Chapter 4

The other people had returned to their seats. With salver filled with things on his hand, the waiter walked to the door. When he passed our table, I finally made up my mind. Clinching my teeth, closing my eyes and putting my feet out, I did what the boy had told me: Trip the waiter up.

"Ow!" The creaming boomed accompanied with another a series of crash. I felt so ashamed of playing trick that I was afraid to open my eyes, then I heard a cry as loud as it could waking everyone on the train.

"Hey! Here's the necklace! "

I opened my eyes unbelievably. It was the necklace, twinkling on the floor, aside with some opened cigar cases and scatted cigarette. The waiter was the thief! He put the necklace in the cigar case. No wonder he escaped from the search, who would believe that the necklace was in a cigar case!

The conductor was yellow with rage, "A waiter thief! On my train!" He grabbed the arm of the waiter and roared like thunder, "You should go into prison!"

Seeing that he couldn't cover his offence anymore, the waiter played a scene of dog-eat-dog. "He," He pointed at the adopted son, "He asked me to do this! He gave me money and promised gave me more money when he sold the necklace!"

The young man's face was pale as death in a second. His mother snorted and gave him a sideways glance, "No wonder the supervisor of your collage wrote to me that you are becoming prodigal and unrestrained. It turned out to be true! You even did such mean trick! I am so disappointed at you. " Said the old lay sternly.

Her son was scared out of his wits, he fell on to the floor on his butt. The old lay picked up her necklace and gave it to the man in worn coat, "I am sorry to put you in the wrong. Please keep the necklace. It belongs to your grandma. At least she had a filial grandson."

The case was finished. I felt someone was tugging my sleeve. It was the boy, he fluttered his eyelashes at me. I left the carriage with him quietly.

"How do you know the waiter and the son stole the necklace?" I couldn't wait to ask him as soon as we stood in the corridor.

"I've seen that." He smiled.

"What? You mean you saw everything?" I turned to him so quickly that I almost break my neck.

"No, I see that in my mind. If I were the thief, where would I hide the necklace."

"Then how do you know it was in the cigar cases?"

"Well…" His eyes were even brighter like stars in dark, "Because it isn't in anywhere else."

I was silence for a while, then I said, "You should go back to the carriage. The old lady must want to express her gratitude. You may be the hero in tomorrow's newspaper! "

The boy laughed outright, "I guess not," his shoulder heaved as his endless laughter, "Family troubles are not a thing to be talked in public. She still needs the man to inherit her property." Said he when he putting on his coat.

"The train's going to stop at Hounslow for a few minute," He wrapped his black scarf around his neck carefully, "Thanks for your accompany during this trip."

"You are leaving now?"

"Well…if I still on this train, Mycroft would catch me once I arrived at London. I guess my family had already received the telegram of my missing from my school."

I gasped with astonishment, "You travelled alone?"

Sounding a siren, the train wheezed into the station. A trace of smile played across the boy's face, "Good bye, John." He pushed the door and jumped leaped off the train dexterously and then moved back to me.

The biting cold wind pouring into the train, my face was cut by the frigid air. I couldn't even open my eyes. When the train started to move again, I finally realized and peaked my head over the window, "I don't even know your name!"

He moved his lips, his mouth was like "Sh…" something, but his voice was inundated in the thunder-like whistle. I kept looking at him until he became a small black dot and disappeared.

When I went back to my carriage, I felt that I had lost something, something I couldn't figure out.

I didn't know how they handle the case at last. When I arrived at home in London, I searched in the sea of newspapers but failed to find anything about the case, even as small as the size of a biscuit. The boy was right, the old lady did protect her inheritor even he disappointed her so deeply.

Christmas came to the town in time with a heavy snow. After the intimate dinner, my family rested in the living room of our cozy house. My mother and my father was reading newspapers near the fire-place while my brother Henry was piling up the fire incase my mother felt uncomfortable. I huddled up in the comfortable roomy armchair, feeling sleepy.

"Listen this one," my mother said to us, "A thirteen year old boy left his school and travelled half Britain by himself. Thirteen! He's even younger than John. How worried his family would be!"

Something flashed in my mind so fast that I couldn't catch it before it disappeared.

"Don't worry, mother." Henry gave a wry smile, "John and I won't do things like that…"

I nodded and turned to look outside the window, the city was hushed and white with snow. The bright, whirling, snowflakes gently kissed the ground as light as feather.

"Merry Christmas." I said to my family.

"Merry Christmas. John." They answered me with warm smile in their eyes.

And Merry Christmas to you, my friend. I thought about the boy whose name I might never know in my life. It was a pity for me. As time went by, I found that his face faded away in my memory, all I remembered was just the small black dot under the cloudy sky.

I wondered if I would ever see him again.