Free Vanishing Passenger by Gertrude Chandler Warner

CHAPTER 1
Not Everyone Is a Finch Fan
    Six-year-old Benny Alden lay on the floor of the Greenfield Public Library. He was coloring a huge poster.
    “How’s it coming, Benny?” asked Violet, his ten-year-old sister. She was holding a poster of her own, which she’d just finished. She gently waved it so the ink would dry.
    “Okay,” Benny replied. “What do you think?”
    He leaned back so Violet could have a look. The words were big and bold, printed clearly in black on the heavy white paper:
TOMORROW NIGHT AT 7:00
    COME AND MEET
    GILBERT FINCH
    AUTHOR OF
    “THE YOUNG ADVENTURERS”
    SERIES FOR CHILDREN
    AT THE GREENFIELD LIBRARY
    Benny’s sister, Jessie, who was twelve, had actually written the words. Benny was still learning to read and write. But he did add little drawings of Mr. Finch’s books.
    The Aldens loved Gilbert Finch’s books. Each one was set in some faraway place, and the main characters were always children who found themselves in exciting situations.
    “It looks great, Benny,” Violet said. “I like the little books you drew around the outside. I’ll bet Mr. Finch will like it, too.”
    “I still can’t believe he’s coming here,” said Jessie. She was coloring another poster. “He has so many fans, and yet he’s coming to our library.”

    “And all we had to do was ask him,” added Henry. At fourteen, he was the oldest of the children. “Violet’s idea to simply write him a letter was great.”
    Violet smiled. “The worst he could do was say ‘no.’”
    But Finch hadn’t said no—he’d written back to the Aldens right away and said he’d be delighted to visit their library. His latest book, The Lost Chamber of Gold, was an exciting story set in the jungles of Brazil. Mr. Finch had been visiting other libraries and bookstores all over the country.
    “A lot of people will be here to see him tomorrow night,” Jessie pointed out. “Ms. Connally said as many as a hundred.”
    “Maybe even more,” said Ms. Connally, who walked into the room at that moment. She was the head librarian and knew the Aldens well. “I just got off the phone with Ms. Pollak, over at the elementary school. She’s asking everyone in her class to come.”
    “Wow!” Benny said.
    Ms. Connally walked around to see everyone’s posters. “They look very nice,” she said. “Where will you put them?”
    “All over,” said Violet. “Anywhere they’ll be seen by a lot of people. The supermarket, the bank …”
    “The school,” Jessie added.
    “The gas station,” Henry continued.
    “And the train station,” Benny said. “Don’t forget that!”
    The Alden children were very familiar with trains. After their parents died, they learned that their grandfather was coming to get them. They heard he was mean, so they tried to hide from him. They picked an abandoned boxcar as their hiding place. When Grandfather finally found them, they soon realized he wasn’t mean at all. The children went back to Greenfield with him. Then Grandfather arranged to have their boxcar brought along, too! It was set up in the backyard, where they could play in it anytime they wished.
    When Benny mentioned the station, it reminded Jessie of something very important. She checked her watch and said, “We’d better get over there soon. Mr. Finch will be arriving in less than an hour.”
    “Oh, that’s right,” Violet added. “He called here earlier to let us know he was getting on the train.”
    Mr. Finch had agreed to come to Greenfield the day before his appearance so he could have dinner with the Alden children and their grandfather. He’d also said something about wanting to see a friend, but he didn’t say who it was.
    “Good luck!” Ms. Connally said as she left the room.
    The Aldens finished the posters and bundled them together in a neat pile. They would hang them around town as they walked to the station.
    As they headed for the door, they noticed someone standing by a display of Gilbert Finch’s books.