Read Chapter 11: “By Train”
The children were tired. They put their backpacks in the trunk of the car, next to their parents’ backpacks.
“Okay children, it’s time to go home,” said Dad.
Brandon and Alice got in the back seats of the car. They fastened their seat belts and watched quietly outside of the car window. Mom took out her book and read the kids a few more riddles. Although the children were exhausted, they still wanted to find the answers to the riddles.
“It cannot be seen, cannot be felt, / Cannot be heard, cannot be smelt. /It lies behind stars and under hills, / And empty holes it fills./ It come first and follows after, / Ends life, kills laughter.” After a short pause Mom asked, “Who knows?”
“The night,” answered Brandon.
“You’re close,” Mom encouraged him.
“Darkness,” said Alice.
“Oh, boy, you’re good!” exclaimed Brandon.
“Now listen to this one,” said Mom. “Alive without breath, /As cold as death; / Never thirsty, ever drinking, / All in mail ever clinking.”
None of the kids could find the answer.
“You have to help us,” pleaded Alice.
“All I can tell you is that it lives in water,” said Mom.
“A fish,” said Brandon hurriedly, fearing that his sister would answer before him.
“Good,” Mom congratulated him. “And the last one…”
“I’m getting tired,” announced Brandon. “But I can try one more,” he said with a big yawn.
“This thing all things devours; / Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; / Gnaws iron, bites steel; / Grinds hard stones to meal; / Slays kings, ruins towns, / And beats high mountains down.”
“It must be something very powerful,” said Brandon pondering on the riddle.
“You could say that,” assured him Mom.
Alice was thinking hard with one hand covering her mouth. Brandon yawed again.
“I know!” said Alice all of a sudden. “But I won’t tell you!”
“Why not Alice?” asked her Mom puzzled.
“Because, right now, it’s not the right time,” said Alice smilingly. “If you know what I mean.”
“You’re a very smart girl, my little angel,” said Dad from behind the wheel. He had been listening all along to their chatter.
“What? I don’t understand,” said Brandon puzzled, scratching the back of his head.
“It’s time,” said Alice finally.
“Time for what?” asked Brandon.
“No, you silly! Time. That’s the answer to the riddle,” explained Alice, proud that she made a smart joke.
“Oh, now… I… see,” said Brandon, yawning for the third time.
During the remaining trip back to Bangkok, Brandon slept in his seat, while Alice read her storybook for a while. But soon, she feel asleep with the open book on her lap.
“Back home!” exclaimed Brandon, when the car stopped in front of their house. He got off and run to the door.
“Come back and take your backpack,” said Mom.
“After you wash your hands I’ll give you a snack, then you have to unpack and put everything where it belongs,” Dad told the children.
Alice and Brandon did what their parents told them to do. Later that evening, the Lesters gathered in the living room where they talked about their outdoor trip to Kanchanaburi Province.
“Tomorrow I will start writing in my diary about the adventures from the trip,” confessed Alice.
“I’ll draw a picture of the elephant camp. I liked that part of the trip most,” said Brandon.
“Very good children,” said Mom. “I will go to the photo shop and get the film developed.”
“Tomorrow is Monday, so I will have to go to work,” said Dad. “But when I come back home all of you will help me clean the car!”
“Yes, dad, sure,” replied the children.
Before ten o’clock the children were fast asleep. Both of them dreamt about their magnificent adventure and were looking forward to the next one.
Illustration by Eric Barrientos
THE END
