The Mystery of Flight 54 (2 page)

“I think we’re lost,” Cam whispered to Eric.

They were near a large newspaper, magazine, and snack stand.

“I’m hungry,” Eric said. He bought a large bag of popcorn. “Do you want some?” he asked Cam as he opened the bag.

“Don’t eat so much,” Mrs. Jansen told Eric. “I made sandwiches, salads, and a big cake for the party.”

Mr. Jansen asked the woman at the newspaper stand, “Do you know where we can find the luggage from Flight 54?”

“It’s that way,” she told him and pointed to the right.

Will Doris Johnson please report to the information desk on the main level. Thank you,
was announced.

Cam, Cam’s parents, and Eric walked to the right. Eric saw a woman standing in the middle of three suitcases. “Look, there’s Molly,” Mr. Jansen said. He ran to her.

“Oh, Jack,” the woman said as she ran to meet Mr. Jansen.

They hugged. When Mrs. Jansen reached them, she hugged Aunt Molly, too.

“And look at you, Jennifer,” Aunt Molly said when she saw Cam. “You’re so pretty. I love your red hair. And Eric, you look real handsome.”

Cam, her parents, and Eric looked at Aunt Molly. She looked at them and smiled. Then Aunt Molly sighed. She sat on one of the suitcases. She put her hands on her knees and said, “I’ve seen so many interesting places on this trip. I visited Basel and Bristol. No, I think it was Barcelona and Brussels. No, it was Bristol, Bern, and Bologna? Oh I don’t know. I get all those ‘B’ places confused. I’ll tell you all about it later. But right now I have to rest. I’m so tired.”

Aunt Molly unbuttoned her sweater. Then she saw Eric’s bag of popcorn. “Can I have some?” she asked.

“Sure,” Eric said.

Will Doris Johnson please report to the information desk. Will Captain Baker please report to Gate 7. Thank you,
was announced.

A man wearing a dark blue uniform and captain’s hat walked quickly toward them. “First they tell me Gate 2. Now it’s Gate 7,” he said as he rushed by.

“It’s hot in here,” Aunt Molly said. She took off her sweater, folded it, and opened the smallest of the three suitcases. She was about to put her sweater into it.

“This isn’t mine,” Aunt Molly said. She took a very long pair of yellow pants from the suitcase and held them up. She gave the pants to Mrs. Jansen. Then Aunt Molly took out a big shirt and said, “Look at the pineapples and racing cars on this shirt. I would never wear it.” She gave the shirt to Mrs. Jansen, too.

Aunt Molly looked through the suitcase. “This is strange,” she said. “Nothing in here is mine. Someone packed his clothing in my suitcase.”

C
am looked at the name tag on the suitcase. She showed it to Aunt Molly and told her, “No one packed his clothing in your suitcase. You took the wrong one.”

Aunt Molly looked at the tag.

“We should bring this suitcase back,” Eric said. “Someone is probably looking for it.”

“And one of my suitcases is missing,” Aunt Molly said. She took her sweater and walked quickly ahead.

Cam, Eric, and Mr. Jansen followed her. Mr. Jansen carried Aunt Molly’s two large suitcases.

Mrs. Jansen quickly folded the yellow pants and the pineapple shirt and put them into the small suitcase. She closed it and took it with her as she ran to catch up with the others.

Aunt Molly was stopped at the entrance to the luggage area. “I’m sorry, you can’t go in there,” the guard told her. “It’s for passengers only.”

“But I am a passenger. I was on Flight 54. My suitcase is still in there.”

An older couple was standing near the guard. The woman was wearing a bright red dress. The man was fat and had a short white beard. “And our niece is in there,” the woman said. “We have to find her. She just came from France and she doesn’t speak any English.”

Just then a very tall young man came from the luggage area. “Have you seen anyone leave here with a small brown suitcase?” he asked the guard.

“Is this yours?” Mrs. Jansen asked and showed him the suitcase.

“How did you get that?” the man said. He took the suitcase from Mrs. Jansen.

Aunt Molly leaned close to him and whispered, “That pineapple shirt is ugly. If you put it on, wear a jacket over it.”

“Humph,” the man said as he walked away.

“I must find my niece,” the woman in the red dress said.

The man with her showed the guard a photograph. “This is Simone,” he said. “Have you seen her?”

The guard looked at the photograph. He shook his head and said, “I’m sorry, I haven’t seen her. But if you wait, I’ll have someone look to see if she’s inside. And I’ll have someone look for your suitcase.”

He called over a woman guard with long curly hair. He told her about Aunt Molly’s missing suitcase and showed her the picture of Simone. The guard looked at the photograph and then went inside to look for Simone and the suitcase.

When the guard gave the photograph back to the man, Aunt Molly took a quick look at it.

“I saw Simone,” Aunt Molly said. “I saw her on the plane. She sat right across from me. She is very polite. Every time the flight attendant gave her something, she said
merci.
That’s French for ‘Thank you.’ But she didn’t eat her applesauce.”

Aunt Molly thought for a moment. She was holding her sweater. She brushed some lint off it. Then she said, “She was just ahead of me when I got off the plane. And I think I remember seeing Simone waiting for her luggage.”

The woman in the red dress held her hands together, looked up at the ceiling and said, “Oh, I’m so glad she arrived here safely. She’s just ten and we were worried.”

Cam said, “I’m ten and so is Eric.”

“But where is Simone?” the man wanted to know. “She’s visiting us for two weeks and we’re responsible for her.”

“Don’t worry,” Mrs. Jansen told the woman. “They’ll find Simone.”

Aunt Molly ate some more popcorn while she waited for the guard to return. Mrs. Jansen tapped on her handbag. And the man told everyone about Simone.

“This is her first trip to visit us. We plan to take her to museums and to the park. We prepared all her favorite foods.”

“I hope you didn’t make applesauce for her. She doesn’t eat it,” Aunt Molly said. Then she asked Eric for some more popcorn.

“Here,” Eric said and gave her the bag. “You can have what’s left.”

The woman in the red dress sat on a bench nearby. She leaned forward and said, “If Simone is lost, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

Just then the guard with the long curly hair came out. She told the other guard, “All the luggage is off Flight 54 and it’s all been claimed. And I didn’t see that girl.”

“ O
h, no,” the woman in the red dress said. “Simone is missing.”

“I hope the gifts I bought are not in that lost suitcase,” Aunt Molly said. “I bought a bookmark in the shape of the Eiffel Tower and a toy soldier made of old candy wrappers.”

“What should we do now?” Mrs. Jansen asked the guard.

“Go to the airline’s service desk. Someone there will help you.”

The old man helped his wife off the bench. Mr. and Mrs. Jansen each carried one of Aunt Molly’s suitcases. They followed Cam, Eric, and Aunt Molly to the service desk.

People nearby were sitting on benches and reading newspapers and magazines. Others had their legs stretched out and were resting. There were people rushing past with luggage and people talking to each other. And there were anouncements.

“My name is Charles Green,” the old man told the woman behind the airline’s desk. “This is my wife Ida. We came to, pick up our niece and we can’t find her. Her name is Simone Green and she doesn’t speak any English.”

A tag was pinned to the woman’s jacket. “Jill Waner” was printed on the tag.

“Was she on one of our flights?”Jill Waner asked.

“Yes. Flight 54.”

Jill Waner picked up the telephone. “First I’ll check if she was on the flight.”

“Oh, she was on it,” Aunt Molly said. “She sat right across from me. She’s very polite.”

Cam whispered to Eric, “I hope she doesn’t tell her about the applesauce.”

Jill Waner put the telephone down. “Did you check the luggage area?” she asked.

“Yes.”

Jill Waner picked up the phone again. “We’ll have her paged. If she’s anywhere in the building, she’ll hear it.”

She spoke to someone over the telephone. Then she told the Greens, “Just wait a few minutes. I’m sure your niece will be here.”

“While we wait, maybe you can help me,” Aunt Molly said. “I was also on Flight 54 and one of my suitcases is missing.”

Jill Waner took two sheets of paper from her desk. “You’ll have to fill out these forms,” she said. She gave Aunt Molly a pen.

Aunt Molly gave Cam her sweater. Then Aunt Molly sat on a bench. She put the popcorn bag on the bench next to her and began to fill out the forms.

“Jack, they want my local address. That’s your house. And they want your telephone number. I always get things with numbers confused. Can you help me with this?”

Mr. Jansen sat on the bench next to Aunt Molly. He began to fill out the forms.

Mrs. Jansen was tapping on her handbag again. She looked at her watch and began tapping her foot on the floor. Then she looked at Cam. “It’s silly for you to carry that sweater,” she said. “Why don’t you put it in Molly’s suitcase?”

As Cam opened the suitcase, Mr. Jansen was reading from the form. “Can you describe the lost piece of luggage?” he asked Aunt Molly.

“It’s made of canvas. It’s small and brown,” Aunt Molly said.

“And it has red, yellow, and blue stripes,” Cam said.