The Great Circus Train Robbery Read Online Free Page A

contest I’m entering.” He showed her a printout of the contest. An essay about any aspect of the age of steam, Ms. Delores read aloud, its history, operations, landscapes, romance; its classic model trains.
    “Model steam trains,” Spence clasped his hands as if he was praying. “That’s what I mostly want to write about.”
    Zoe was more interested now that there might be something romantic about steam trains, other than the coal steam that polluted the air. Was that what she’d smelled in the enemy’s house? Did Boomer have a steam train down there? Had he scalded his victim with steam?
    Spence was looking with dismay at the three large tomes the librarian had put in his lap. One of them, The Story of American Railroads, looked to be at least a thousand pages. The other two were almost as lengthy.
    “The deadline is September 15,” he said. “I can’t read all these books and then write the essay in less than a month!”
    “That’s why I’m here,” Zoe said, picking up the The Age of Steam.” I’ll read it and report back.  You can just read what interests you.  Like the chapter on model trains, right?”
    “Yeah, thanks, that’s what I’ll do.”  His face brightened.  “Look. What I wanted to show you, Ms. Delores.”  He pulled his red baggage car out of a cloth sack.
    The librarian cried with delight and stroked the roof of the rail car. “Lovely! Oh, and I know that Billings Brothers Circus. Our mother used to take us to see it. Why, I wanted to be one of those aerial artists. I’d dream about flying through the air!  Though in reality—oh my.”   She gazed down at her weak ankles, and then laughed.
    “I’m going to try for a job this weekend,” Zoe said. “The circus uses locals to take tickets. I do a little juggling, too.”
    “A very little,” said Spence, who, unfortunately, had seen her drop a ball or two that very morning.
    She threw him a stern look. “I’m working on it, Spence. I can juggle three balls, easy. When you saw me this morning I was trying four balls.”
    “The adopted niece I told you about has already arrived,” Ms. Delores said. “She’s a clown. Her boyfriend is a dog trainer. Would you really like to meet her?”
    “I’d love to!” Zoe was thrilled. She imagined herself in a hot pink leotard holding a big hoop for dogs to jump through, while the crowd clapped and cheered.
    “Dad says they shouldn’t make animals do that,” Spence said, his nose flaming red. “It’s abusive. The dogs want to be back in their own homes, sleeping in their dog beds.”
    They were all quiet a moment. Ms. Delores patted Zoe’s arm. “I’ll see that you meet my niece,” she said softly. “I’ll give you a call.” She raised her voice. “We’ll check out those books now, shall we, Spence?”
    “Hold out your arms,” Spence told Zoe when they were ready to leave. “I want this read by Monday.” He dropped a large tome into her arms. “With careful notes, please.”
    “Wait a minute,” she said, “I’ll need at last two weeks to read that. Boomer may strike at any time. It’ll be on your conscience if I’m just sitting around reading a book about old trains and somebody dies.”
    “If you want my help,” Spence said, looking her in the eye. “If you want to come with me and Dad to the Durango and Silverton…”
    “Okay,” she said. “Okay, I’ll read it. But give me a week at least. There’s a circus this weekend, too.”
    “It’s a bargain,” he said, and stuck out his hand.
    She slapped her hand against his and sighed.  “Two o’clock. That’s when you take over the watch today.  Unless Boomer goes off in his car before that—and I’ll call you. Then you can meet me by his basement door.”
    Before he could argue, she ran out of the library with the weighty Age of Steam. Maybe she could pay Kelby to read it. But no, she didn’t want Kelby along on the Durango and Silverton. Plaguing her the whole way? Pretending to leap into