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

KC said. They walked through the next couple of cars. Passengers slept or read or chatted with each other. Some had earbuds in their ears, listening to music. One woman was knitting something blue. It wasn’t quite dark outside, so some people stared out at the scenery.
    “How many cars have we been in?” Marshall asked.
    “This next one is six, I think, if we count our car,” KC said.
    At the end of the last car, they came to a door that wouldn’t open. A small brass sign read, NO ADMITTANCE. ENGINEER ONLY.
    “I guess this door must lead to the engine,” KC said. She tried peeking through the small window, but it had been blackened.
    “I wonder what it’s like to drive a train,” Marshall said.
    “I don’t think I’d want to try it,” KC said. “Too fast!”
    “Bet you’d like a horse and buggy,” Marshall teased. “Like in your book—”
    Suddenly the lights went out. KC felt the train begin to slow down. Then there was a shudder, and the floor jerked under their feet. The train stopped moving.
    “Not again,” Marshall said.
    “At least there’s still a little light coming through the windows,” KC said. “We’d better sit down.”
    They took two empty seats.
    “The windows are gross,” Marshall said. He tried to wipe the window next to his seat, but the grime was on the outside. “Hey, look out there!”
    KC leaned over Marshall and peered through the dim glass. She saw people on the ground, running toward the back of the train. Two seconds later, the runners were out of view.
    Something tugged at KC’s memory. Even seen through the dirty glass, one of the runners looked familiar.
    Just then KC heard the door behind her open. Two conductors raced past the kids, heading down the aisle. One wasbald, and the other had a mustache and curly hair. One side of his mustache hung crookedly over his lip.
    “What’s going on?” Marshall asked KC.
    KC kept her eyes on the conductors as they disappeared into the next car. “I don’t know,” she said.
    Other passengers began to talk to each other. A few had gotten out of their seats.
    “Come on,” KC said. “Aunt Kitty will wonder where we are.”
    KC and Marshall hurried down the aisle. They had to excuse themselves several times because people were standing in the aisle, trying to figure out what was happening.
    They passed through the snack car, but Mandy was still missing. Her sign was on the counter. A couple of passengers were standing there, wondering how to get served.
    The lights came on suddenly, and soon the train began moving. A few people clapped and whistled.
    The kids walked through the final car before their own. The two conductors were there, blocking the aisle. The bald one held up his hand as KC and Marshall approached.
    “Whoa, where are you going?” he asked.
    “To our car,” KC said. “It’s the next one.”
    The conductor shook his head. “You must be mistaken,” he said.
    The second conductor, the one with the mustache, nodded. “This is the last car,” he said.
    KC couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “But we were in that car,” she said. “The … my aunt is in there. She’s waiting for us!”
    “Sorry, kid,” the bald conductor said.“There is no other car. Look for yourself.”

    He stepped aside so KC could see through the little window in the door behind him. KC peered through the glass. Without thinking, she pushed back her baseball cap so she could see better. She gasped at what she saw—railroad tracks falling away behind the train, with trees and bushes on both sides of the tracks.
    But there was no cute caboose car. There were no blue leather seats. No little tables. No vice president or secret service agents.
    Marshall looked, too. His mouth fell open.
    KC felt like she was having a nightmare and she’d wake up any second. But it wasn’t a nightmare. A whole train car had vanished. And with it, so had the vice president of the United States!

4
Where to Hide
    KC turned quickly and