“Cheer up, Veve,” she said. “Think of the delicious dinner Grandma Gordon will have waiting for us when we arrive!”
Veve tried to smile but succeeded only in making a grimace. She kept wondering what Miss Gordon and the Brownies would say when she told them about the lost luggage check.
Thinking about it made her rather tired and discouraged. She really had tried to act properly and never cause annoyance. Nothing seemed to go right.
“Except for Connie, the Brownies don’t like me very well,” she thought, feeling very sorry for herself. “Oh, dear, I almost wish I were back home.”
A tear trickled down Veve’s cheek. She was afraid to wipe it away for fear Connie or the other girls would see that she had been crying. So she closed both eyes tightly and counted the click of the rails.
The sound lulled Veve into drowsiness and slumber. Then she had a dream.
She thought she had arrived in a strange town. Grandfather Gordon could be seen motioning to her from the top of a spruce tree. Next he seemed to be floating along in front of her only a few feet from the ground. But no matter how fast she ran, she never could reach him.
The dream ended abruptly, as someone shook her arm.
“Wake up!” said Miss Gordon in her ear. “Another five minutes and we will be in Deerford Station.”
For an instant Veve couldn’t think where she was. Then it all came back to her, and she remembered the missing luggage check.