Trapped on the D.C. Train! Read Free Page A

maybe, but no one else,” KC said.
    The kids rode in silence for a fewminutes. Outside the windows, scenery flashed by. KC held her book, but she wasn’t reading.
    “You’re still thinking about it, aren’t you?” Marshall asked.
    “Thinking about what?” KC asked.
    He laughed. “You know what. It’s bugging you that two people are facing the wrong way on a train,” he said. “You’re trying to make some mystery out of it, the way you always do.”
    “I do not make mysteries,” KC said.
    “Do too.”
    “You always accuse me of that,” KC said.
    “That’s because it’s true,” Marshall said. “Even your mom says you have a very active imagination. I’ve heard her!”
    KC tried not to smile. She lifted her book and began reading.
    “How long before we get there?” Marshall asked.
    “Over an hour,” KC said. “Why didn’t you bring a book to read?”
    “I told you, I get sick when I read on trains,” Marshall said.
    KC looked at him. “Marsh, you said this was your first train ride!”
    “It is, but still.” He shrugged.
    KC kept reading.
    Marshall sighed. He bent down and tied one of his sneaker laces. Then he breathed on the window glass to make it fog over and wrote his name. He wiped his name away, breathed on the glass again, and drew a picture of a spider. “I should have brought Spike,” he said.
    “Spike? I don’t think you can bring tarantulas on a train,” KC said.
    “Why not? That guy in the next car brought his dog,” Marshall said.
    KC laughed. “That’s different,” she said. “It’s a Seeing Eye dog. The man needs him.”
    “Well, I need Spike,” Marshall said. “He keeps me company.”
    “Don’t I keep you company?” KC asked. “Do you like your old spider better than me?”
    “Spike is a tarantula, not a regular spider,” Marshall said. “And no, I don’t like him better. I just like his … furry legs.”
    KC let out a laugh. She turned around. The vice president and the two agents had their eyes closed.
    “We could go for a walk,” KC said quietly.
    “Where?” Marshall asked.
    “Let’s count how many cars there are,” KC suggested.
    Marshall hopped up. “Okay, anything is better than watching you read.”
    “You should’ve brought a book,” KC said.
    Marshall let out a big, fake sigh. He opened the door that led to the next car. Stepping forward, he nearly bumped into a man in gray work clothes. The man was crouched on the floor with a wrench in his hand. Next to him was an open toolbox.
    The man looked up at the kids. “Always something to fix,” he said, shaking his head. He had lifted out part of the platform floor. Looking down, KC and Marshall could see the ground rushing beneath their feet. Dusty wind blew up around them.
    Stepping past the man, KC opened the door, and they moved into the next car. Marshall nudged KC and made a goofy face. The sleeping woman still slept, facingthe kids. Across from her, the blind man was also asleep. KC could see her reflection in the man’s dark glasses. His dog was snoozing on the floor.

    The other people were still napping or reading or working on laptops. Near the end of the car, another man in gray work clothes was fixing something inside an electric panel on the wall over an empty seat. The door to the panel was open when KC and Marshall walked past. KC saw about a thousand tiny wires of all different colors.
    The kids went into the snack car. It was empty. The tablecloths had been removed, and the tables were bare. KC saw a small sign on the counter. She read it out loud: “THE ATTENDANT WILL RETURN SHORTLY.”
    “Wow, she just left all this food sittingout here,” Marshall said. The candy, chips, and peanuts were on the counter. There was also a tray of ketchup and mustard bottles from the tables.
    “Don’t even think about it,” KC said.
    “I wasn’t thinking about taking anything!” Marshall said. “Talk about people accusing other people of things!”
    “Let’s keep going,”