[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
happened to him. Those sure were the days."
He reached out the driver's window, grabbed the canvas, and pulled it back over the
hood until it was all inside the car. The Jeep whipped between and around trees as if it
were a dirt bike. It bounced over rocks and ditches. It was evident that nothing fazed
Rosie, and he would stop for nothing. .
"So what's your story?" Rosie asked. "Run a stoplight in Keller's county?"
"It's a little more complicated than that," Joe said. "We rescued Holly from a commune
this evening."
Rosie cocked an eyebrow, and his face filled with a new respect for the Hardy boys.
"The Rajah's spread, huh? Mean guys up there. They took some shots at me once just for
hunting within a hundred feet of the place." He leaned over to Joe and winked. "I had to
crack a few skulls over that one."
Then he straightened up, tilting his head back to talk to Frank and Holly. "How'd you
get hooked up with that mob, missy?"
"You're mistaken," Holly said. She suddenly sounded cross. "The Rajah doesn't
believe in guns. He'd throw anyone using them out of the commune. "
"Wise up, Holly," Joe said in disgust. "Those
82
guys took shots at me, and someone killed Vivasvat. They didn't do that with prayer."
"Joe," warned Frank.
"Get real, Frank," Joe shot back. "She sounds like she still believes in that creep."
"I don't!" she insisted. Tears welled up in her eyes. "I just want to go home! I just want
to go home. . . ."
She buried her face in Frank's shoulder and sobbed. He slipped a comforting arm
around her; softly smoothing her hair.
"Look what you've done," he scolded Joe. "Hasn't she been through enough?"
Joe scowled, but Rosie just grinned. If he had heard the conversation, he showed no
sign of it.
Steering the Jeep through the trees, he was lost in the fantasy world of his memories,
dreaming of a life that had vanished more than a decade before.
"Thanks for getting us out of there, Rosie," Frank finally said. "I'm sorry you ll get into
trouble for it."
"What?" Rosie drifted out of the daydream. "Oh, don't you worry about that. Keller
never saw you in my place, and there's no evidence you were even there. If they shot up
my cabin enough, I'll even get some money from the county out of this."
"How long before we hit the highway?" Joe asked.
Rosie laughed. "You don't know much about
83
being on the run, partner. The cops'll be allover the highway, waiting for you. You'll
never get where you're going that way. You're getting out right about here."
Joe peered into the night. The woods had thinned into meadow, but they were still in
the mountains. There were no signs of civilization there. "There's a road around here
somewhere, right?" Joe asked.
"Nope," Rosie said. "Better." The Jeep screeched to a stop at the edge of a sloping
cliff. "Look down there."
Joe climbed out of the Jeep and stared down the cliff. Far below was a rushing torrent
of water-a river. But Rosie was wrong. It was too far below. There was no way to reach"
the river, and no way to travel on it if they did.
Rosie had led them to a dead end. Frustrated, Joe kicked a stone down the cliff side and
listened to it roll. It hit something flat, bounced twice and rang as it bounced, then rolled
the rest of the way and splashed into the water.
It rang! Joe thought excitedly. But it's stone. There's something else down there,
something metal. He squinted. Partway down, almost hidden in the darkness, ran a set of
train tracks.
"Where do they go?" Joe called.
The others left the Jeep and joined him. Holly's eyes widened in horror. "You don't
expect us to walk back to Bayport, do you?"
"If you want, sure," Rosie said with a chuckle.
84
"Or we could wait for a train, couldn't we?" Frank said. "These would be cargo train
tracks, since no passenger trains come through here. The train would slow down around
this bend, to avoid throwing itself into the river. If it's going slowly enough, we should be
able to hop on with ease."
He turned to Rosie, whose mouth dangled open with surprise, "That's why you brought
us to this particular spot, isn't it?"
Rosie smiled cunningly. "You're pretty smart, all right. Except I bet you don't know
when the next train's coming by."
"Nope," said Joe. "When?"
From the distance came a faint rumbling and the ground began to quiver.
"In about two minutes," Rosie said, laughing. "Come on!" Frank shouted, grabbing
Holly's hand. "We've got to get down to the tracks.
Quick!" They scrambled down the slope, sliding instead of staying on their feet. "Thanks
again,"
Frank called to Rosie.
Anytime, sport," Rosie called back. "If you're ever in these parts . . .
His words were cut off by the roar of the train. It rumbled toward them, slowing as it
hit the curve. They threw themselves again t the hill as the train drew near.
Then it was passing them. Frank tried to yell orders, but the noise drowned his words.
He strained his eyes, looking for the right boxcar to jump. Two cars filled with cattle
passed, followed
85
by cars full of coal and corn. Then he saw what he was looking for. .
Coming up was an open, empty boxcar.
He grabbed Holly's wrist again and pulled her along. From the corner of his eye, he
could see Joe on the move already, heading along the tracks the other way.
Nimbly Joe grabbed the handles on the side of the empty car as it eased past him, He
was in his element, moving the way he had learned in the gym, pulling himself up the
row of handles the way he would pull himself up a rope. It was child's play for him. With
the grace of a trained gymnast, he swung from the handles through the open door. He was
inside.
As the boxcar caught up to Frank and Holly and pulled past them, Joe held the frame of
the door and stretched his arm out. Holly's fingers touched his and slid off.
"I can't do it!" she cried. "I can't! I can't!" She stopped, clenching her fists. She started
to curl up like a child.
Frank clutched her around the waist and lifted her into the air. Without pausing to
think, he tossed her bodily into the boxcar. She smacked the floor and rolled across it,
dazed.
The boxcar moved on, leaving Frank running beside the train.
Joe howled and leaned out of the car again, hoping to give Frank a hold it was no use.
Frank stopped running and tried to catch his breath.
86
Throwing Holly aboard had used up the last of his strength. It was too long since he had
slept.
Moments later, the last car in the train, a caboose, pulled alongside him. It's now or
never, he thought, gritting his teeth. He took a deep breath and leaped. His hand caught
the back steps of the train.
Gasping for breath, he pulled himself aboard and collapsed on the caboose's back
platform. No one else was aboard the caboose. It was being used for storage, with big
sacks of grain piled inside.
Frank leaned out over the edge of the platform and looked along the train. He could see
Joe in the open car, smiling and waving. At last they were safe. They could rest.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]