Cora Flash and the Diamond of Madagascar (A Cora Flash Children's Mystery, Book 1) (4 page)

"
My apologies, sir,
"
said Willy, placing the coffee on the empty table.
"
I didn
'
t mean to upset you.
"

"
Thank you
;
that will be all.
"

I
turned back to
my
drink, still alarmed at the tone in the man
'
s voice.
Whatever he has in that case
m
ust be very valuable.

After
I
finished
my
drink in the
d
ining
car,
I
decided to continue exploring the train
.
I
opened the sliding door at the end of the car and found
my
self in the rear of the train, in the
l
ounge
car. It was a comfortable looking room, with plush chairs and sofas, many windows, even
a few
on the ceiling, and an abundan
ce
of reading material, which thrilled
me
to pieces.

"
I
'
m going to love this room!
"
I
exclaimed.
I
collapsed
on the sofa and
gazed
out the window on the ceiling.
I
could see the sky above, which was still blue, but had hints of orange from the sun that had just
begun
to set.

Lying on the table in front of
me
was a pile of magazines and books.
I
noticed right away the yellow-framed covers of the many copies of
National Geographic
,
my
favourite magazine
.
I
saw issues that were several years old, some even from before
I
was born.
Some from before my mother was born!
I
knew right away
that
there were going to be many new things to learn about on this trip
.

Just as
I
reached for a magazine,
I
heard the door of the car open and the sound of muffled voices.

"
Oh, hello,
"
a woman said.
It was the woman who
I
guessed to be on her honeymoon. Right behind her was the man
I
supposed was her husband.
"
This sure is a beautiful room, isn
'
t it?
"

"
Why, yes, it is,
"
I
replied.
"
My name is Cora Flash.
"

"
Hello, Cora,
"
the woman said.
"
My name is Sheila
.
This is my
boyfriend
,
Ted.
"

"
Boyfriend!
"
he exclaimed.
"
How about husband?
We
'
re on our honeymoon. I guess Sheila isn
'
t quite used to introducing
me as
her
husband
yet
!
"

"
I guess not,
"
I said
.

"
I
'
m so embarrassed
,
"
she
said.

"
Don
'
t worry
,
"
consoled
Ted.
"
You
'
ll have lots of practice!
"

Sheila and Ted came into the train car and sat down in two of the comfortable armchairs that faced the sofa on which
I
was sitting.

"
So I was right. You
are
on your honeymoon
!
"
I
beamed triumphantly
.

"
Yes, we are,
"
answered Sheila.
"
We have always loved the mountains
.
W
e
met on a ski trip, and so we figured
,
what better place to go than to
Topaz Mountain
?
"

"
I hear it
'
s absolutely beautiful,
"
he added.

"
Yes, I hear it is. I
’
ve never been either. I
'
m going to visit my
u
ncle
for the first time.
"

"
That
'
s nice,
"
Sheila said.

The three of us
sat and talked pleasantly for quite some time,
during which time I learned
Sheila worked as an event coordinator for a large (and rather expensive) hotel downtown. Ted, on the other hand, was a self-employed appraiser for real estate.
At the time, I
wasn
'
t sure what that meant, but made a mental note to look it up on the Internet as soon as
I
got to
my
u
ncle's
house.

I
told them about
my
younger brother, Ethan, and how he was too young to travel to the
m
ountains
with
me
this time.
"
Maybe next time,
"
I
said.

Just at that moment, the sliding door from the
d
ining
car opened with a loud crash, and in came Mrs. Bronwyn, led by Calvin.
"
My goodness!
"
she exclaimed.
"
I
'
m sorry to make such a
racket;
the door was a little bit stuck.
"

Calvin ran right over to
me
and jumped into
my
lap.

"
You see, my dear
!
I told you he was quite fond of you!
"

"
Yes, he is!
"
I
laughed as the tiny dog lapped at
my
cheek.

"
Hello, there,
"
Mrs. Bronwyn said to Sheila and Ted.
"
My name is Josephine Bronwyn.
This is my dog, Calvin.
"

"
Hello,
"
Ted said.
"
I
'
m Ted Houseman, and this is my wife
,
Sheila.
"

"
Pleased to meet you,
"
Sheila said.

"
They
'
re on their honeymoon,
"
I
offered.

"
Oh, my!
"
chirped
Mrs. Bronwyn.
"
That is terribly exciting, isn
'
t it? Congratulations!
"

"
Thank you,
"
both Ted and Sheila said.

"
Have you noticed,
"
Mrs. Bronwyn
said
,
"
t
hat strange man in the
d
ining
car? He is never without that silver briefcase of his. It
'
s as if he
’
s guarding it with his life.
"

"
Yes,
"
Ted said.
"
We did notice that. I have yet to see him without that case in his hand.
"

"
Willy offered to store it for him,
"
I
added
.
"
But Mr. Sloane snapped right back at him, told him to stay away from it.
"