Chapter Twenty Four:

Elouise waltzed down the platform, Laurie trailing behind with caution. They walked to the booth, she smiled at the man behind the counter, "When will route 25 come by, going north?"

The man scanned a sheet of paper, "You've got some time Miss, it should arrive in a half an hour."

"Thank you." She looked to Laurie, they continued down the platform.

"Where do you want to-"

"This is the platform you watched her get off of?"

He nodded, and Elouise knelt down and picked up a pebble that had gotten kicked onto the landing. She tossed it over the tracks, towards the forest that lined the other side. "Oh, I seemed to have dropped my keys!" She muttered to herself, a loud siren wailing. They looked to the other side, a train coming in their direction.

"Perfect." She smiled, nudging Laurie and pointing to the other side of the tracks. "Help me collect my key?"

"There's a train-"

Elouise leaped off the platform, running across the tracks to the other side where she began looking for her invisible key. When she looked back over, Laurie stood there with wide eyes.

"I need help!" She frowned, trying to look sad. "Oh, please, come help me!"

The train was coming fast, and Laurie leaped off and stumbled beside her. "Was that so hard?" She grabbed his arm and pulled him to the cover of the trees. She lead them just deep enough so they could see the station but hopefully nobody would spot them. "Do you think people are that foolish to believe—"

"The platform is crawling with men, and men are all foolish, dear Laurie."

"Are you saying—"

"Now we wait until our train arrives." She winked.

He stared at her, "I am not illegally hopping onto a train-"

"It's for Beth. It's for Jo, Meg and Amy and their mother." Elouise glared, "And for their father who is recovering from a war incident."

He paused, "If we get caught, El, I don't know what we will do."

"We will be fine, because you're a boy and you're the palest boy I've ever met." She told him, "Nobody gets angry with white boys."

He said nothing, just flopped to the ground and sat. Elouise sank down next to him, "Besides, we won't get caught."

"Promise me, on the way back, I will purchase two tickets and we can ride with Mrs March and Mr Brooke. Deal?"

Elouise pursed her lips, "I don't want—"

"My money, I know. Think of it as gift, and the fact that there is no way I am doing this again."

She smiled, sticking her hand out. "Deal."

They shook, binding the deal.

"Though, we still haven't gotten on the train yet, so, this isn't over."

Laurie blinked, "Oh yes, I've forgotten."

She looked around, the trees blocking the sun from shining down on them. If everything went smoothly, they should be back before the sun set or directly after. "You should trust me, Laurie. I would never do anything that would put you in harms way."

"This is putting us both in harms way."

She snorted, "By harms way I mean death, not getting arrested. Which we won't, if you only trust me."

"I do." He watched her pick at her nails again, he swatted her hand away and held onto it. "This is a bad habit."

"I only do it when I'm nervous."

"I used to bite my nails when I was little." He told her, "When I arrived at my grandfathers he made sure I broke the habit."

"And how did you break the habit?"

Laurie leaned back with a sad expression, "My mother made the most delicious cookies, I loved them so much whenever she would make them, I would eat almost the whole plate." He glanced at her, seeing that she was listening intently. Elouise had never heard him mention his family before, and was interested in hearing all the stories. "When I arrived at my grandfather's, he would follow the recipe and make those cookies. He made them himself, not anyone else. I watched him bake, and was amazed that he knew how. I knew it was to make me feel more at home, and it worked."

"I started biting my nails whenever I thought of my parents, that's how that became my nervous habit. So, whenever I was caught doing it, I was not allowed to have any of my mother's famous cookies. I lived off of those things for months until he realized it was not healthy. It worked though, for the most part."

"But you also grew up."

"I did." He watched her, "I miss those cookies."

Elouise smiled, "Perhaps if I get a peak at the recipe, we can make them?"

"I don't know how to bake."

"That's why you follow the recipe." She told him, "It tells you what to do."

Laurie nodded slowly, an amused look in his eyes. "I'll have to ask my grandfather about the recipe when we return. That's if, of course, we do not get taken into custody."