Free Trapped on the D.C. Train! by Ron Roy Page B

train began to move out of Union Station.
    “Well, that was exciting!” Mary Kincaid said. The two agents smiled, nodded, andsat down. The vice president began texting on a cell phone.
    KC raised the shade so that she and Marshall could watch the city of Washington zip by them out the window. Soon they were passing farmhouses, green fields, and trees.
    “This is my first time on a train,” Marshall told KC. “It’s awesome!”
    “I was on one once before,” KC said. “When my mom was still married to my real father. We took a train down to Florida.”
    “Let’s go out on that little porch thing!” Marshall said.
    “Let me ask,” KC said. She walked back to Mary Kincaid’s seat. “Excuse me, can Marshall and I go out on the platform?”
    The vice president smiled. “Sure.Robert, will you go with them, please?”

    The tall agent stood up. He followed KC and Marshall to the end of their car. KC opened the door, and they stepped onto the little porch. The floor had green carpeting, and the railing was black metal. Hot summer wind blew their hair all around as they stood and watched the city disappear.
    “I feel like we’re flying!” Marshall yelled over the wind.
    The kids pointed out old barns and funny buildings, but it was hard to talk over the noise of the wind and the train. Just before they reached a crossing, the conductor blew a piercing whistle. KC held her hands over her ears.
    Robert tapped KC on the shoulder. “Let’s go back inside, miss,” he said.
    “Okay, thanks, Robert,” KC said. They stepped into the car and sat down. KC tucked her long hair back under her hat.
    “Does anyone want anything from the snack car?” the vice president asked. “I could use some coffee. Maybe a sandwich.”
    “Do they have cookies?” Marshall asked.
    “I’m sure they have everything,” Mary Kincaid said. “Janet? Robert?”
    “Yes, ma’am,” they both said.
    “May we go get it?” KC asked.
    The vice president hesitated. “I guess that would be okay,” she said. “The snack car is two cars after this one.”
    “Should I go with them?” Janet asked.
    “Oh, I think they’ll be fine, Janet,” Mary Kincaid said. “We’re on a moving train, and the car is only a hundred feet away.”
    KC pulled a small pad and pencil from her backpack. She wanted to be a TV journalist after college, and she always carried something to write with. She made a list of five names: KITTY, JANET, ROBERT, MARSHALL, ME. After ME, she wrote ORANGE JUICE.
    “What do you want, Marshall?” KC asked.
    “Grape soda and cookies,” he said.
    KC wrote down the order.
    “What an efficient waitress!” the vice president said. “I’ll have coffee with cream, no sugar, please. Oh, and a tuna sandwich if they have it.”
    “A coffee, please,” Janet said. “Black.”
    “Same for me,” Robert said.
    “Here’s some money,” the vice president said. She handed Janet a twenty-dollar bill. Janet passed it to KC.
    KC slipped the money into the pocket of her shorts. “See you in a few minutes!” she told the others. She pulled her cap on and tucked her hair under it. “Let’s go, Marsh.”
    Marshall opened the door at the end of the car. KC felt the warm air blow over her face.
    Between the two cars was a small platform. It connected their car to the next. They could feel the train’s wheels vibrating beneath the platform floor. They heard the wind rushing by. Straight ahead was another door.
    Marshall shoved it open, and they found themselves in the next passenger car. The first seat on the right was occupied by the blind man they’d seen earlier. He sat facing the back of the train with his bookon his lap. The Seeing Eye dog lay on the floor with its chin resting on the man’s feet.
    Across the aisle from the blind man, a woman slept in her seat, facing KC and Marshall. She had a small blanket bunched up around her shoulders and neck. KC could barely see the woman’s face, just her closed eyes.
    KC and Marshall