CHAPTER NINETEEN: MORE TICKETS AND A HORRIBLE SURPRISE
Well, we left the elves to celebrate Christmas in their funky, upbeat way. I suppose the conductor wanted to get us back home, even if time was altered.
We waited patiently in line for the conductor to punch our tickets. Some elves brought the missing train car back, collapsing on the ground from exhaustion. Dad started laughing, but then Shannon looked at him, and he stopped and cleared his throat. I giggled.
"All right, you," the conductor said to Eddy. "Tickets, please." He punched more holes into the ticket and gave it to Eddy. Eddy held it up.
"LEAN," he said, unsatisfied. "Whatever that's supposed to mean!"
"LEAN is spelled with four letters," the conductor said, taking the ticket back and showing it to Eddy more carefully. "I believe I punched five."
Eddy snatched it back. "Hey, are you saying I don't know how to--Oh, I'm sorry. It says LEARN. My mistake." He climbed on the train as the conductor said, "Lesson learned."
Billy was next. When his was done, it said DEPEND ON. He flipped it over, and it changed to RELY ON. He flipped it over one more time, and it said COUNT ON. Billy was truly amazed.
"That is some special ticket," the conductor said.
Billy looked up at him. "It sure is."
"So…can you count on us to get you home safe and sound?"
Billy looked at us. "Absolutely. Me…and my friends."
I almost started crying again. Billy considered me his friend! He was so cute…
Shannon was after Billy. Her ticket read LEAD.
"It says LEAD," she said, a bit confused. "Like lead balloon."
"I believe it also is pronounced lead. As in leader, leadership…lead the way." He saluted her. "I'd follow you anywhere, Ma'am."
She smiled and climbed on the train.
And then it was my turn.
After my ticket was done being punched, it read PERSERVERE. I shrugged. "Alrighty, then…" I said.
"Don't you wanna know what it means?" the conductor asked.
"Does it mean I need to persevere and keep believing in the Christmas Spirit?"
The conductor was at a loss for words. I smiled. "I thought so."
I suddenly realized: Dad. He hadn't gotten his punched yet. I quickly made my way to my seat and opened the window.
"Ah, yes…" the conductor was saying. "The man with all the questions."
The conductor took his ticket and punched it behind his back. Dad was a bit nervous, not knowing why he did that. When he got it back, it said BELIEVE.
"It says BE--"
The conductor stopped him. "It's nothing I need to know."
I smiled and shook my head. Only he'd say that.
Dad got back on the train, and everyone crowded him. "Show us the bell!" everyone said excitedly.
And then I remembered something Dad told me and Susan one year. He told us that Santa had found the bell on the seat of his sleigh and gave it back to him as a wrapped present the next day. But Dad had thought it was gone.
And all because he put it in the pocket with the hole.
I sighed. Something had to go wrong, didn't it?
Sure enough, when Dad reached into his pocket, his fingers stuck out of the hole. "It's gone," he said sadly. "I lost it. I lost the bell from Santa's sleigh."
"Don't worry! We'll find it!" Billy said.
"Yeah! All of us!" Eddy piped up.
"Yeah, let's hurry up and find it right now!" Shannon said, getting up.
I noticed Dad didn't even make a move to get up. Why was he just sitting there? Didn't he care?
The train jerked forward, and we were too late.
"We're too late," Shannon said.
"Gee…" Eddy said. "That's really too bad. Really."
Shannon sat next to Dad. "I'm sorry," she said.
It made me feel horrible to see him like that. And even though I knew he'd get it back…I still couldn't stand to see him so sad.
And he stayed that way for the rest of the way home.