Cora Flash and the Diamond of Madagascar (A Cora Flash Children's Mystery, Book 1) (3 page)

"
Thank you
.
T
hat's
very nice of you.
"
I
smiled at Mrs. Bronwyn and gave a friendly pat on the head to Calvin. He returned the favour with a tiny yelp and a few tender licks to
my
hand.

"
You see?
I told you he likes you!
"

Since everyone seemed to be settled, I
decided
it
was
a
good time to start exploring the train.
I
asked Mrs. Bronwyn if she would be kind enough to watch
my
things as
I
looked around.

"
Of course!
"
was Mrs. Bronwyn
'
s response.
"
Just don
'
t get into any trouble!
"
She flashed me a smile
.

I
decided to go in the direction
of
Mr. Sloane
. As I
walked down the aisle of the car,
I
counted only five other people.
Two looked like they were on their
honeymoon;
t
hey
were smiling a lot and holding hands.
Another
man
sat
by himself,
and
looked upset about something. He was fidgety, and kept taking his glasses on and off, desperately trying to clean one of the lenses with
the sleeve of his coat. The fourth
person was a girl who
I
guessed
to be
in her twenties. She looked like a college student who was probably on her way home now that school was out. She smiled and whispered
,
“H
ello
,”
as
I
passed. Sitting near the sliding door that led to the compartments car was a large man with dark glasses.

I
nodded politely at the large man, and he returned the gesture before closing his eyes.
He probably
need
ed
a nap.

After t
urning
the large handle of the door,
I
slid it open and passed through to the next car. It looked different from the car
I
was just in.
Instead of a lot of seats, there was a hallway on the left side of the car with a series of doors leading to the compartment
s
.

I realized this
wa
s
where Mr. Sloane,
with the silver briefcase, long grey coat
,
and red scarf
, had gone. I
continued down the compartment
car
, curious to see what awaited
me
in the next car. Just as
I
was nearly there, one of the doors opened.

"
Oh!
"
said Mr. Sloane as he stopped short of going into the hall.
"
You startled me!
"

"
I
'
m sorry, sir,
"
I
said.
"
I
'
m just exploring the train. I
'
ll get out of your way.
"

Then I
walked past him and toward the sliding door to the next car.

"
Well, th-thank you,
"
the man stuttered, still a little flustered.
"
That
'
s very nice of you.
"

As
I
opened the sliding door,
I
noted Mr. Sloane was going in the same direction.
I couldn
'
t help noticing he was still
clutching the silver briefcase he had
held
on the way in, but he was no longer wearing his wool coat and red scarf.

Wow,
I
thought
.
He really is short!

Mr. Sloane
and I
made
our
way into the next car, which was obviously the
d
ining
car. Tables and chairs were placed on either side of the
room
, some set for two and others for four.

"
Hello
,
Cora
.”

I
turned to see the attendant, Willy.

"
Hi
,
Willy!
"
I
replied.
"
I think I would like to sit and have something to drink.
"

"
Of course,
"
he
said.
"
Sit anywhere you like. I
'
ll bring you something nice and sweet.
"

"
Great!
"
I
replied
,
and then
I
moved through the car to find a seat.

"
Sir,
"
Willy said to Mr. Sloane.
"
You m
a
y also sit anywhere you like.
"

"
Thank you,
"
Mr. Sloane said.
"
I
'
ll just have a coffee. Black, please.
"

Mr. Sloane took a seat two tables away
from where I sat
. He carefully
set
the briefcase down on the table in front of him, staring at it like it was going to start talking.

I
turned away from Mr. Sloane and gaze
d
out the window, watching houses and businesses pass by as
we
made
our
way out of the city.
Soon
,
the houses were further and further apart, with more and more farmland and dirt roads appearing.
This was the area
my
mother referred to as
"
the country
"
.
I
had only been in the country on
c
e before, to visit
my
mother
'
s Aunt Lilian, who
r
an
a small dairy farm.

Soon Willy returned carrying a tray with Mr. Sloane
'
s coffee, and something special for
me
.
"
This,
"
he said, handing
me
the drink
,
"
i
s
a root
beer float. I used to love making them at home when I was your age, so I thought it would be a nice treat for you.
"

The
drink looked brown and milky, a strange concoction indeed.
"
I don
'
t think I
’
ve ever had one of these before,
"
I
said, unsure if
I
even wanted to taste it.
"
What
'
s in it?
"

"
Root
beer, of course
, a
nd Vanilla ice cream. Try it, you
'
ll like it.
"

I
took a large sip through the bendy straw and found it to be delightfully sweet and cool, exactly what
I
wanted
.
"
It
'
s
delicious
!
"
I
exclaimed.
"
I love it!
"

"
Good,
"
he
said with a chuckle.
"
I
'
m so pleased to hear you like it.
"

Willy then stepped over to Mr. Sloane to deliver his coffee while
I continued to
savour
my
new favourite beverage.

"
Sir,
"
Willy said to Mr. Sloane
,
"
d
o
you want me to store your briefcase for you?
"

"
No!
"
snapped the man with such force that both Willy and
I
were startled.
"
No, do
not
touch my briefcase. This is not to be touched by anyone.
"
And with that, he pulled
h
is briefcase closer, taking it off the table and placing it on his lap.