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

"
May I see your ticket
,
please?
"
asked the attendant.

I
pulled
the
train ticket out of
my
travel bag and handed it to the attendant.
He
checked
it carefully
.

"
Cora Flash.
You
'
re traveling alone?
"
he asked.

"
Yes,
"
I
replied.
"
I am.
"

Not only was I
traveling
alone;
I was traveling for the first time. Ever
!
I had never been on a train, a plane
,
or even a boat before, so I was excited at the prospect of finally being able to explore a different part of the world. Well
, a
different part of the country, anyway.

"
Have you ever been on a train before?
"

"
Just the subway,
"
I said
.
"
I
’
ve never been on a train trip
;
this is my first time.
"

"
Well
,
I hope you enjoy it. My name is Willy. If you need anything, just let me know. I
'
m always around somewhere.
"

I
thanked him a
s
he turned to the person across the aisle
and
continue
d
checking tickets.
             

There was no one in the seat next to me, and I could not have felt
luckier
. I had
two
chairs
all to
my
self.
I
plac
ed
my
bag in the empty spot, making it easier to take out
my
books, MP3 player
,
and the bag of candies
my
m
om
had secretly stashed
away
. T
hat was a nice surprise.

The train was not as full as
I
was expecting,
and
there were
far more empty seats than people.
I wondered if we would pick up a lot of
passengers
o
n
our only stop along the way, Pecan River. T
he excitement of travel by rail
to visit my
u
ncle
was thrilling me to pieces
.
I
had always loved mysteries on trains in movies, like
The Lady Vanishes
and
Strangers on a Train
.
Now I grant you, m
ost eleven-year-old girls
don
'
t
care much for old
black
-
and
-
white movies
,
but
my
Uncle André, the one
I
was traveling to visit, had
introduced me to
them
. Naturally
,
I
thought it only fitting
to take
the
train to visit him.

My
mother
, however,
was not excited about
my
taking the train
.
"
It
'
s a two
-day trip
, Cora!
"
she exclaim
ed
.

I eventually
convinced her
after
remind
ing
her she would be able to talk to
me
any time she wanted on her cell phone.
Reluctantly,
she
agreed and the tickets were booked.
Now
I
had to find a way to keep
myself
occupied and amused for the two-day trip to the mountains.

The train left early in the morning, and was expected to arrive by dinnertime the next day. Uncle André promised
we
would go to a restaurant
as soon as I
arrived, since the food on the
trip
was bound to be, as he called it,
“
atrocious
”
.

I could not wait to
explore the train, but
I wondered if it was a good idea to leave my
belongings on the seat while
I
walked around. There weren
'
t many people in the car
with me
, but they were all strangers
,
so
I
was
cautious.
I decided to wait until
we
started moving, so I could just
leave my things in my seat
since
everyone
would
be settled elsewhere.

I
pulled out
my
bag of
sweets
, which must have weighed five pounds, and started to dig through it. There were candies of every colour, shape, and flavour. There were jellybeans, jawbreakers, gumballs, sour keys
,
and so many more that
I
had never seen before
.
Well,
I th
ought,
I
'
ll just have to figure out what they are by tasting them one
-
by
-
one!

Just as
I
took
my
first mouthful, an announcement
came over
the loud speaker
.
"
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard train
one fifty-two
to
Topaz
Mountain,
"
said the man.
I
t sounded like Willy, the attendant.
"
We will be leaving in just a moment; we are waiting for one last passenger
,
who has just arrived at the station. We won
'
t be much longer
.
T
hank
you for your patience.
"

I
looked out the window at the station
and c
ould see
my
mother standing beside a lamppost, straining to
peer
through the train
'
s
tinted windows.
I
waved, but she did not wave back.
I knew she would be stressed at not
watching
me as the train pulled out, so I grabbed my cell and called
her
number
.

"
Hello? Cora?
"
she said
.

"
Hi
,
Mom,
"
I
replied.

"
Where are you?
I can
'
t see you
!
"