Thomas of 1920

With tears streaming down Thomas’s face, he took a bag and filled it with some clothes, a can of beans, and a couple of ham sandwiches. He then went into his dad’s bedroom and took some money from the dresser drawer. He walked out the back door and went down to the railroad tracks, where he found a boxcar with an open door. He crawled inside just as the train was getting ready to leave.

Several hours later, the train started to slow down. Thomas remembered a hobo telling him once that when the train had slowed down enough, it was time to jump off before it came into the rail yards, where you could be found and turned over to the police. After the train had slowed down enough, Thomas threw his bag off the train and jumped down. He walked around and past the train yard until he was on the opposite side of town. There he found another boxcar with the door open and crawled inside. He scooted back into the far corner so it would be harder to see him. The first train was headed west; this train was going south.

Back at home, when Ralph, Thomas’s dad, returned from the carnival, he noticed Thomas wasn’t there, and the dishes where still not done. He figured he would deal with Thomas later. Because he and Connie were alone, he took advantage of her and told her not tell anyone. He warned her what would happen if she did. It would be their little secret, and no one else needed to know. This was not the last time Thomas’s dad took advantage of Connie. Connie left the house and went home. Being too afraid to say anything, she kept quiet.

The next morning, when Thomas was still not around, Ralph realized that Thomas had taken his clothes and some of the money and run away. The whole town came out looking for Thomas, searching high and low, but he could not be found anywhere. People were questioned, but no one remembered seeing Thomas.

As the Train rumbled down the track, Thomas had no idea where he was going to end up. He had eaten one of his sandwiches by this time and he had gone to sleep. The train jostled him awake and was slowing way down. He jumped up and looked outside into the dark, threw off his bag, and followed right behind it. He was on the edge of the rail yard. He didn’t see the hobo until he was right on top of him. The hobo grab his bag and took off running. Thomas couldn’t see where the hobo had gone, so he ran back in the direction the train had come from in order to get out of the yard. He didn’t want to take any chances of being found and sent back home. It wouldn’t have done him any good to chase after the hobo either because even if he caught up to him, what could he do?

Keeping to the side streets, he skirted through the town and came out the other side. There weren’t any trains in sight, so he just kept walking farther away from town. He wasn’t sure what time it was, but it had to be late, as the road was deserted and there were not lights as far as he could tell anywhere along the road. After he had walked a considerable distance, a cold drizzle started to come down, and it wasn’t long until he was soaked all the way through and shivering.

After a while longer, he noticed a light off in the distance and followed the road leading in that direction. He finally came upon a very large house. As he got closer, he saw a stable and headed toward it to get out of the rain. Inside he found a spot where he could hunker down, and he pulled a horse blanket over the top of him. After a bit, he was startled awake when a dog put its nose up against him and flopped down beside him, followed by the sound of a voice asking Sam (which was the dog) what he had found.

A woman’s voice said, “What is it, Ralph?”

Ralph said, “It is a boy. Can’t be more than six or seven years old.”

Sam stood there wagging his tail as if he had found a great treasure and was expected to be rewarded for it. The woman bent down and pulled the horse blanket off of Thomas and said to Ralph, “He is soaked clean through and shivering.” Then, addressing Thomas, she said, “Hi, my name is Clara. What is your name?”

Thomas just looked at her and the man who was standing there.

Clara reached out her hand and said, “Let’s get you warmed up. How about some breakfast?”

Thomas looked at her outstretched hand, and she said. “It’s OK. No one is going to hurt you