The train started moving again, and the Conductor lurched forward. He grabbed the microphone and turned it on.
"Your attention, please. Are there any Polar Express passengers in need of refreshment?"
Everyone immediately raised their hands in the air and enthusiastically shouted "Me! Me! Me!"
"I thought so."
The Conductor slid the other green sliding door open and eight waiters entered the passenger car. They turned every second seat around so that it was facing the one behind it and they put their aprons in the center where they magically floated as if invisible tables were underneath them.
"Hot! Hot!"
"Ooh, we got it!"
"Hot! Hot!"
"Hey, we got it!"
"Hot! Hot!"
"Say, we got it!"
"Hot chocolate!"
A pair of chefs riding a boiler on wheels came in, throwing trays into the air. The waiters caught them, and the plates and cups that followed until they each had three cups on their trays.
"Hot! Hot!"
"Oh, we got it!"
"Hot! Hot!"
"So, we got it!"
"Hot! Hot!"
"Yo, we got it!"
"Hot chocolate!"
"Here we've only got one rule: Never, ever let it cool! Keep it cooking in the pot! Soon you got!"
"Hot choc-o-late!"
The chefs on the boiler pressed levers on triple-spouts. Streams of hot chocolate flew through the air and landed in the waiter's cups. They turned around and served the kids.
"Hot! Hot!"
"Ooh, we got it!"
"Hot! Hot!"
"Hey, we got it!"
"Hot! Hot!"
"Say, we got it!"
"Hot chocolate!"
While everyone else wasted no time in drinking their hot chocolate, Elsa noticed that Honeymarren hid her cup next to her. When one of the waiters gave her a replacement, she hid that one under her seat.
"Hot! Hot!"
"Oh, we got it!"
"Hot! Hot!"
"So, we got it!"
"Hot! Hot!"
"Yo, we got it!"
"Hot chocolate!"
"Here we only got one rule!"
"Here we only got one rule!"
"Never, ever let it cool!"
"Never, ever let it cool! Keep it cooking in the pot!"
"Soon ya got hot choc-o-late!"
The waiters did backflips off the floating apron tables as they refilled everyone's cups with triple-spout pitchers.
"Hot! Hot!"
"Hey, we got it!"
"Hot! Hot!"
"Whoa, we got it!"
"Hot! Hot!"
"Yeah, we got it!"
"Hot! Hot!"
"Whoa, we got it!"
"Hot! Hot!"
"Hey, we got it!"
"Hot! Hot!"
"Whoa, we got it!"
"Hot! Hot!"
"Yeah, we got it!"
The waiters grabbed their aprons and did more backflips as they put them back on, ending the floating invisible table effect. The chefs flipped over the seats, rotating every second one back to its original position as the chefs reclaimed every passenger's cup and danced to a further-away passenger car, the Conductor closing the sliding door behind them. Everyone had some kind of hot chocolate mustache. Ryder wiped his off as the kid next to him fainted.
"You know, Montezuma, the king of the Aztecs, would drink 50 quarts of hot chocolate every day! It was thick as mud and red, because he put chili pepper in it instead of sugar! Get it? "Hot" chocolate?"
"How do you know? That's not true!"
"It is true! I know everything there is to know about Aztec Indians!"
As Ryder argued with some other kid, Honeymarren grabbed the cup she hid under her seat and started toward the other sliding door.
"Where are you going with that?" Asked Elsa.
"It's for him." Said Honeymarren as she gestured toward the caboose, referring to the boy.
"I don't think we're supposed to leave our seats." Said Elsa.
"Yeah, it's a violation of railroad safety regulations for a kid to cross moving cars without a grownup!" Informed Ryder.
Honeymarren rolled her eyes. "I think I'll be okay."
"Are you sure?" Asked Elsa.
Honeymarren stopped in her tracks upon being asked this. The Conductor approached her from behind. She turned around to face him.
"What about this lad in the back? Did he get any refreshment?"
"No sir." Said Honeymarren.
"Well let's take some to him, by all means!"
Elsa watched as they approached the sliding door and opened it, stepping into the narrow area between it and the door on hinges that led to the caboose.
"Watch your step now, watch your step!"
As soon as they closed the sliding door behind them, Elsa looked next to her and saw Honeymarren's ticket laying flat and exposed on her seat.
"Uh-oh. She forgot her ticket! And it hasn't been punched yet!"
"Leave it, they'll be back!" Said Ryder.
"Why wait?" Said Elsa as she grabbed it and started toward the doors.
"Hey, hey, what are you doing? You're gonna get us all in trouble!" Yelled Ryder.