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princess. To this day, I don't know why he did it. But I know I'll always love him."
"Joe?" Holly whispered, but he was asleep. His head bobbed as the train rumbled
along, but his eyes didn't open. With her soft, droning voice, she had stopped him when
all the Rajah's agents couldn't.
Holly smiled and peered out the door of the boxcar. The train slowed as it neared a
railroad yard. They weren't in Bayport, she knew, but they were close enough. . It was
another of the look-alike, semi-industrial, semi rural towns that dotted the banks of the
Hudson River. The sweet country smell of the upstate air had been replaced by the odor
of sulfur and exhaust.
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Holly had hoped she would never see a city again, but there she was.
Joe mumbled, startling her. She watched him carefully to make sure he was still asleep.
He murmured something else and rolled onto his side.
Holly studied the empty car, as she had studied it every minute of the long trip. There
was nothing in it but Joe and her. She chewed on her lip.
There's got to be something here I can use, she thought.
Her eyes lit up, and she moved quickly to one of the doors. It slid shut easily, and
much more quietly than she expected. On the door was a metal bar, a support used to
keep the door closed.
She grabbed the bar and twisted it. It refused to come loose.
Joe rolled onto his stomach.
The train was pulling to a stop. Holly knew the jolt of that final stop would jar Joe awake.
She had to work fast.
But the metal bar wouldn't cooperate. Holly braced hers lf against the door and twisted
again.
The bar moved slightly. It was old, and the bolts holding it to the door were loose.
She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and wedged her hip between the door and the
bar. Holding the bar in place with her hands, she threw her weight against the bar. The
wood of the door cracked, then splintered.
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Joe grumbled at the noise and shook his head, but his eyes stayed closed.
At that moment, the bar broke off in Holly's hands. Catching her breath, she stood over
Joe and with both hands raised the bar high over her head. "Goodbye, Joe," she said.
With all her might, she swung the bar down.
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Chapter 12
SOMETHING WRAPPED AROUND Holly's ankle and shoved it forward. As she fell back,
she tried to scream, but a rough hand clapped over her mouth. The stench of rot filled her
nostrils, making her sick. Her arms flapped wildly as she fell, and the iron bar flew from
her hand and clattered across the boxcar floor.
Joe shot up. The train lurched to a halt.
Cops, he thought as he saw the two men in the doorway. Train yards hired private
guards to keep people off the freight trains. But the men he saw were ragged and
unshaven. They looked as if they hadn't slept indoors or eaten in days. Bums, he realized.
One of them dragged Holly from the car as the other came inside and picked up the iron
bar.
"Money," he said to Joe, and patted the bar
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against his palm. The bum spoke in a flat, dull voice. His eyes were dull, too, glazed over
by hunger and hate. There was no reason or hope left in him.
Joe didn't move or speak.
"Money!" the bum repeated. He smashed the bar to the floor. Bits of wood flew up
from the blow. Joe held his ground.
With a shout, the bum lunged at Joe and swung the iron bar. Joe rolled aside as the bar
smashed the floor again. Balancing on his hands, Joe swung his feet around and kicked at
the back of the bum's knees. The bum toppled forward.
He caught himself on the iron bar. Without thinking, he flung the bar at Joe, dancing
on one foot for a moment, trying to regain his balance. Then his feet spun out from under
him, and he flopped like a rag doll onto the floor. A tiny groan sputtered from his lips.
Joe kicked the iron bar out of the car and leaped after it.
Half a car away, Holly wrestled with the other bum, trying to drive him away. It was
no use. The bum was much stronger than she was. She dug her fingernails into- his
cheeks, but the expression in the bum's eyes didn't change. Like the guy in the boxcar, he
was beyond pain.
Joe grabbed his shoulder, spun him around, and landed his fist as hard as he could in
the bum's belly. The bum doubled over and clutched
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his stomach. Something woke in his dead eyes, and he growled from his gut.
The bum straightened up as best as he could and threw a punch at Joe. Joe easily
sidestepped it and brought both fists down onto the bum's back. The bum sat down
suddenly, whining and crying. Joe watched him carefully for a long moment, but the fight
had gone out of the bum. He probably doesn't even remember it, Joe realized, and he
turned his attention to Holly.
She was kneeling on the ground, shivering with horror. Joe put his hands on her
shoulders to help her up, but she wriggled out of his grasp.
"I'm all right," Holly said. "Thanks for helping."
"Those bums won't bother us again," Joe replied. He glanced around the train yard.
"There doesn't seem to be anyone else here. Any idea where we are?" She shrugged.
"Come on, then," Joe continued, and walked alongside the train.
A head bobbed through the space between two cars. Joe flattened himself against the
side of the train, signaling to Holly to do the same. The footsteps on the other side of the
train passed by and faded into the distance.
"Let's get out of here," Joe said. He grabbed Holly's hand and pulled her into a run,
they sprinted as fast as they could along the row of boxcars.
A whistle pierced the air, and rapid footsteps
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began moving toward them. Joe glanced over his shoulder. No one was there, but he
could hear more footsteps moving quickly in their direction. They're running alongside
the other trains, Joe thought. That's why I can't see them.
He concentrated, sorting out the footsteps. At least six men were after them. From the
sound of it, there are four on our left side and two on our right. He might be able to take
the two men by himself, but not before the others caught up. There was nowhere to go
but forward.
Ahead, he could see the open field beyond the train yard. All they had to do was reach
it and climb over the barbed-wire fence surrounding the yard and they were safe. Only a
few more steps, he told himself. Just a few more steps.
A bald man with a baseball bat stepped out from behind the caboose and blocked their
path.
"We've been waiting for you, boy," he said with a toothless grin. He passed the bat
back and forth from hand to hand. "A guy upstate alerted the yard crews all up and down
the river that you were on this train, and he's offering a lot of money to get you back."
"Sheriff Keller," Holly gasped. "He's doing this for the Rajah." She slowed to a fast
walk. "We can't make it."
"Keep running," Joe ordered. He lowered his head and butted into the man before he
could swing the bat. Then he straightened up suddenly, flipping the man over his
shoulder.
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Holly froze in her tracks. A group of burly men rounded the next train and whooped at
her. She whirled around. "Joe!" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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