The Railway Children

By E. Nesbit

Chapter I. The Beginning of Things

At first, they were not railway children.
They did not think much about trains.
Trains just took them to fun places.
Like the zoo. Or the toy museum.

They were three ordinary children.
They lived with their Mother and Father.
Their house was a nice red house.
It had pretty glass in the door.
It had a bathroom with hot water.
It had lights that worked with a button.

Roberta was the oldest child.
Peter came next. He wanted to be an engineer.
Phyllis was the youngest. She tried hard to be good.

Mother did not go out much.
She liked to stay home with her children.
She played with them every day.
She read to them and helped with school work.
She wrote them stories too.
She made funny poems for special days.

The children had everything they needed.
Nice clothes. Warm fires. Lots of toys.
They had a kind nursemaid.
They had a dog named James.
And they had a wonderful Father.
He was never cross. He loved to play.

You might think they were very happy.
And they were!
But they did not know how happy.
Not until their happy life changed.

The bad change came very fast.

Peter had a birthday. He turned ten.
He got a toy engine. It was a wonderful engine.
For three days, it was perfect.
Then—bang! It broke.

Nobody knew exactly why.
Maybe Peter did something wrong.
Maybe Phyllis tried to help too much.
The little toy animals inside were smashed.
Poor Peter felt very sad.
He said his eyes were red from a cold.

That part turned out to be true.
The next day, Peter got sick.
He had to stay in bed.
Mother worried he might have measles.

Then Peter sat up and said,
"I don't want soup or milk.
I want real food.
I want pigeon pie. A big one!"

So Mother had the cook make a pigeon pie.
Peter ate some. He felt better.

While they waited for the pie,
Mother made up a funny poem about Peter.
It told how his engine broke.
It told how sad he was.
It said pigeon pie could fix his sad heart.

Father had been away for a few days.
Peter hoped Father could fix the engine.
Father was very good at fixing things.
He had fixed the rocking horse before.
He had fixed the doll's bed too.
He had fixed the toy animals with glue.

Peter waited to tell Father about the engine.
He waited until after dinner.
That was Mother's idea. It took patience!

Finally, Mother said,
"We have a broken engine to show you."

Father looked at the engine carefully.
"Hmm," he said.

The children held their breath.

"Can we fix it?" asked Peter softly.

"Of course!" said Father.
"It needs some new parts.
Let's fix it together on Saturday."

"Can girls help fix engines?" asked Peter.

"Of course they can!" said Father.
"Girls are just as smart as boys.
Never forget that."

He asked Phyllis if she wanted to drive trains someday.
"My face would get dirty," she said.
"I might break something."

Roberta said, "I would love that job!
Could I even be a train driver, Daddy?"

"We'll see," said Father, smiling.
"When I was a boy—"

Just then, someone knocked at the door.

Two men wanted to talk to Father.
Ruth, the maid, showed them to the library.

"Probably about money for the church," said Mother.
"Get rid of them quickly, dear.
It's almost bedtime."

But Father talked to the men for a long time.
The children could hear his voice.
It sounded different. Louder. Serious.

Mother tried to tell them a fairy story.
But everyone kept listening to Father's voice.

Then a bell rang in the library.
"They must be leaving now," said Phyllis.

But Ruth came in looking worried.

"The Master wants you," she told Mother.
"He looks very upset.
Maybe it's bad news."

"That's enough, Ruth," said Mother gently.
"You may go."

Mother went to the library.
More talking happened.
Then the bell rang again.
Ruth called for a cab.
The children heard boots leaving.
The cab drove away.
The front door shut.

Mother came back.
Her face was very pale.
Her eyes looked big.
Her lips looked thin and strange.

"Time for bed," she said.

"But Father just got home!" said Phyllis.
"We were going to stay up late."

"Father had to go away.
For business," said Mother.
"Go to bed now, my darlings."

They kissed her and went upstairs.
Roberta stayed back for one more hug.

"Is it bad news, Mother?" she whispered.
"Did someone die?"

"No one died," said Mother.
"I can't tell you more tonight.
Please go now, dear."

So Roberta went.

Ruth helped the girls get ready for bed.
Usually Mother did this herself.
Not tonight.

Peter was waiting on the stairs.
"What is going on?" he asked Ruth.

"Don't ask me," said Ruth.
"You'll find out soon enough."

That night, Mother came to kiss them.
They were all sleeping—except Roberta.
She lay very still and quiet.
She heard Mother crying softly.

Roberta thought to herself,
"If Mother wants to hide her tears,
then I won't let her know I heard.
That's what I'll do."

The next morning, Mother was already gone.

"She went to London," Ruth told them.
Then Ruth left them to eat breakfast.

"Something is very wrong," said Peter.
"Ruth said we'd find out soon."

"Did you ask her?" said Roberta, a bit cross.

"Yes, I did!" said Peter.
"I care about Mother, even if you don't!"

"I don't think we should ask the maid things," said Roberta.
"Mother should tell us herself."

"Oh, be quiet, Miss Perfect," said Peter...