Hours later, when the Bland Sisters awoke in their parents' bed, they were hugging each other.
"Jaundice," Kale whispered. "Jaundice."
"What?"
"I think we fell asleep," Kale said, looking at the clock. "It's already morning."
Jaundice sat up. She reparted her hair in the middle. She looked around. Even though the shades were drawn, the sun was visible behind them. Both sisters squinted.
"Did you hear a phone ringing last night?" Jaundice asked. "I think I dreamed it."
"I didn't hear anything. I dreamed I was trying to clean the whole house, using only a toothbrush," said Kale. "Which reminds me, I should really wash these sheets."
Jaundice looked at the clock. "Let's eat first. I'm not myself until after I've had my plain oatmeal and weak, tepid tea."
Soon, a leisurely breakfast was enjoyed, and Kale was already on her second load of laundry. Jaundice stretched and sighed.
"That's better," she said. "You know, I've forgotten my dream altogether."
"Me, too. Though I feel like we're forgetting something else," Kale said.
"Well, the house is clean. We'll have fresh food once the sundry basket arrives. And the red wagon is ready to take to the train station—" Jaundice said, suddenly remembering.
"The train station!" said Kale. It dawned on her, too.
"We need to pick up Aunt Shallot!" the Bland Sisters said at the same time.
The Bland Sisters had never been to the Dullsville Train Station, but there was really no time to take in the sights. By the time they arrived, it was almost noon, when Aunt Shallot's train was due to arrive.
"I don't like train stations," Kale decided. "There's too much hustle. Not to mention bustle."
"And it's too loud. I can barely hear myself think," said Jaundice, who was still angry at herself for forgetting the red wagon.
"If only we had more information," Kale said.
"Or any information, really," said Jaundice.
That's when both sisters' eyes came to rest on a sign hanging over a desk in the center of the terminal. Fortunately, the sign read INFORMATION.
"We're looking for our aunt," Kale said to the man sitting behind the desk. "We're supposed to pick her up here just before noon."
"Quite a few trains arrive and depart around that time," the man said. "On which train is she due to arrive?"
"We don't know," said Jaundice.
"Well, where is she coming from?" the man asked.
"We don't know that, either," said Kale.
The man raised his eyebrows. "Well," he said. "I suppose we could make an announcement over the loudspeaker, to let her know you're both here. What's your aunt's name?"
"Shallot," the sisters said.
"Is that her first name or her last name?"
Jaundice and Kale looked at each other. Then they looked at the man at the information desk and shrugged.
The man sighed. He grabbed his microphone.
"AUNT SHALLOT … AUNT SHALLOT … PAGING AUNT SHALLOT … YOUR NIECES ARE WAITING FOR YOU AT THE INFORMATION DESK."
"Thank you," said Jaundice.
"You're welcome. Good luck," said the man. Almost immediately, he looked past the Bland Sisters to his next customer and barked, "Next!"
Jaundice and Kale sat down on a bench close to the Information Desk.
"Do you think we'll be waiting long?" asked Kale.
"Who knows?" said Jaundice.
"Well, let's do something to pass the time," Kale said. "We don't have any socks with us to darn. Shall we do our numbers?"
"All right, then," said Jaundice. "Three."
"Ooh … six!" said Kale. It really was fun, thinking of numbers divisible by three.
"Nine," said Jaundice.
"Oh, thank goodness!" a voice said.
Coming toward the Bland Sisters was a woman dressed all in black. She wore a long coat and had a big scarf looped around her face, with a floppy hat on top. And she wore very big sunglasses. She seemed to be struggling with her bag, a very large purple satchel.
"She's wearing a hat," Kale whispered to Jaundice.
"And glasses," Jaundice whispered to Kale.
"Is that you, Aunt—?" Kale asked.
"We don't have a lot of time," Aunt Shallot said, tossing her satchel to Jaundice. "I hope you two are fast runners."
The Bland Sisters had never run anywhere together, on any occasion. But now seemed as good a time as any to try.
"This would have been much easier if I'd remembered the wagon," Jaundice managed, between running, carrying the purple satchel, and trying to follow Aunt Shallot.
"Why are we running toward the trains instead of away from them?" Kale asked.
"Less talking, more running," Aunt Shallot advised. Eventually, she navigated them to Track Nine. Both sisters noted that this was a number divisible by three; somehow, this seemed like a good omen.
The train on Track Nine was called the Uncanny Express. Aunt Shallot passed the first car, marked BAGGAGE, and ducked into the second car, marked PASSENGER, while Jaundice and Kale followed behind, as quickly as they could. They might have been good at running if the purple satchel Jaundice was carrying weren't so heavy. Kale tried to carry the bag at one end, but in her attempt to help her sister, she ended up tripping over a ruddy-faced man with a briefcase and a walking stick.
"Watch it, missy!" he growled.
"Sorry," said Kale.
The Bland Sisters stepped aside as an older woman in a mink stole with a small fluffy dog was followed by a younger woman in a tweedy coat and hat.
"We're almost there, Countess," the younger woman said cheerfully. "We're in compartment four."
"I don't see why we have to rub elbows with the hoi polloi," the older woman said, clutching her pearls as she looked down her long nose at the Bland Sisters. Her little dog bared its tiny teeth and growled at Jaundice and Kale.
"Ah," Aunt Shallot said, noting all the numbered compartments. "Here we are. Number one. How apropos."
The compartment was paneled in wood and featured a large window against the far wall, framed by facing bench seats covered in green leather, with a little fold-down table in between. On the table was a single red carnation in a bud vase. Luggage racks hung over the bench seats on each side, and above a button on the wall, a plaque read PRESS FOR SERVICE.
A red envelope leaned against the bud vase. Aunt Shallot opened it and gasped. Quickly, she closed the envelope and tucked it into her coat.
"Did you forget something here?" Kale asked.
"I don't believe so. Now that I've found you ladies, I have everything I need," Aunt Shallot said, clapping her hands.
"All right, then," Jaundice said, attempting to catch her breath. "We should all be getting on now."
"Yes, we should," said Aunt Shallot.
"Well, we'll have to get off the train," said Kale.
"Eventually, yes," said Aunt Shallot. She sat down on one of the seats and opened her satchel. She took out a pack of playing cards and began shuffling them, cutting them, and shuffling them again.
The sound of a piercing whistle made Jaundice and Kale jump.
"All aboard!" a voice said outside.
"We have to get off this train. Now," Jaundice said.
"Whatever for?" Aunt Shallot asked. "Did you forget something, dear?"
"I think you've forgotten that you're supposed to come with us, Aunt Shallot," Kale said.
The woman laughed. "'Aunt Shallot'? Sounds like a real fuddy-duddy," she said.
"I'm having a Feeling," said Kale.
Jaundice was, too. It was the feeling of the ground moving beneath her feet. The train was moving, and the Bland Sisters were on it, whether they liked it or not.
