The Moffats (6 page)

But Rufus, along with several others who had older brothers and sisters at school, knew more of what was expected of you. And he knew that Hughie shouldn't have left until the teacher said to leave. What would that man with the loud voice say? He had told Rufus to see to it that Hughie came to school. True, Hughie had come to school. But now he'd left. Did that big man mean that he was supposed to see to it that Hughie stayed in school, too? He supposed he did—but where had Hughie gone anyway?

At this moment the bell rang for recess. The teacher carefully explained that recess meant they were all to go out and play in the school yard. It did not mean that they should go home. And after a while the bell would ring

again. When it did, they were all to come back to Room One. That's what Miss Andrews said.

"Class, stand," she said.

The class stood up. Then they all had to sit down again because they all hadn't stood up together.

"Class, stand," said Miss Andrews again.

This time they all stood up the way she wanted them to. Rufus stood in the aisle by the window. He looked out, for he heard a train. The train whizzed past.

"Class, march," said the teacher.

But Rufus was so absorbed with something else he saw down by the railroad tracks that he forgot to march and the boy in back stepped on his heels.

The class had to go back to its seats and again the teacher said, "Class, march!"

This time Rufus marched right past the desks, out the door, down the steps, and into the school yard with his classmates. But he didn't stop there. He kept right on marching out the school yard gate and across Wood Street to the railroad tracks, for what he had seen up there from the classroom window was Hughie Pudge climbing into a freight car stopped on a side track.

It wasn't easy, what Rufus was going to do, because Mama had warned all the Moffats never to go onto the railroad tracks. But that important man had told Rufus he must see to it that Hughie came to school. He hoped Mama would understand. He would be very careful. Besides, the freight car he had seen Hughie climb into wasn't

on the regular tracks. It was on the side track and would be quite safe. Maybe it was an old thing they weren't going to use again, this freight car.

Rufus climbed up. Panting, he looked around. Sure enough! There he was, that Hughie, sitting on a crate in the corner. When he saw Rufus, he stuck out his lower lip and glowered.

"No, I'm not going back," he said.

"Aw, come on," said Rufus impatiently.

"No," said Hughie.

Rufus sat down in another corner and regarded Hughie with a mixture of admiration and contempt.

"What are you goin' to do here?" he finally asked.

"Watch the trains—maybe take one," replied Hughie.

"Are you goin' to watch the trains forever?"

"Well, maybe until it's dark, anyway."

Rufus glared at him. From across the street he could hear the boys and girls shouting and playing in the school yard. Soon the bell would ring and recess would be over. He didn't know what to do. Should he go back without Hughie? Or should he stay here with him and try to make him change his mind? Of course if he stayed here with Hughie, he might miss something very important in school. Everyone would get ahead of him. They might start reading in the shiny book.

"Don't you like the shiny book?" he asked Hughie.

Hughie merely shrugged his shoulders. In sudden exasperation Rufus jumped up and yanked Hughie off the crate. But Hughie fought back and yelled so loudly everyone in school would have heard him if an engine hadn't come chugging along—

Choo-Choo-Choo, ChooChooChoo. Choo-Choo-Choo.

To Rufus it was saying, "Go to school. Go to school. Go to school."

It was an engine and it didn't have any cars attached to it. Just an engine all alone.

It was slowing up. Now it was stopping just a little way in front of the freight car Rufus and Hughie were sitting in. A lot of steam went hissing up into the air and then the engine started backing up with its bell clapping back and forth. Now,
CHOOchoo, CHOO-choo
; making a great effort, it backed off the main tracks, backed—
CHOO-choo, CHOO-choo
, right back to the old car where Rufus and Hughie were. A slight jar sent the two boys spinning on the floor. A few heavy jerks and a harsh grating noise and Rufus realized what was happening.

"Criminenty!" he yelled, using a word he'd heard that morning in the school yard. "We're movin'. Let's jump."

But Hughie shook his head. "Let's go for a ride," he said.

"We'll get lost," screamed Rufus. "We don't know where this train is goin'. Might be goin' to Boston. We'll be lost."

But Hughie was looking over the side of the freight car, happily watching the schoolhouse disappear.

"Lost," repeated Rufus to himself. And a prickly feeling ran up his spine at the word
lost.
"Rufus Moffat, Twenty-seven New Dollar Street," he muttered to himself. This is what Mama always made him repeat to her when he went shopping in the city with her just in case he might get lost. "Age, five-and-a-half years," he continued, and counted up to twenty.

That's what he would do and say if there were anyone to say it to.

However, he soon forgot to be afraid. He forgot about school and the shiny new reader and he began to enjoy the ride.

"You must be the engineer and I'll be the conductor," he said to Hughie.

The two boys looked back. They had left the brown schoolhouse, Wood Street, and Brooney's delicatessen store far behind. They were crossing the marshes that separated Cranbury from New Haven. Now they were crossing the long trestle over Mill River that emptied into the harbor.

The train was only jogging along—but already they were on the outskirts of New Haven. They could see West Rock, East Rock, and the Sleeping Giant. Now they could see the tall buildings. And now they were chugging down the tracks under the viaduct. Up top, on the viaduct, the trolley from Cranbury ran. So far Rufus knew where he was, for he had often seen these railroad tracks from the trolley car. He knew that soon they should be at the New Haven depot.

But would they stop there? Perhaps they would go right through to Boston.

An express train bound for New York suddenly flew past them, whistles screaming. Rufus's heart pounded with excitement. Hughie's eyes shone. The two boys laughed out loud, jumped up and down, and waved their hats.

"Next stop, New York!" Rufus cried.

"New York to Boston!" Hughie yelled louder.

They were entering the New Haven station now. Would they stop? Or would they have to go to Boston? Riding on trains was fun, but Rufus hoped they'd stop. In Boston they'd be lost—Rufus Moffat, 27 New Dollar Street. The engine was slowing up—Puff—It was stopping—a few violent spasms and the train stopped.

"C'mon," said Rufus, "we better get out."

Hughie was beginning to feel hungry and tired, too, so he nodded his head in agreement and the two climbed out of the freight train. There was a man in blue overalls carrying a sooty old lantern and examining the wheels.

"Well, well, well," he said, "what's this? Where did you come from?" The man smelled like kerosene. Rufus thought he looked nice.

"Rufus Moffat, Twenty-seven New Dollar Street, five-and-a-half years old. Hughie and me have to get back to school."

The man pushed his cap back and scratched his head.

"Lost?" he asked.

"Not exactly," replied Rufus. "Not yet anyhow. But we have to get back to school."

"You say you live on New Dollar Street? Don't know of any New Dollar Street."

"Sure, Number Twenty-seven. Chief Mulligan lives on one end."

"Never heard of the man."

"Well, if we could only get back to Cranbury, I could find it," said Rufus.

"Oh—Cranbury. Is that where you come from?" the man asked in astonishment.

"Yes, New Dollar Street," Rufus said.

"Well, I don't see how you got here without no one seein' you. But if that's where you come from, that's where you better go back to."

"If only we could go back on a train, we'd be right at school," said Rufus. "Only trouble is,
he
doesn't want to go to school."

The man looked at Hughie. He clicked his tongue against his teeth and shook his head.

"I never," he said. "They ain't many locals to Cranbury this time o' day. But come along, I'll find out."

The man left them for a minute and came back with a timetable.

"Ain't no local for three hours," he said. "Only westbound train is the Bay State Express, comin' in in three minutes."

As if to confirm this statement, a mysterious voice called out, "Bay State Express—On time. Bay State Express—On time. Track nine. Eleven forty-five. Track nine."

"Doesn't the Bay State ever stop in Cranbury?" asked Rufus.

"Never," said the man.

"All aboard Bay State Express! ALL ABOARD Bay State. Track nine."

"Never," repeated the man in overalls. "But who knows? C'mon."

With that, he grabbed Hughie and Rufus by the arm, tore down the tracks to track nine, where the engine of the Bay State Express was hissing and steaming, just itching to be off.

"Hey, Dick," called the trackman to the engineer.