Servo 25:1
Servo 25:1
I crept along the dark rail yard in Broken Bow. Rory was a few inches behind. If I stopped abruptly, he’d run into me. We were searching for the eastbound train. Dad was hiding at the back of a trash dumpster not far away. I knew he was watching and listening. There wasn’t much activity in the yard, which led us to believe that maybe the train would not come through tonight. Our options were looking slim.“Jonah?” Rory whispered.“Yeah?”“Where’s the train?”“I dunno.”“Dad said it should be here, right?”“Yes…Maybe it’s late.”“Hope that’s the case.”“Yeah,” I replied, surveying the empty rails. There wasn’t so much as a box car in which we could hide. Things were not looking good. If we didn’t catch the train tonight, we’d have to figure out how to sneak back into the house. Unfortunately, Dad didn’t have a contingency plan for a failed operation.“Hey!” Rory said. “Do you hear that?”I closed my eyes and tuned my ears to the faint rumbling. It was so faint I couldn’t discern from which direction it was coming. We’d have to wait. “Come on, let’s get back to Dad.” I was hoping with his enhanced hearing that he’d be able to tell. We picked our way through the jumble of rails and converged upon the dumpster. “Dad?” I whispered.“Yes?”“Can you hear a train?”“Yes. It’s coming from the west.”“The right one?”“Should be,” he said, stepping from the dark into the dim glow of a lightbulb that hung under an overhang. With all his clothing on, he didn’t even shine. “I’m hoping it will stop.”“Why wouldn’t it?”He pointed. “No cars to pick up.”“How do we get on the train?” Rory asked.“We might have to make a run for it.”I looked Dad over. “Can you even run?”“Yes. I snuck out once or twice and practiced running in the field behind the house.”“Can you go fast?” Rory said, high-stepping his feet as if he was running.“I hope fast enough.”The sound of the train grew louder.“We need to get ready.” Dad searched for a good place for us to hide which was close to the tracks. “We wait for the engine and the first few cars to go by, and then we start watching for boxcars with open doors.”“What if the train doesn’t slow down?” I asked.“It has to slow down due to the road crossings.”Rory craned his neck. “Hope it’s a long train.”“Me too,” Dad said as he walked over to a large metal container that sat near the tracks. It was big enough to hide all of us. Despite the size of the rail yard, there was little in the way of cover. “We’ll wait here and see what happens. If I see a boxcar, be ready to run when I say so. Got it?”“Yes,” we replied in unison. I was so nervous my stomach ached. Could we pull this off? Would the train slow up enough for us? And would there be a boxcar open? If we made it, how would we keep from getting caught? I hated scenarios with too many variables. Several minutes went by and finally a glimmer of the train engine’s headlight. At first it was just a dim yellow glow in the distance, but as it neared, it became white with intensity. The rumbling grew louder and I could feel vibrations through the ground. Before we knew it, the train was upon us. The two engines roared by; deep reverberations from the massive diesel motors made it impossible to hear one another. I kept my eyes fixed on Dad. In the dark, his eyesight was far better than ours. He would see a boxcar coming hundreds of yards before we would. We had to trust his judgment implicitly. Car after car passed; most appeared to be the open-top variety used for carrying ore and coal. In the middle, several dark colored tanker cars followed by more ore cars. Would luck not be on our side tonight? Then Dad reached back and touched my leg. “Get ready, I see one.”I, in turn, put my hand back and gave Rory’s shirt a tug. “He sees one!”“Okay!”We waited impatiently until Dad signaled again. “GO!” he hollered and took off running.Rory and I wasted not one second. We burst from behind the container and bolted toward the open boxcar. The train didn’t seem to be slowing. My legs pumped as hard as they could and yet I failed to keep up. I glanced back and saw Rory lagging. Dad was sprinting along and had nearly caught the handrail on the car. I feared we would lose the train.The horn blew, indicating the train was approaching a crossing. To our absolute luck, it began to slow. Digging deep, I sucked in great breaths of air, forcing myself to catch up. Rory was fighting to keep near me. We watched Dad make a flying leap and catch the railing. I doubted I’d have such luck. “Come on!” he yelled, waving to us. “Dad!” I hollered, trying to hold a hand toward him.He reached out. Our hands were mere inches apart, yet refused to meet. “Faster, Jonah!”With everything I had, I willed my body to increase speed. I couldn’t tell if I was, everything seemed a blur. But moments later, I felt the cold metal grasp of Dad. He had me and he wasn’t letting go. I reached back and tried to grab Rory. “Give me your hand!”My little brother strained, his fingertips stretching toward me. In the dark, inches felt like miles. I wasn’t sure he was going to make it. That night, my brother showed more grit and determination than I’d ever seen. Sensing that he was losing us, he made a daring leap and caught my hand. I pulled up, trying to keep his feet from dragging the ground. Dad quickly remedied that by flinging us into the open door of the car. We landed in a heap. “Are you okay?” I asked, checking him over.Rory laughed. “Wow, that was fun!”Dad appeared in the doorway. “Everyone okay?”“Yes, we’re fine.”He closed the door most of the way and sat down next to us. “So, our adventure begins.”I dug around in my backpack and produced a small lantern. It was battery operated and I made sure I had plenty of extras. With a small turn of my wrist, the lamp illuminated the area around us. We were in a dark, dirty boxcar with just the clothes on our backs and some supplies. Yes, this was going to be quite the adventure. If we managed to make it to the Inner States, that would only be part of the odyssey we faced. There was another eight-hundred miles to New Philadelphia from Chicago. A journey of fifteen-hundred miles in which anything in the world could happen to us. My stomach still churned. Why did I agree with this crazy plan?An hour or two passed and I grew tired. We had no bedrolls, pillows, or even a blanket. Probably poor planning on mine and Rory’s part, but we figured it was only for a day or two, and the weather was warm. My eyelids felt like lead. We’d moved to the side of the car and Dad was sitting with his back against the wall. I removed a sweatshirt from my pack. The clackety-clack and gentle rolling of the train on the rails only hastened my desire for sleep. I regarded him with weary eyes and he motioned to me. “Come, use me as a pillow,” Dad said over the noise. Without further prodding, I sat next to him, shoved the thick garment against his shoulder, and curled up. He put his arm around me in a protective manner. With my lids firmly shut, I drifted off to slumber while the hulking metal beast headed to Chicago.
I crept along the dark rail yard in Broken Bow. Rory was a few inches behind. If I stopped abruptly, he’d run into me. We were searching for the eastbound train. Dad was hiding at the back of a trash dumpster not far away. I knew he was watching and listening. There wasn’t much activity in the yard, which led us to believe that maybe the train would not come through tonight. Our options were looking slim.“Jonah?” Rory whispered.“Yeah?”“Where’s the train?”“I dunno.”“Dad said it should be here, right?”“Yes…Maybe it’s late.”“Hope that’s the case.”“Yeah,” I replied, surveying the empty rails. There wasn’t so much as a box car in which we could hide. Things were not looking good. If we didn’t catch the train tonight, we’d have to figure out how to sneak back into the house. Unfortunately, Dad didn’t have a contingency plan for a failed operation.“Hey!” Rory said. “Do you hear that?”I closed my eyes and tuned my ears to the faint rumbling. It was so faint I couldn’t discern from which direction it was coming. We’d have to wait. “Come on, let’s get back to Dad.” I was hoping with his enhanced hearing that he’d be able to tell. We picked our way through the jumble of rails and converged upon the dumpster. “Dad?” I whispered.“Yes?”“Can you hear a train?”“Yes. It’s coming from the west.”“The right one?”“Should be,” he said, stepping from the dark into the dim glow of a lightbulb that hung under an overhang. With all his clothing on, he didn’t even shine. “I’m hoping it will stop.”“Why wouldn’t it?”He pointed. “No cars to pick up.”“How do we get on the train?” Rory asked.“We might have to make a run for it.”I looked Dad over. “Can you even run?”“Yes. I snuck out once or twice and practiced running in the field behind the house.”“Can you go fast?” Rory said, high-stepping his feet as if he was running.“I hope fast enough.”The sound of the train grew louder.“We need to get ready.” Dad searched for a good place for us to hide which was close to the tracks. “We wait for the engine and the first few cars to go by, and then we start watching for boxcars with open doors.”“What if the train doesn’t slow down?” I asked.“It has to slow down due to the road crossings.”Rory craned his neck. “Hope it’s a long train.”“Me too,” Dad said as he walked over to a large metal container that sat near the tracks. It was big enough to hide all of us. Despite the size of the rail yard, there was little in the way of cover. “We’ll wait here and see what happens. If I see a boxcar, be ready to run when I say so. Got it?”“Yes,” we replied in unison. I was so nervous my stomach ached. Could we pull this off? Would the train slow up enough for us? And would there be a boxcar open? If we made it, how would we keep from getting caught? I hated scenarios with too many variables. Several minutes went by and finally a glimmer of the train engine’s headlight. At first it was just a dim yellow glow in the distance, but as it neared, it became white with intensity. The rumbling grew louder and I could feel vibrations through the ground. Before we knew it, the train was upon us. The two engines roared by; deep reverberations from the massive diesel motors made it impossible to hear one another. I kept my eyes fixed on Dad. In the dark, his eyesight was far better than ours. He would see a boxcar coming hundreds of yards before we would. We had to trust his judgment implicitly. Car after car passed; most appeared to be the open-top variety used for carrying ore and coal. In the middle, several dark colored tanker cars followed by more ore cars. Would luck not be on our side tonight? Then Dad reached back and touched my leg. “Get ready, I see one.”I, in turn, put my hand back and gave Rory’s shirt a tug. “He sees one!”“Okay!”We waited impatiently until Dad signaled again. “GO!” he hollered and took off running.Rory and I wasted not one second. We burst from behind the container and bolted toward the open boxcar. The train didn’t seem to be slowing. My legs pumped as hard as they could and yet I failed to keep up. I glanced back and saw Rory lagging. Dad was sprinting along and had nearly caught the handrail on the car. I feared we would lose the train.The horn blew, indicating the train was approaching a crossing. To our absolute luck, it began to slow. Digging deep, I sucked in great breaths of air, forcing myself to catch up. Rory was fighting to keep near me. We watched Dad make a flying leap and catch the railing. I doubted I’d have such luck. “Come on!” he yelled, waving to us. “Dad!” I hollered, trying to hold a hand toward him.He reached out. Our hands were mere inches apart, yet refused to meet. “Faster, Jonah!”With everything I had, I willed my body to increase speed. I couldn’t tell if I was, everything seemed a blur. But moments later, I felt the cold metal grasp of Dad. He had me and he wasn’t letting go. I reached back and tried to grab Rory. “Give me your hand!”My little brother strained, his fingertips stretching toward me. In the dark, inches felt like miles. I wasn’t sure he was going to make it. That night, my brother showed more grit and determination than I’d ever seen. Sensing that he was losing us, he made a daring leap and caught my hand. I pulled up, trying to keep his feet from dragging the ground. Dad quickly remedied that by flinging us into the open door of the car. We landed in a heap. “Are you okay?” I asked, checking him over.Rory laughed. “Wow, that was fun!”Dad appeared in the doorway. “Everyone okay?”“Yes, we’re fine.”He closed the door most of the way and sat down next to us. “So, our adventure begins.”I dug around in my backpack and produced a small lantern. It was battery operated and I made sure I had plenty of extras. With a small turn of my wrist, the lamp illuminated the area around us. We were in a dark, dirty boxcar with just the clothes on our backs and some supplies. Yes, this was going to be quite the adventure. If we managed to make it to the Inner States, that would only be part of the odyssey we faced. There was another eight-hundred miles to New Philadelphia from Chicago. A journey of fifteen-hundred miles in which anything in the world could happen to us. My stomach still churned. Why did I agree with this crazy plan?An hour or two passed and I grew tired. We had no bedrolls, pillows, or even a blanket. Probably poor planning on mine and Rory’s part, but we figured it was only for a day or two, and the weather was warm. My eyelids felt like lead. We’d moved to the side of the car and Dad was sitting with his back against the wall. I removed a sweatshirt from my pack. The clackety-clack and gentle rolling of the train on the rails only hastened my desire for sleep. I regarded him with weary eyes and he motioned to me. “Come, use me as a pillow,” Dad said over the noise. Without further prodding, I sat next to him, shoved the thick garment against his shoulder, and curled up. He put his arm around me in a protective manner. With my lids firmly shut, I drifted off to slumber while the hulking metal beast headed to Chicago.
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