The Mystery of Flight 54

by David A. Adler

  Mr. Jansen returned the pen and forms to the airline’s desk. Then Cam, her parents, Eric, and Aunt Molly began to walk toward the exit.

  “Wait,” Aunt Molly said. “I forgot something.”

  “What now?” Mrs. Jansen asked as Aunt Molly ran back to the bench.

  A moment later Aunt Molly returned carrying Eric’s bag of popcorn. She took some from the bag and ate it as she walked.

  “Wait,” Eric said.

  “Not again,” Mrs. Jansen told him. “We have to get home.”

  “But I know where to find Simone.”

  Chapter Five

  Mr. and Mrs. Jansen put down the suitcases they were carrying. Mrs. Jansen looked at her watch and began tapping her fingers on her handbag again. Aunt Molly took some more popcorn from the bag.

  “You’re hungry, right?” Eric asked Aunt Molly.

  “Yes, I never get enough to eat on an airplane.”

  “Well, if you’re hungry, Simone must be hungry, too. She’s probably in one of the restaurants eating.”

  Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly rushed over to the Greens. “We know where to find Simone,” Eric told them.

  “Aunt Molly just got off the same flight and she’s real hungry,” Cam said.

  “And I even brought along something to eat on the airplane. I had a buttered roll in my handbag,” Aunt Molly said.

  “We think Simone must be hungry, too. We’ll probably find her in one of the restaurants.”

  Charles Green said, “You may be right. Let’s go and look.”

  “No, we have to stay right here,” Ida Green said. “I’ve asked them to repeat the announcement, this time in French. I hope Simone hears it. And if she does, I want to be here to meet her.”

  “We have to go home now,” Mrs. Jansen told Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly. Then she said to the Greens, “I’m sure you’ll find Simone.”

  “We can’t leave now,” Cam told her mother.

  Mrs. Jansen whispered, “But I have to get home. You know that. And you know why.”

  “What’s that? Why do you have to get home?” Aunt Molly asked.

  “Oh, I have some things to do,” Mrs. Jansen said.

  “We don’t live far from the airport. I’ll take you home now,” Mr. Jansen told his wife. “Then I’ll come back and pick up Molly, Cam, and Eric.”

  “And while you’re gone, we’ll find Simone,” Eric said.

  Mr. Jansen looked at his watch. “I’ll be back at 3:00. I’ll be at the main entrance.”

  Mr. and Mrs. Jansen walked toward the exit. Mr. Green showed the photograph of Simone to Cam and Eric. Cam looked at it, blinked her eyes and said, “Click.”

  Eric explained to Mr. Green, “That click helps Cam to remember the picture.”

  “Oh.”

  Aunt Molly looked at the photograph again. “Simone’s hair is longer now. She has it in a ponytail. And she’s wearing a blue shirt.”

  Aunt Molly returned the photograph to Mr. Green. Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly started to walk to one of the restaurants. Mr. Jansen ran to them. He took a deep breath and then said, “Molly, I wanted to make sure you knew that we have your suitcases.”

  “Oh no, I’ve lost them again.”

  “No, you haven’t lost them. I have your suitcases in the car. I’m taking them home.”

  “Good,” Cam said. “Now let’s find Simone.”

  Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly went first to a small coffee shop on the main level. A few people were sitting by the counter and eating. Simone was not there.

  They went next to a fancy restaurant. Soft music was playing and there was very little light. A man wearing a bow tie and a black suit greeted them.

  “Would you like to be seated?” the man asked Aunt Molly.

  “No. We’re looking for someone.”

  Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly walked quietly through the restaurant. The man followed them. “Please,” he whispered. “Don’t disturb anyone.”

  “But there’s no one here. This place is empty,” Cam said.

  May I have your attention please, Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly heard as they left the restaurant. Will Simone Green please report to the information desk. Thank you. Then the announcement was repeated in French. Simone Green, est priée de se presenter à linformation. Merci.

  Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly walked past the information desk. They saw the Greens sitting nearby. They waited a short while. When Simone didn’t come, they walked toward the escalator.

  Eric said, “She’s probably eating downstairs. Maybe she doesn’t know where the information desk is and everyone she asks doesn’t speak French.”

  Just as Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly got on the “down” escalator, a few people got off the “up” escalator.

  “Did you see her? Did you see who just got off?” Cam asked.

  “I saw a skinny woman with sunglasses and a few cameras,” Aunt Molly said.

  “I saw a woman wearing lots of colored beads,” Eric said.

  “No,” Cam said as the escalator took them downstairs. “I saw a girl with a ponytail. I saw Simone.”

  Chapter Six

  Eric turned and started to walk up the “down” escalator. People moved aside to let him pass. But as Eric walked up, the escalator kept going down.

  Cam and Aunt Molly got off the escalator on the lower level. They turned and got on the “up” escalator. Eric was still near the bottom of the “down” escalator. He turned and got off.

  “Wait for me,” Eric called to Cam and Aunt Molly. “I’ll be up in a minute.”

  When Cam and Aunt Molly reached the main level, they looked for the girl with the ponytail. Cam said, “I’m not sure which way she went.”

  “Here I am,” Eric said.

  “I’ll walk this way to look for Simone,” Cam said and pointed to her left. Then she pointed to her right and told Eric, “You look this way.”

  “And I’ll walk straight ahead,” Aunt Molly said.

  Cam walked quickly to her left. There were many small groups of people. Two women were hugging. One of them kept saying, “It’s so good to see you.”

  Cam passed a man who was telling a few people, “I rode on a camel. Can you believe that! And I went on a boat with a glass bottom and saw thousands of fish.”

  Cam looked at all the people. Then she saw the girl with the ponytail. Cam ran to her.

  “Simone, Simone,” Cam said.

  The girl looked at Cam.

  “French. Merci. Simone,” Cam said.

  The girl shook her head. “French, mercy, see, moan? What are you talking about?”

  “Then you’re not Simone Green. You’re not lost.”

  “Of course not,” the girl said and walked away.

  Cam walked to meet Eric and Aunt Molly. “I found the girl with the ponytail,” Cam told them, “but she wasn’t Simone.”

  Aunt Molly looked at her watch. “It’s almost 3:00. We’ll have to go to the main entrance to meet your father,” she said.

  As Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly walked toward the entrance, they passed the Greens. Eric told them, “I’m sorry. But we didn’t find Simone.”

  Mrs. Green was sitting on a bench. She looked up for a moment. When she didn’t see Simone, she looked down again.

  “Ida is very upset,” Mr. Green told Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly. “We were both hoping you would find Simone. But thank you so much for your help.”

  “Look, there’s your father,” Aunt Molly said as she waved to Mr. Jansen.

  “We have to go now,” Eric told Mr. Green.

  Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly were walking toward Mr. Jansen when, May I, have your attention please, was announced. The city bus will be leaving in three minutes. Thank you.

  Three women pulling suitcases on wheels rushed past. Then came a tall man with a small boy walking beside him. The man was taking quick, long steps. The small boy had to run to keep up with him. “Hurry, or we’ll miss the bus,” the man said.

  Cam looked at the tall man. Then she closed her eyes and
said, “Click.”

  Aunt Molly heard Cam say “Click.” She saw that Cam’s eyes were closed. Aunt Molly held Cam’s hand and walked with her to Mr. Jansen.

  Cam opened her eyes and said, “Hi, Dad.” Then she closed her eyes again and said, “Click.”

  We didn’t find Simone,” Eric whispered. ”But now Cam is using her mental camera. Maybe she’ll remember an important clue.” Cam’s eyes were still closed. Her father held one of her hands. Aunt Molly held the other. They walked with Cam to the car. Eric followed them.

  “Click,” Cam said as they were crossing the street. “Click,” she said again as she got into the car.

  Cam opened her eyes just as her father was driving out of the airport parking lot. “Don’t go this way. Follow the bus to the city,” Cam said.

  “What?”

  “Follow the bus to the city. I think we’ll find Simone standing at one of the bus stops.”

  Chapter Seven

  Mr. Jansen drove the car to the side of the road. He turned off the car’s engine and then turned and looked at Cam.

  “Why do you think you’ll find Simone at one of the bus stops?”

  “The Greens don’t know what Simone looks like, so they have a picture of her. And I’m sure that Simone has a picture of the Greens. If she saw someone who looked like the picture, she would follow him.”

  “But why do you think Simone is at one of the bus stops?” Cam’s father asked again.

  “Just when Aunt Molly was coming out with her luggage there was an announcement for the city bus. One of the people rushing for the bus was an old, fat man with a white beard. He bumped into Eric. Mr. Green is fat. He’s old and he has a white beard. I think Simone might have followed that man. She may have thought he was her uncle.”

  Mr. Jansen started the car and said, “We’ll follow the bus for a few stops, but I don’t think we’ll find Simone.”

  Mr. Jansen drove on. He found the bus waiting at one of the traffic lights. It was a blue bus with a red roof. When the traffic light changed to green, and the bus moved ahead, Mr. Jansen followed it.

  Eric asked Cam, “But wouldn’t the man have told Simone that he was not her uncle?”

  “The man was in a hurry. He probably didn’t even know Simone was following him until he got on the bus. And if he doesn’t speak French it may have taken a while for him to realize what Simone wanted.”

  The bus stopped. Mr. Jansen stopped his car, too. Cam and Eric looked at the people waiting on both sides of the street. They didn’t see Simone.

  A few people got off the bus. Then it drove away from the stop and Mr. Jansen followed it.

  “I saw lots of castles on this trip,” Aunt Molly said. “I even went into two of them. They were real cold and drafty inside. Kings and queens must have lots of sweaters.”

  The. bus stopped again. The three women with suitcases on wheels got off. The bus doors closed and the bus drove away. Mr. Jansen was about to follow it.

  “Stop, Dad. I see her. She’s across the street,” Cam said.

  Cam and Eric got out of the car. They walked to the corner and waited for the traffic light to change to green. Then they crossed the street.

  “Hi, Simone. I’m Cam.”

  “And my name is Eric.”

  “Que?”

  “My name is Eric,” he said again, louder and very slowly.

  “Je ne comprends pas.”

  “Simone, look at this,” Cam said. She stretched out her arms, flapped them, and made airplane noises.

  “Brrrr. Brrrr. Brum, brum, brum.”

  Then Cam took a few small steps and moved her head all around as if she was looking for someone.

  “Qu’avez-vous?”

  Eric pointed to Simone and said, “Simone Green?”

  “Oui.”

  “I think ‘we’ means ‘yes.’ ” Eric said to Cam.

  Eric pointed in the direction of the airport and said, “Charles and Ida Green.”

  “Oui.”

  “Come with us,” Cam said to Simone. But as she and Eric walked toward the car, Simone didn’t follow them.

  “We’re strangers to her,” Eric said. “She won’t go in the car with us.”

  Aunt Molly had crossed the street. She said that she would wait with Simone. Cam and Eric would return to the airport and get the Greens.

  “I’m glad you found Simone,” Mr. Jansen told Cam and Eric while they were on their way to the airport. “But we have to hurry. By now there’s a crowd of people waiting at home to surprise Molly.”

  The Greens were happy to see Cam and Eric again. And when they told the Greens that they had found Simone, Mrs. Green hugged Cam and Eric.

  The Greens had called the airport guards and the police and asked them to look for Simone. Now they called again and told them that Simone was found. Then they went in Mr. Jansen’s car.

  “You thought that Simone might be hungry,” Mr. Green said to Eric in the car. “So while we were waiting, I bought her a few things to eat.”

  Mr. Green took a wrapped egg salad sandwich from one pocket. He took some packaged cookies and dried fruit from another pocket. “And Ida has a can of juice in her handbag.”

  “There she is. I see her,” Mrs. Green said.

  Mr. Jansen stopped the car. The Greens got out, crossed the street, and ran to Simone.

  “They’re all so happy,” Aunt Molly said when she opened the car door and got inside.

  A moment later Mr. and Mrs. Green came to the car. They were each carrying one of Simone’s suitcases. Mrs. Green was holding Simone’s hand

  “Can I drive you someplace?” Mr. Jansen asked.

  “No. We’ll take the bus,” Mr. Green said. “We want to thank you again for finding Simone.”

  “Merci. Merci,” Simone said. She smiled and waved as Mr. Jansen drove away.

  Chapter Eight

  “Jennifer, I’m proud of you. And I’m proud of you, too, Eric,” Mr. Jansen said as he drove.

  “That was exciting,” Aunt Molly said. “As soon as Cam closed her eyes and said, ’Cluck’ I knew she would find Simone.”

  Eric laughed. “Chickens say ‘Cluck.’ Cam says ‘Click,’ like a camera.”

  “There were chickens on the road to one of the castles I visited. The driver stopped the tour bus a few times to let them go past.”

  Mr. Jansen parked the car in front of their house. “Oh my, look how pretty your garden is,” Aunt Molly said as she opened the car door.

  Cam and Eric quickly got out of the car. “We’ll go and tell Mom that you’re coming,” Cam said as they ran to the house.

  Cam and Eric opened the door. People were standing in the living room and talking.

  “She’s coming,” Cam told them.

  Two women quickly hid behind the living room curtains. A few people hid behind the couch and chairs. Eric’s father and mother took the baby and hid in the dining room. Eric’s twin sisters, Donna and Diane, hid in the kitchen.

  Aunt Molly walked into the house. She looked around.

  “Surprise!” Eric’s parents and the others called as they came out of hiding. Mrs. Jansen came in carrying a large cake. “Happy Birthday Molly,” was written on the cake.

  “But my birthday is April 7,” Aunt Molly said.

  “That’s today,” Mr. Jansen told her.

  Aunt Molly greeted her friends. “And this must be little Harry,” she said when she saw Eric’s baby brother.

  “He’s Howie,” Eric told her.

  “And you must be Darlene and Dora,” she said when she saw Eric’s sisters.

  “No, I’m Donna.”

  “And I’m Diane.”

  Aunt Molly looked at all her friends. “Oh, I’m so happy,” she said. “I need a handkerchief. I think I’m going to cry.”

  Aunt Molly opened her handbag. “What’s this?” She took out something covered with foil. She unwrapped a buttered roll.

  “That’s why I was so hungry. I never ate my roll,” Aunt Molly said. />
  “Don’t eat that roll. I have fresh sandwiches, salads, and cake for you to eat,” Mrs. Jansen said.

  “But first we should sing ‘Happy Birthday,’ ” Cam said.

  “Sure. Let’s sing,” Aunt Molly said. “Whose birthday is it?”

  Everyone looked at Aunt Molly. She smiled. Then she laughed. “Oh, I know it’s my birthday. It says so on the cake.”

  Everyone laughed and sang “Happy Birthday” to Aunt Molly. Aunt Molly sang, too.