The Atomic Weight of Secrets or The Arrival of the Mysterious Men in Black Read Online Free PDF Page A

came. They knocked on the adjoining door, but no one answered. The door was still locked. They could hear no voices from the other side.
    Jasper and Lucy thought that their parents might still be asleep. The children dressed and left the cabin, thinking to try the hallway door. They knocked and the door fell open. The room was tidy, as if no one had been there. Neither their parents nor their parents’ belongings were anywhere to be found.
    “There’s nothing under the table, then?” Jasper asked, helping his sister out of the tight space.
    “Not even a crumb,” said Lucy.
    “Not even a crumb?” asked Jasper, amazed. “On a train?”
    They searched the room thoroughly, including behind the closet door, and in the water closet. They even checked under the bunks. Nothing—not even a speck of dust or dirt. The beds looked as if no one had ever slept in them. The carpet looked as if it had never been trodden upon.
    The children walked down the hallway in hopes of finding their parents or someone who knew where to find them. They even hoped to find that odd man Lucy had seen, or the others who had come to their house that fateful evening. They went up to the observatory, back to the caboose, and all the way to the engine. Along the way, they peeked into the dining car, which smelled of breakfast and coffee, and the lounge car, where well-fed travelers reclined in well-stuffed chairs, well-stuffed themselves with breakfast. To the great displeasure and dismay of several inhabitants, the two Modest children peeked into private compartments that were unlocked or ajar. Unable to find either their mother or their father, Jasper and Lucy shuffled toward the smell of sausages, eggs, and coffee.
    They sat themselves down at a dining car table for four in hopes their parents would arrive with an explanation. After waiting a half an hour, they ate breakfast on their own. They had ordered eggs, but when the man in the black apron brought the food, Lucy found she couldn’t eat them, because they jiggled too much as the train bumped along. She nibbled on the corner of a piece of toast, tearing bits from around the edges. If nothingelse, this kept her from crying. Jasper, on the other hand, ate four eggs, sausage, bacon, tomatoes, and three scones smothered in strawberry jam and clotted cream. For later use, he placed two more scones in his pocket, not knowing what might happen next. He and Lucy thanked the steward, who looked at them sadly. He hadn’t seen either of their parents on this journey, he had said when they had asked him. Jasper and Lucy walked back from the dining car to their cabin.
    The two leather cases that held all their personal things were now packed and sitting at the door of their compartment, which was otherwise completely empty. Like their parents’ cabin, theirs had been scrubbed top to bottom, as if no one had ever been in it. Even the big wet spot on the carpet where Jasper had spilled from the pitcher was gone. The two Modest children sat in silence, gazing out the window, wondering where this train was taking them and what was happening to their lives. They sat and watched the countryside change as the sun moved across the sky.
    “My bracelet!” Jasper said suddenly. He startled Lucy, who was deeply involved with a hangnail on her third finger. “Lucy, where are our bracelets?” It was not until this moment that he realized the bracelets were gone.
    “Mummy took them,” Lucy said, her face sad and her voice resigned.
    “When?”
    “When we were asleep. Well, you were asleep. I was almost asleep, but you were totally asleep. I was more like pretending.”
    “Why didn’t you tell me?” Jasper tried not to shout, but suddenly, for the first time, it truly, deeply, painfully felt like his entire world was crashing down around him, and he washelplessly watching.
    “We were so busy, investigating.” Lucy’s eyes were frightened. “I didn’t think it would help find them. I’m sorry.”
    Jasper