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free and safe.
"And I knew I was home.
"I spent the night in the Rajah's center in Manhattan. The next morning, a
Rolls-Royce arrived-for me. It was the Rajah's, too. He was there to escort me
personally to the commune. The others said that marked me as a special
follower, and I was. I knew I was.
"For the first time in my life, I felt special and loved. The Rajah treated me
like a 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 The sweet country smell of the upstate air had been replaced by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
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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.
95
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
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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 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]