what could be in it?”

“Violet asked her,” Jessie reminded them. “She said it was her drawings. But she acts as if it were something a lot more valuable than student drawings.”

Henry said, “Violet could be right. Maybe Annie is in some kind of trouble.”

“Maybe we should keep an eye on her,” Benny suggested.