Cora Flash and the Diamond of Madagascar (A Cora Flash Children's Mystery, Book 1) (6 page)

"
We must make a point of talking to him in the morning,
"
suggested
Sheila.
"
Perhaps he can join us for breakfast.
"

"
Yes,
"
said Ted.
"
Perhaps.
Well, Cora, I
'
m afraid we must be off to bed ourselves. I don
'
t imagine it will be easy to fall asleep in those seats tonight. I want to try and get as much rest as I can!
"

"
I guess I should
,
too
.
"
I
yawned
.
"
It is quite late.
"

I made my way out of the car accompanied by the honeymooners
, leaving Mr. Sloane alone.
I
said
,
“G
ood
night
,”
to Ted and Sheila at their seats and continued to
my seat
before
grabbing the little bag of toiletries
my
mother had packed for the trip.
I
made
my
way to the washrooms at the front of the sleeper car and proceeded to get ready for bed.

As
I
returned from the washroom,
I
couldn
'
t help
but
notice Mrs. Bronwyn was not at her seat.

Perhaps
she
'
s in the
other
washroom
,
I
thought.
I
picked up
my
cell phone to call
my
mother before bed
and
noticed right away
a
message on the screen that read,
"
NO SIGNAL
"
.
It must be difficult,
I
supposed, to get a signal in the country.
I
decided to text
her
instead, as
I
knew the text message would send once
we
had a signal.
My
text read,
"
Mom
, ther is no sgnl nw. will call u 2moro.
"

With that,
I
tucked
my
phone in
my
pocket and reclined
my
chair as far back as it would go.
I
pulled the blanket that had been left on
my
seat, probably by Willy, up to
my
neck and closed
my
eyes before falling asleep.

I
woke up in the morning feeling refreshed, which surprised
me
considering how
bumpy
the train was.
T
he view
out the window
surprise
d me
.
Honestly, I had
expected to see farmland and lots of open, flat space. Instead,
before me lay a
beautiful lake with many trees and flowers. Way off in the distance,
I
was
certain I
could see the mountains.

"
Good morning!
"

Startled, I
turned to the aisle and saw Willy standing between
me
and a
still
-
asleep Mrs. Bronwyn.

"
Good morning
,
Willy. Is that
Topaz Mountain
I see in the distance?
"
I
asked.

He
looked out the window before saying,
"
It
'
s the start of what will eventually be
Topaz Mountain
. It
'
s all part of the same range, but we
'
ve got a little ways to go yet. First we have a stop in the town of Pecan River to pick up a few folks. Then we
'
ll be on our way.
"

"
Not much longer now!
"

"
Not much longer. That
'
s right,
"
he
agreed
.
"
You
'
ll be there before you know it. When you
'
re ready, head down to the
d
ining
car for some breakfast. We have French
t
oast
today.
"

"
Yum! I
'
ll be there soon
.
"

Willy excused himself before continuing
along
to invite the other passengers to breakfast. Everyone but Mrs. Bronwyn and Calvin, of course, who were still fast asleep.

I remembered the text message I had attempted to send the night before, so I
pulled out
my
cell phone to check if there was a signal. Eureka! There was!
A
text message from
my
mother read,
"
Okay. Have a good night. Call tomorrow.
"
I
tucked the phone away after making a mental note to text her later.

After
washing up and changing into my new clothes
—
a carefully picked outfit specifically for the occasion
of meeting my uncle—
I
made
my
way to the
d
ining
car.

Along the way,
I
ran into Ted and Sheila, who were busy folding their clothes and putting them into their small suitcases.

"
Good morning!
"
I
said.

"
Hello there,
"
said Ted.

"
Good morning, Cora
.”

"
How are you today
?
"
I
asked.

"
I
'
m great
.
I slept like a baby. Ted, on the other hand, didn
'
t have
a very good
night.
"

Ted stretched his shoulders.
"
She
'
s right. I had a lot of trouble falling asleep in these seats. My back is quite sore today, I
'
m afraid.
"

"
Oh
,
no,
"
I consoled
.
"
That
'
s terrible. Will you be al
l
right?
"

"
Oh
,
I
'
ll be fine,
"
he said.
"
I just need to stretch it out a bit. And I think some food will do me some good.
"

"
I
'
m just going to
breakfast
now
.
W
ould
you like me to save you a place?
"

"
That would be wonderful,
"
Sheila said.
"
We
'
ll be along in just a few minutes.
"

I
left the newlyweds to their packing, pleased with
myself
for making so many friends on such a short trip.
W
hile w
alk
ing
down the hall of the compartment car
, I couldn
'
t help noticing
the door to Mr. Sloane
'
s compartment was slightly ajar.
Curious as anyone would be, I
slowed down a little and
made sure to look
inside
to see if there was anything interesting. There, sitting on a table,
was
the silver briefcase. Mr. Sloane appeared to be dialling the combination lock on the front of the case in an effort to open it.
Just as he was about to
pop the lid of
the case, he turned his head toward the door.