"Jana!" Lucy cried impatiently, thumping her sister's head on the seat, "Wake up! We're here!"
"Wait, we're here?! Where is 'here'?" Jana murmured groggily.
"South Park City, right, Baba?!" She glanced a Baba who nodded, still reading her book.
"Uncle Philip," Lucy cried, "We're here right!?"
"No. What were you thinking?"
"But you said..."
"No! I was being sarcastic!" Now Jana was awake. She knew all about sarcasm from school when it had once been the word of the day. Lucy leaned forward nervously as Jana picked up Sprouts and kissed his head.
"What do you mean?" Lucy was practically crying.
Exasperated, Jana elbowed Lucy, "Don't you remember when the word of the day was 'sarcastic' or was it 'sarcasm'? No, I think it was 'sarcastic'. 'Sarcasm' seems right though-"
Baba cut her off, "Jana! Just get to the point."
"Well, Uncle Philip was just being sarcastic. Except for the train, there are no signs of civilization."
"103 more miles to Denver!" Uncle Philip bellowed.
Lucy looked up, "How many miles from Denver to South Park City?"
"Well, let me think..." Uncle Philip stared at the ceiling for a moment.
Jana pulled out her brochure, "85.3 miles, 1 h 36 minutes! Unless," she said mischievously, "You want to walk. Following the railroad track, it would be about 30 hours, 85.4 miles."
"85.3 miles, 1 h 36 minutes!" Uncle Philip cried triumphantly, "1,003.1 miles from Chicago to Denver. Making..."
"1,083.9 miles, 15 hours, 27 minutes total," Jana said quietly.
"By golly, you're right!"
"Um, Uncle Philip," Lucy pulled his sleeve, "She has a brochure right in front of her!!"
"By golly, you're right! 92 miles 'till Denver, Colorado!"
YOU ARE READING
A New Life
Historical FictionThe lovely green silk was now fairly dusty from the train ride, a bit muddy from a puddle in front of their house, and the matching shawl was ripped on the door hinge at the mayor's house. Jana bit her lip, why had she been so careless? ~ 10-year-ol...
