“What’s on those cars?” Chris was whispering so softly Jim could barely hear.
“You know what they are,” Jim responded. “It’s finally come.”
A cool breeze swooped in from the east, rustling the weed tops. The
chooga-chooga of the train’s mighty engine thumped hard as it slowly passed, filling the boys with a trepidation neither had ever experienced.
“What time is it?” Chris slunk lower on his haunches. If whatever was on that train saw them, he thought, the consequences would be terrible.
“Almost two.”
“We have to tell mom and dad.” Chris made to get up but Jim caught him by his arm.
“Stay down, man, you’ll get us caught. We can’t tell mom and dad, anyhow; we were supposed to be in bed hours ago. They’ll hide us if they find out we were here.”
Understanding crept over Chris’s face like a twilight shadow over rooftops. “What do we do, then?”
Suddenly, the squealing of brakes filled the night air. The massive steel hulk was slowing, its engine whirring to an idle. It blew no whistle.
“We run.
Now.”