The Boxcar Blues (9 page)

“
That’s good to hear. Say,
I heard you hired a couple new hands recently.”

“
Yes, I did. A couple
drifters come by. I wasn’t thinking of hiring anyone, but they had
a good look about them. They’re young, but they’re hard
workers.”

“
Well, I’m glad they’re
working out for you, but they might be running from the law. Has
the colored boy got a burn mark on his left cheek?”

“
Yes, he does.”

“
The other one about five
ten with curly hair?”

“
Yeah, in fact he calls
himself Curly.”

“
We got a message a while
back about two guys that fit their description who murdered two
hoboes back in Texas.”

Barney kicked at a clod of dirt. He would
have bet money that Catwalk and Curly weren’t murderers, but their
descriptions couldn’t be denied. He thought about the desperate
times they were living in, and how good people were driven to
criminal acts. Because of the way they might be treated, he hated
the thought of handing the boys over to the sheriff. He said,
“These boys aren’t murderers, Zane. They’re just a couple young
fellows looking to work for three squares a day.”

“
I need to talk to them,
Barney. Are they around?”

“
No, they’re out by river
mending fences right now. Won’t be back until the morning. How
about I bring them in tomorrow to talk to you.”

“
That’ll be fine Barney. I
appreciate it.”

Thomas drove off and Barney breathed a sigh
of relief. He knew what he had to do. He filled his truck with gas,
then drove across his spread to find the boys.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Barney found the boys cutting new fence
posts off an oak tree. Speaking as if the words were hard to say,
he confronted them, “I had a visit from the police chief today. He
read me the description of two boys who are wanted by the law for
killing a couple hoboes back in Texas. It sounded like you two, but
I don’t think you’re killers. You want to tell me about it?”

Throwing his hat on the ground, Curly
yelled, “God damn it!”

Catwalk spoke up. “The law might be looking
for us, but we only did it in self-defense.”

Again Barney said, “Why don’t you tell me
what happened?”

Catwalk and Curly told the story.

Barney said nothing until they finished,
then said, “I didn’t think you were murderers, but if you
surrender, they’ll send you back to Texas and all you have is your
word. There ain’t anybody who will stand up for you, so you’re in a
bad way.”

He paused in thought and ran a hand through
his thinning hair. Finally, he said, “You’re good workers and I’d
like to keep you on, but you can’t work here. You’ll have to go to
the farm up north. You’ll work just the same and make the same
wages, except no one will know you’re there.”

Curly said, “What about the police?”

Barney said, “I’ll take care of him. Curly
go back and fill that truck with gas and take an extra can with
you. Catwalk, get your things together. I’ll have Mattie pack
something to eat.”

When Curly came back from gassing up, Barney
drew a map and explained how to get to his ranch in the northern
part of the state. He then told the boys, “Once you get up there
tell Julio and Sam not to tell a soul that you’re there. I’m going
to tell the sheriff that you guys took off during the night. He
might not believe it, but he ain’t gonna send anyone looking for
you.”

Catwalk said, “Will we see you again?”

“
I’ll be flying up there
in a week or so. Now get going.”

With Curly driving, Catwalk thought about
the dismal black cloud hanging over their head. He felt so good
working for Barney, eating regular, sleeping in a clean bed,
sending money home and looking forward to learning to fly the
Jenny. So many good things were happening—and now the scourge that
might be with him for the rest of his life resurfaces. Would they
ever be able to just go to work and not have to worry about the
law?

Back in Dillard, Texas, Sheriff Wendell
Tyler and his deputy Gene Spencer looked at a three foot wide hole
in the wall of the jail cell that had been holding Alton Jones. The
sheriff said, “It must’a been his Klan buddies that broke him out.
He knew your routine of making the rounds and they were ready to
jerk those bars out of there as soon as you left the jail. Send a
telegraph message about Jones’ escape. He’ll most likely get a gun
from his buddies, so he’ll be armed and dangerous.”

“
O.K. I’ll include his
description. Do you have any idea where he’ll go?”

“
If I know Alton Jones,
he’s carrying a ton of hate inside him and he’s only got one thing
on his mind. That’s finding the colored boy that escaped from his
custody. I’d bet my best horse that’s where he’ll go, to try and
find the boy.”

Catwalk and Curly pulled into the farm in
Cimarron just before four o’clock the next morning. They slept in
the truck until they heard someone rapping on the window.

Catwalk opened the door and saw a tall
Mexican man wearing a black cowboy hat that had been new twenty
years ago. Piercing brown eyes amid a creased, leathery face stared
back at him. Catwalk said, “Good morning. Are you Julio?”

The man looked surprised. “Yes, I am. I
thought you guys was lost, but then I noticed you’re driving one of
Barney’s trucks. Did he send you?”

“
Yes. My name is Catwalk
Jackson and this is Curly Levitz. We were working for him down in
Vaughn, but he said there’s more things that need to be done up
here. We’re ready to go to work.”

“
I imagine you could use
some breakfast first.”

Catwalk almost laughed. He wasn’t yet used
to eating every few hours. But, after going for days without
eating, he’d never pass up a meal. “Yes sir, that sounds good.”

“
Follow me.” Julio took
them into a spacious kitchen where he told them to sit while he
poured coffee for the three of them. He sat down and said, “Sam
will be here in a minute to fix your breakfast. I’m going to tell
you what has to be done around here. It’ll be nice to have more
help because we’ve got a lot to do before the snow
flies.”

Curly said, “Ah, Barney said not to tell
anyone we’re here.”

Julio didn’t seem to find this unusual. He
just said, “O.K. Here’s some of the jobs we’ll be doing….”

Julio had been talking about their work for
ten minutes, when he looked toward a doorway and said, “Hi, Sam.
Barney sent us some help.”

Catwalk stood to shake hands with the other
farm hand. When he turned to face the person, he froze. A strange
emotion washed over him and his knees started to feel weak. Sam was
obviously short for Samantha. He looked into the most beautiful
blue eyes and loveliest smile he’d ever seen. Samantha Jean Wells
was a beautiful young black girl about Catwalk’s age, with long
dark hair that shone in the morning sunlight. Her eyes were full of
life and twinkled with mischief. She had her hand extended, but
when he didn’t move, she said, “Are you O.K.?”

Catwalk felt himself sweating cold. His
voice broke when he said, “Ah, yes ma’am. I’m Catwalk Jackson and
this, ah my friend is Curly Levitz.”

Curly stood, “How do, ma’am.”

Sam smiled at Catwalk, “Now, where did you
get a name like Catwalk?”

Curly said, “I gave him that name because he
can run a boxcar catwalk like a rabbit.”

Sam gathered frying pans and pulled a basket
of eggs out of the ice box. “Is that so? Is that what you two have
been doing? Riding around the country like a couple of hoboes?”

“
We was looking for work,
ma’am.”

She pointed at them with a spatula. “Well,
now you found it.”

“
Ah, yes ma’am, we’ve been
working for Barney for a while now, down at the other farm. We’d
like to keep working for him because he’s a nice man.” After he
said it, Catwalk though about their situation with the law. He
didn’t want Sam to know he was running from the law, and decided
not to mention it unless it came up.

“
Yes, he is. He’s one of
the nicest men you’ll ever meet”, Samantha said, then busied
herself fixing breakfast. When she served the boys, she asked, “So
why did you come up here? Did Barney run out of work down
there?”

Catwalk looked at Curly while weighing the
question. His Momma’s words came back to him, “Son, not many things
in life are important enough for you not to tell the truth.”

Curly shook his head, but Catwalk said, “The
sheriff down there wanted to talk to us.”

Sam didn’t looked surprised and said, “Why
would a sheriff want to talk to you two?”

Catwalk cleared his throat. “It’s a long
story, but the law thinks that we murdered two hoboes back in
Texas. Somehow the sheriff found out about it and wanted to talk to
us.”

With surprising frankness, Sam asked, “Did
you murder anyone?”

Catwalk told the story—again.

Sam said, “I believe you and I think it’s a
good thing that you came up here. You can work here and stay out of
sight. That’s what I’m doing.”

Catwalk and Curly exchanged startled looks.
The idea that this attractive young lady was running from the law,
took them by surprise. Curly asked, “Are you on the lam too?”

“
No, silly.” She looked
for Catwalk’s reaction, then said, “My Momma ran a boarding house
in Vaughn. She had a couple girls working for her who catered to
the men. My sister and I used to help with the chores of the
boarding house, but we didn’t entertain the men. I also used to do
laundry and cleaning chores for Barney. Six months ago Momma died
and my sister and I didn’t want to keep the boarding house. My
sister went to live with an aunt in Alabama, but since I didn’t
like Aunt Eve, I had nowhere to go until Barney offered me a room
at his place in exchange for work and wages, just like you all are
doing. While I was working for him, some men that had seen me at
the boarding house, came out to the farm looking for me. I told
Barney I didn’t like them pestering me and he offered to move me up
here. So, here we are, in Barney’s hide-away.”

Curly asked, “Do you know how to fly the
Jenny?”

“
I sure do.” She looked at
Catwalk with a smile that made his heart race. “I’ve logged over a
hundred hours. I can’t give you lessons though. Julio will have to
do that.”

Catwalk nodded because words didn’t come
easy in her presence. In his sheltered life on the farm, he’d never
known a female of his own age, and he’d never even seen one who was
so breathtakingly beautiful. Now, nothing on earth would make him
leave this farm.

He stood and said, “We better get to work.
Thank you for breakfast; it was real good.”

She smiled and said, “Mr. Catwalk, you’re
welcome. I’ll see you come lunch time.”

For Catwalk, lunch time couldn’t come soon
enough.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Alton Jones pulled up to a west Texas hobo
jungle in a car he’d stolen after his buddies yanked the bars out
of the jail. He approached a dozen hoboes and to get more
cooperation passed out a few Players cigarettes. He then asked the
same question he’d been asking for a thousand miles. “I’m looking
for two young guys. One’s a tall black boy with a burn mark on his
cheek and the other is a husky white guy, medium height with real
curly hair. Have you seen them?”

The guy closest to him thought for a moment,
then said, “No. Can’t say that I have.”

“
Where’d you guys come
from?”

“
We was in Denver working
on the strawberry crop. There ain’t near as many people up there,
‘cause everyone is heading south for the winter. We didn’t see no
one looked like them.”

“
Thanks.”

Jones moved to another group, passed out
more cigarettes and posed the same question. Still there was no
help, but he was determined to keep looking. Men in hobo jungles
and Hoovervilles had nothing else to do but watch people. Sooner or
later he’d find someone who crossed paths with the boys. Then he’d
pick up their trail and it would only be a matter of time until he
got his revenge.

Catwalk was working like a man possessed on
the new horse corral they were building. Julio had noticed his
frantic pace and told him they weren’t trying to set any records,
but he just kept working like a madman. When Sam brought lunch, the
motive for Catwalk’s efforts became apparent, as he proudly showed
her how much they’d finished. She smiled, flattered at his attempt
to impress her, and said, “Cat, you keep this up and there won’t be
any more work to do.”

He sat down next to her and said, “Oh, on a
spread like this there’s always something to do, but I like it. It
sure beats riding the rails and looking for work.”

“
Yes, I guess it
would.”

He asked, “Down at the other farm, Barney
said he had some books I could read. Are there any here?”

“
Why yes, we’ve got a few
books, Cat. Are you a good reader?”

“
No, I’m not too good, but
Curly was helping me learn. I’m better than I was but still need
help.”

“
Well, I’ll teach you now,
so Curly doesn’t have to.”

Even though he felt somewhat embarrassed
because of his limited education, Catwalk liked the idea of Sam
teaching him to read. In a short period of time he’d discovered
that she was easy to be around. If she could help him with his
reading, well, he’d like that better than working with Curly.

Recently Catwalk had come to the realization
that he was capable of learning things he’d never thought possible.
He’d easily learned to drive the truck and soon he’d be learning to
fly the Jenny, which had been well beyond his wildest dreams. A new
horizon of achievement was opening up to him, but it had become
apparent to him that if he was ever going to make anything of
himself, beyond a farm laborer, he would have to learn to read and
write.