Her name was Penelope Warrender, but she was always called Penny. Sometimes Jonathan, her cousin, called her "Newpenny" because of the colour of her hair, and now he was grinning down at her in the superior way which always infuriated her.

"What are you going to do, you idiot?" Penny was storming at him. "It's no use standing there grinning when you've left the tickets behind. And you haven't got enough money to buy any more. You know you haven't, Jon... If you'd got any sense at all you'd go now and ask a policeman or someone to lend you the money."

Her cousin hunched up the knapsack on his back and ran his fingers through his tousled hair. He was four inches taller than Penny and just sixteen. Never, under any circumstances, could Jon look tidy. Always his wrists seemed longer than his sleeves and his trousers too short. His tie, when he remembered to put it on, was often adrift from his collar and his rather heavy glasses inclined to hide the intelligence of his eyes.

"I did not say I'd left the tickets at home," he explained carefully. "I said that I wouldn't much mind if I had because I could spend a very pleasant hour or so here inspecting these engines."

Jon felt in his pocket, produced two green tickets, heaved up his cousin's suitcase and joined the queue passing through the barrier.

"We've absolutely got to get a carriage to ourselves, Jon," she said. "We can't start off an adventure like this with anybody else. When we find an empty one I'll pretend to have whooping cough if you like, and you can keep everyone at bay from the window. That generally works, doesn't it? Or would you rather be the whooper? I don't care really, but I'm pretty good. I did it last term once on the way to a match... Look! Here's an empty one... No, it isn't. That's no good. Two kids and their grandmother just come in from the corridor... Come on, Jon! Do buck up. I can't think why everyone wants to travel today..." and she chatted on while Jon pursued his leisurely way up the platform.

Jon was quite used to her breathless, impetuous ways, for the cousins stayed together in the holidays. Penny's parents were in India, and she had not seen them for some years, and Mrs. Warrender, her aunt, was almost nearer to her than her own mother. And she had worshipped her uncle, who had been killed in the war.

The suitcase was heavy, so Jon put it down for a moment to rest, while Penny dodged round the refreshment trolley and hurried ahead.

Suddenly Penny called:

"Hi, Jon! Buck up! I've got one!" And there she was almost as far as the engine and waving wildly.