CHAPTER 10
Mother left an hour later to pick up her friend Diane and go on to the movies. Diane was from England and had worked for the London branch of High Tech Electronics. Lynda was glad the two had become friends. She hoped Diane would encourage Mother to buy some elegant new clothes. Diane always looked great! She was also searching for a house in their neighborhood. It seemed that many of their neighbors were from different cultures.
But it was time for the sisters to get ready to go. Lynda yelled, “What time is it, somebody?
Sinda replied, “I dunno,” while reaching into the cookie jar. She was more interested in the cookies than the time.
Cheri said, “For Pete’s sake, Sinda, the clock is by the stove. Would you look?”
Sinda looked, “It’s almost 8:30.”
“Let’s get a move on,” said Lynda. “Get your stuff.”
She decided to leave a note for Mother. It just wouldn’t do to keep the truth from Mother any longer. The note explained about Fair Park, Sinda’s kidnapping, and the meeting at High Tech Electronics at 10:00. She left the note under a magnet on the refrigerator door.
Lynda went looking for the flashlights while Cheri went to her room to get her portable mini-tape recorder. Lynda knew they would be in a darkened building that night and Cheri thought the recorder would come in handy if they could get close enough to the bad guys. Sinda wanted to take something useful also and settled on a chocolate candy bar.
The girls decided to take the Dart over to High Tech Electronics. Dart was the Dallas Area Rapid Transit, the bus system in the Metroplex. There was a bus coming at 9:00 to the Park & Drive location at Main and Greenville. If they walked fast, they could make it in twenty minutes.
“Come on, Sinda. Step on it or we’ll miss the Dart!” said Cheri as she tucked her tape recorder into her backpack along with extra batteries. She chose to wear her black-rimmed glasses since this was night surveillance.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” said Sinda as she tucked her candy bar into the front pocket of her jean overalls. Sinda hadn’t combed her hair today and the hair in her braids looked like chaffs of wheat sprouting from the stem.
“What are you two taking?” questioned Lynda. “Sinda, what are you taking a candy bar for? It’ll probably melt before you eat it!”
“No, it won’t. It will keep us from starving if we get stuck somewhere.”
“Okay, I don’t have time to argue. Let’s go.” Lynda’s face was set in determination. She handed Cheri a flashlight which she put in her back pocket. Lynda tucked two more flashlights into the pockets of her jacket. She would give Sinda hers later.
On the way to the bus stop, the girls discussed what they would do once they arrived at the office. The girls walked down to the corner just in time to make the bus. It was a long ride to High Tech Electronics and there were several stops.
At one stop, Lynda’s school principal got on. He sat down in the front and didn’t notice the girls who were sitting close to the back. Once he was seated, the girls could see the top of his head. Cheri wondered why he combed those four long hairs all the way over to the other side of his head. Maybe he thought it made him look like he still had hair.
“What in the world is he doing here?” Lynda whispered to Cheri. “He told us that he just bought a new van this year. Why would he need to take the Dart?”
Cheri frowned, “It does look kinda suspicious. Maybe we should follow him.”
Just then the bus stopped and the principal got off. The girls watched him meet a woman they didn’t recognize.
“What do you suppose that’s about?” said Lynda.
“I think we should investigate. He was there at Career Day and could be involved with the burglary. What do you think, Lynda?” asked Cheri.
Lynda looked at her watch. “It’s already 9:30 and we have to be at High Tech Electronics before 10:00 to see who’s meeting there. We don’t have time to follow him.”
Both girls watched him walk with the woman as the bus departed. Sinda unwrapped her candy bar.
“What are you eating that now for?” Cheri grimaced. “We’re barely away from home and you’re going to get it all over yourself.”
“Yes, Sinda,” Lynda began, “You could have waited until...”
Suddenly, the bus lurched to the right and then to the left. All the passengers on the bus were thrown from one side to the other. Screaming, many of them landed in a heap in the aisle. When the bus finally stopped, several people began to complain about broken and bruised body parts.
“Sinda, where are you?” Lynda looked around for her youngest sister. “I’m over here and I hurt my elbow!” whined Sinda.
“Cheri, are you OK? I wonder what happened to the bus.”
Cheri had landed close to Sinda and began to check for damage.
“I’m okay but geez! Sinda jammed her candy bar into my stomach and now I have chocolate all over my favorite sweater!” Cheri was ready to smack her little sister.
“”Come on, girls! We’ve got to get out of here and walk the rest of the way to Mother’s company.”
People began to file slowly off the bus. The driver checked out the source of the problem and discovered he had blown a tire. He called the dispatch on his walkie-talkie to send another bus for the passengers.
“Boy, remind me to take a taxi next time!” Cheri remarked.