Jillson grunted and did as Jackson said, but after passing the first two platforms she still hadn’t sighted the wild-haired bespectacled girl they’d seen at the castle, the one who’d behaved so curiously and looked so familiar. Then she remembered that Jackson had never answered her question. “Hey,” she said, “tell me why we’re here or I’m going to club you.”
This time Jackson deigned to answer. “Because Benedict came here, Jillson. Don’t you remember? He and that nervous-looking woman came here on the same morning they went to the castle.”
“Of course I remember. But so what?”
“So they came and left without catching a train. And they never did catch a train. They left on a plane. Which means they were up to something at this station, Jillson, something other than catching a train.”
Jillson stared blankly at him. “That’s it?”
“Yes, that’s it,” Jackson said irritably. “Besides the castle, this is the only place in the city that we know is connected to Benedict. If we saw someone suspicious hurrying away from the first place, and we didn’t find her on the street, don’t you think we ought to look around the —”
As Jackson was talking they came to the next platform, where a train was about to pull away. The platform was empty now — all the passengers had boarded — except for one girl who leaped aboard the last car just as the train began to move.
A blonde girl with a bucket.
Jackson stopped in his tracks. “I just saw Kate Wetherall get onto that train!”
“So did I,” said Jillson, who’d forgotten that her job was to look away from the trains and into the crowded station. And because she wasn’t looking in that direction, she failed to see a businessman emerge from the crowd and come to stand behind her and Jackson.
This businessman was not the young fellow Jillson had shoved aside earlier. This businessman carried a briefcase, and he wore an expensive suit, expensive cologne, and two expensive watches — one on each wrist. Had Jillson seen this man earlier, it would never have occurred to her to shove him.
“Kate Wetherall,” Jillson was saying. “Well, well, well. It did look like her. But can we be sure? I don’t want to report it if we’re not sure. He hates it when we make mistakes, you know.”
“Can we be sure?” Jackson mimicked with a sneer. “What other girl in the world carries a bucket wherever she goes, Jillson? It was Kate Wetherall, without a doubt. Let’s find out where that train is headed, and then . . .”
Jackson stopped talking. He stiffened. He had caught the scent of expensive cologne. Jillson, noticing Jackson’s odd demeanor, likewise stiffened. Together they turned and discovered the businessman standing behind them. The man looked serious, but his eyes displayed an obvious satisfaction, even pleasure. Setting down his briefcase, he placed one hand on Jackson’s shoulder, the other on Jillson’s.
“Good work,” he said. “Now come with me.”
Promises and Reprieves
Because the train journey would take all night, the children had reserved a sleeping compartment, and the first thing Constance did upon entering it was fling herself upon a lower bunk to rest. This was not the irritating behavior it used to be when the others hadn’t known Constance’s age. For a three-year-old, even riding piggyback all afternoon could prove exhausting, to say nothing of being constantly worried and in constant distress. In truth, all of them were worn out — even Kate. But Kate was not one to let fatigue slow her down much. The moment she closed the door behind her, she popped open her bucket and took out Cannonball’s radio.
“It’s quieter in here,” she said. “With luck we’ll still be in range.”
Reynie stood at the compartment window, his hands in his pockets. The train was still in the city, and he could see the setting sun reflected in the windows of passing buildings. It would soon be dark. The children would soon have left far behind them the city, the port, and the ship that had carried them here. In his pocket Reynie could feel the present Captain Noland had given him. He’d never looked closely at it, but with every passing minute he felt more convinced of its significance.
“May I see that radio, Kate?” he asked.
Kate gave him a quizzical look. Something in Reynie’s tone had struck her oddly. It wasn’t a tone he had ever used with her, and she couldn’t guess what it meant. She handed him the radio. “What’s going on? You sound funny.”
Reynie opened the window and tossed the radio out.
“What in the world?” Kate cried. “Why’d you do that?”
Constance sat up to stare at him, and Sticky ran to the window to look out, as if the radio might have fallen somewhere he could reach. It hadn’t, of course, and he stared after it, shaking his head in disbelief.
“I don’t want him to know where we are,” said Reynie. “The captain. I don’t trust him.”
Sticky was still gazing forlornly out the window. That radio — their one connection to adults who might protect them — had been a source of comfort. “I wish you’d discussed it with us first, Reynie.”
“I’m sorry. I was afraid you would argue.”
“You were being crafty!” Kate said. “That’s what your tone meant. No wonder I didn’t get it. I’ve heard you be that way with other people, but never with us. I have to say, I don’t like it.”
“Sorry,” Reynie said again. His tone was weary. He sat down on the bunk opposite Constance’s. His body felt leaden, as if he’d gained a hundred pounds.
“Reynie,” said Constance quietly.
With a feeling of great reluctance, Reynie looked up. “Yes?”
Constance’s pale blue eyes were shining with tears, and in them Reynie detected something like alarm. “The way you’re feeling about Captain Noland right now? I don’t ever want to feel that way about you.”
Reynie felt tears spring to his own eyes. He looked away.
“Don’t ever do that again,” Constance said. “Promise me.”
Reynie swallowed hard. He forced himself to meet her eyes again. Then he looked at Kate and Sticky, who were gazing at him wonderingly and with not a little hurt of their own. It would be awful for them to feel they couldn’t trust him, Reynie knew. For Constance it would be even worse. But it would be worst of all for him.
“I promise,” Reynie said.
And from the way Constance smiled, he knew that she knew that he meant it.
Reynie awoke early the next morning with a prickling of uneasiness. He had neglected to consider something, but his mind hadn’t settled on whatever it was. Opening his eyes he discovered Sticky awake and likewise looking troubled. He stood at the compartment window, staring out at the gray sky with a furrowed brow.
“Our last full day,” Sticky murmured when he saw Reynie was awake. “Tomorrow’s the deadline.”
Reynie nodded gravely. “Where are we?”
“Holland. I just saw a sign.”
They had slept through most of Portugal and all of Spain, France, and Belgium. This came as no surprise to Reynie, for extreme weariness had sent all of them crashing into sleep the evening before — they hadn’t even made it to dinner. The others had already been yawning when they tried to question Reynie about Captain Noland, only to be interrupted by the arrival of the conductor asking for their tickets. Surprised to find the children traveling alone, the conductor had required some made-up explanations, and by the time of his exit they were all completely done in. They scarcely managed to mutter goodnight before collapsing into their bunks.
At the sound of the boys’ voices the girls came awake, Constance looking grumpy with one eyelid half-matted shut, Kate looking quite refreshed as she stretched and tied her ponytail. They rose and joined Sticky at the window, gazing out at the flat, unfamiliar landscape. None of them had ever been to Holland before. There truly were windmills here, and canals, and as the train entered a city they saw lovely old buildings that seemed impossibly narrow, as if they’d been squeezed from the sides. Sticky said the staircases in the buildings were often so narrow and twisty that upstairs furniture had to be hoisted by ropes and brought in through windows. Constance said she was too hungry to care about furniture — that it could be assembled by elves, for all she cared — and that if Sticky wanted to offer useful information, perhaps he could tell her where to find the dining car.