The Little Cheeseboy

Chapter 2

Isabel and her father rode the old streets of Akron once more until they reached a small house on top of a hill. Isabel looked at the old tiny peppermint-painted house with crooked windows as her father made Cherry stop in order to get off the wagon. 

"This is your friend's home?" Isabel asked curiously. 

"Yes this is it," Mr. Jones said getting off the wagon. Mr. Jones knocked on his friend's home two times until a young man with a gray beard around his late twenties opened the door with a smile. 

"Hi David I was expecting you today," he said with a smile. 

"Hello Martin this is my daughter Isabel," Mr. Jones said smiling in return. 

"Oh so this is Isabel your father has told me a lot about you and you look a lot like your mother as well," he said smiling at Isabel.

 "Nice to meet you, sir," Isabel said trying to be polite. 

"You can call me Martin, now how about you too come in while I find my car keys," he said forwarding both Isabel and Mr. Jones in. 

The inside of Martin's home was simple but better looking than the cabin Isabel and Mr. Jones lived in. His old-fashioned furniture and clocks in the walls took Isabel into some amazement as she examined the simple yet comfortable home. 

"I know you two must be in a hurry but sit down a bit while I go fetch the car keys," Martin said going through a small corridor. 

Isabel couldn't help but wonder if it was a good idea to do this and if this was really worth just seeing the city through a car's glass window. 

Finally, Martin came back with a pair of rusty keys and a lunch bag. 

"The car is in the backyard and I also thought I'd help you out with these sandwiches just for the trip," he said handing Mr. Jones the keys and bag.

 "Thank you, Martin, I owe you one," Mr. Jones said smiling.

 "Don't sweat it, David, just go before you miss your train," Martin said with a wink. 

"Alright then let's go, Isabel," Mr. Jones said before he and his daughter went to the backyard.

Martin's Cadillac 16was new, how he bought it? Well only, he and God know how but it made Isabel very excited. 

Mr. Jones and Isabel got in the car and started the car which ran smoothly and the tires began to move nicely on the road. It had been around an hour until Isabel got to see the lights of the Cleveland began to glow and the ocean sparkled as the sunset kissed its waters. Isabel looked in awe as the lights and still busy people walked around the streets of the vivid city. The depression wasn't that bad in these parts of Ohio apparently, which meant the city still thrived a little giving in for this still traveling circus. 

After the short drive, Mr. Jones parked Martin's car in a parking lot close to Cleveland Amtrak then got off while looking at his watch making sure that they were in time for the train. It was currently seven-thirty and the train arrived in five more minutes. 

Mr. Jones and Isabel waited for a little until their train arrived, as their train arrived Isabel noticed some odd-looking people getting on her same train. She raised a brow before her father tapped her shoulder telling her to get on the train. Isabel's nostrils filled with the smell of burning coal and fire as the train moved to its destination. 

The train's steam could be heard from inside the train as its metal doors creaked and her hands clenched onto the wooden and carpeted seat. Isabel looked at the odd and weirdly dressed people who laughed and chatted at the rear end of the train. She looked curiously as they played card games and ran their fingers through their own colorful hair. '

Clowns maybe?' Isabel had only seen clowns in black and white on her father's old newspapers so she didn't really know what to make of them. 

Isabel put her face against the cold window looking at the reflection of her blue eyes as the train continued to move towards its destination. After what seemed a long time the train stopped in its tracks to their designated station.

 Isabel woke up from the deep sleep she had been in after leaning into the window. Her head felt a bit sore as she rubbed the back of it and yawned as a reflex, she looked outside at the new station which looked older than the previous one. She also saw the clowns get off, a total of four, a girl around eighteen and a teenage boy along with an older man around his forties and a young boy who looked around six years old. 

Isabel looked at them curiously as they got off and made their way into what looked to be a small yellow car with polka dots on it as colorful as them. Isabel then looked at her father who was also asleep and shook him a bit and told him it was time to go. Mr. Jones yawned too and then stretched his legs before getting off the train and Isabel following him. 

'SouthHarbor Station,' Isabel read on the old rusty sign.