No Passengers Beyond This Point Read Online Free PDF Page A

to mind India and Finn and Uncle Red. Can you do that? I will call you every night and I will come as soon as I can.”
    My shoulders slump low down. I feel low down too. “How long is as soon as I can ?”
    “Three months.”
    “How many hours is that?”
    My mom brushes my hair back with her hand. “A lot of hours. Too many to count.”
    “I could count. I’m a very good counter. Do you want me to? I know! How about if I stand right here and wait for you? I could sit down when I got tired.”
    We are up at the very front of the “C” line now. India hands all three of our tickets to the airline lady in the blue skirt.
    “You’ll have fun at Uncle Red’s. You will,” Mommy says.
    Bing is nodding his head. He thinks it’s going to be fun too. I hate when he sides with Mommy.
    Mommy hugs Finn and India, but she leaves the last hug for me. My face is smushed up in Mommy’s shirt, so my voice is smushy too. “Are you sure you can’t come now?”
    Mommy nods the for-sure way. Not the maybe way.
    I pucker my lip and do my sad puppy face. “Will you at least wave from the window?” I ask.
    “I promise, sweetheart. I will wave from the window.” Mommy’s lips get shaky. Bing says she’s trying not to cry.

CHAPTER 5
    MY SOLAR SYSTEM
    I nside the plane there is a row of little windows. I try every window. I have to find the one that has Mommy in it.
    “Did you need something, young lady?” a big pinky person asks as I slide between her knees.
    “Mouse!” India grabs my blue corduroy pocket. These are my favorite of all my blue corduroys. She better not rip them, you know.
    “I’m sorry, ma’am.” Finn jumps between me and India. His face is all red like Elmo’s. “Mouse, get out of there!”
    “At least say excuse me,” India hisses in my ear.
    A flight attendant lady in a blue skirt wants to look at our boarding passes. “This is first class,” she says. “You are in coach.” She points to the back of the plane.
    “Coaches are from the olden days,” I tell her. “We are in an airplane.”
    The flight attendant’s little wrinkles all come together. She doesn’t understand. Sometimes I have to think up another way to say the things in my head. But the flight attendant moves on. She doesn’t want to hear another way. I talk to India instead.
    “I can’t see Mommy from any of the windows. That plane is blocking us. India, you have to ask the plane to move. Make sure you say please the nice way, ” I whisper. Sometimes when India says please, it sounds like a naughty word.
    “Don’t be crazy,” India snaps.
    “I promised to wave. Bing promised to wave.” He never breaks his promises, not ever, and I usually don’t either, only sometimes.
    “Mouse, I can’t get the plane to move.”
    “Let’s try from that window.” Finn points to a window where there are no passengers in the seats.
    But that window doesn’t have Mommy in it either.
    “Mouse, c’mon. She’s not there!” India yanks my pocket so hard it rips a little.
    “I can’t sit down without waving to Mommy. She will wait forever trying to wave. She could die without my wave.”
    “We’ll call her when we get to Denver.” India drags me back.
    I don’t want to sit down. Bing doesn’t want to sit down, but India has on her mean look. Way, way in the backety back she finds our seats. “You sit there, Mouse, in case you have to pee,” India commands, pointing at the aisle. “Finn, you’re there.” She points at the middle. That means she gets the window. Didn’t I tell you she hogs everything?
    Finn grunts. I don’t think he likes the middle, but he’s supposed to keep us from fighting. Mommy said.
    India throws her stuff on the seat but doesn’t sit down. She takes out her cell and walks to the front of the plane so we won’t hear her talking to Maddy. I sure hope Maddy isn’t coming with us.
    Finn lifts all of our suitcases up and wiggles them into the overhead compartments on account of Mommy says he’s