The Boxcar Blues

by Jeff Egerton

  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 s
miled 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.

  After dinner he and Sam went out on the front porch with a copy of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The sun had just dipped below the horizon leaving a lavender glow in the western sky. A slight chill and a gentle breeze rustling the sage bushes made for a pleasant evening. Oblivious to the weather and in the light of a coal oil lantern Catwalk read, with Sam occasionally helping with the difficult words. After two chapters she told him, “You’re doing wonderful Cat. Through the past few pages I hardly had to help you at all.”

  He blushed at her praise and admitted, “I’m getting better but I’ve got more to learn if I want to read the newspapers like Barney does.”

  “Well, there’s no reason why you can’t learn to read just as good as anyone else, is there?”

  “No, I don’t guess there is.” Catwalk liked her positive attitude and knew it would be an asset in his education, but he’d also discovered that when Sam sat close to him, he had a hard time concentrating.

  A few days later, on a crisp, clear high-country morning the men finished the corral and Julio asked Curly, “You ready for your first flying lesson?”

  “Yes!” Curly shouted. He then ran toward the hangar, leaving Catwalk sitting on the porch working his way through a book.

  Catwalk watched Julio take off and disappear into the distant sky. When the plane was out of sight he returned to the porch. A few minutes later Sam came out and said, “You’ve got your nose in a book again. Are you going to read every book in the house?”

  “I might, but I’m not sure about this word.” He held the book up where she could see it.

  “Problematic. That means something that causes you a problem. Like this word is problematic to you. But as you get better there are fewer words that cause you problems.”

  Sam realized that his Momma’s pride was his motivation to learn. She took the book from him and looked into his eyes with her beguiling smile. “Catwalk, it’s wonderful that you want to learn to read and better yourself, but I have to tell you, your Momma is very proud of you now.”

  “How do you know? How can you know what my Momma feels?”

  She took his hand and said, “Let’s go for a walk. I know a wonderful place down by the creek. C’mon, I’ll show you.”

  As they walked, Sam said, “Catwalk, there are some things you can’t learn from books. One of them is, women folk know what another woman feels about her son, even if they’ve never met her. Your Momma is just as proud of you now, as if you had the best job in the world. She knows that you’re doing your best to help her and she’s probably telling everyone about her son that sent her all that money. When she saw that, she was probably the happiest and proudest mother in the world. Catwalk, I think you should keep learning to read and write, and go back to school if you can. But, no matter what happens, your Momma is real proud of you now.”

  Sam’s words almost brought him to tears. He said, “I sure hope so. My Momma works real hard, trying to take care of all my brothers and sisters. I wish I could help her get off the farm and go live in a nice house, with curtains on the windows, maybe even a flower garden.”

  “I don’t see why you can’t do that. How many brothers and sisters do you have?”

  “Eight. My baby brother is Petey, then there’s Alice, Martha, Mathew, Cecil, John, Rose Ann, and Georgie. Georgie is older than me, but he caught the fever a few years back and he ain’t been right in the head since then. Rose Ann, Cecil and John are the only ones that can help Momma in the fields.”

  “With a large family like that they’ll certainly appreciate the money you sent to them.”

  Catwalk smiled. “I hope Momma can buy herself a new dress or something nice.”

  “I’ll bet your mother will buy something for your brothers and sisters first. But maybe when Barney pays you again, we can go into town and I’ll help you buy a new dress for your Momma. Then we’ll send it to her.”

  With a wide grin, he said, “Sam, that’s a wonderful idea. Sending her a new dress would be the best thing of all.”

  Sam led him to a clearing under an oak tree and next to a babbling brook. They sat down and she said, “What about you, Catwalk?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, you’re so worried about your family that you never stop to think about what Mr. Luke Jackson is going to be doing in his life?”

  “I’m going to work for Barney, and learn to fly the Jenny.”

  “So, that’s going to be your whole life? Work for Barney and fly the Jenny?”

  Catwalk looked at Sam. She was dead serious, but still very pretty. In his haphazard, nomadic life of trying to survive in a hostile world, he’d never thought about his future; a future that until now had only consisted of the next freight train he’d be catching. He said, “I don’t know what I’m going to be doing in my life. When someone is going to hang you, you don’t think about the future because you ain’t sure you’re going to be alive.”
/>   Sam looked at him with a hurtful expression. “Someone tried to hang you?”

  “Back in Texas. This hateful deputy, if I didn’t’ escape, I know he would have hung me because he thought I’d killed those hoboes.”

  “That’s not why he was trying to hang you. You know darn well why he wanted to hang you—because you’re black—that’s why he was going to hang you.”

  “I suppose that’s so. I don’t like to think of one person doing that to another, because of his color.”

  “You’re so kind hearted, I’ve never met anyone who was so gentle.”

  “Being kind hearted don’t mean you’re stupid.”

  Sam moved closer to him. Her smile had returned and she ran her hand across his muscular shoulders. She felt him shiver from her touch. “No, it doesn’t and you’re not stupid, that’s for sure.”

  Samantha wanted to throw her arms around Catwalk and hug him forever, but she suspected her closeness was making him uncomfortable. She retreated and asked, “How’d you get that burn mark?”

  “A branding iron. We were branding cattle and my brother did this by accident.”

  “I’ll bet when that happened he felt as bad as you did.”

  “Yeah. He cried the whole time they were putting the liniment on me.”

  “You’re lucky to have a big family that cares so much for each other.”

  “Yeah, you’re right there, Sam, my family is very special. Do you have family anywhere?”

  “I’ve got a twin sister somewhere. When my Momma died she went to live with an aunt who lived in Alabama, but my aunt died a few months later. I never heard from my sister, so I don’t know what happened to her. As far as I know, she was my only family.”

  Catwalk said, “I’m real sorry you don’t have anyone, Sam, but I’ll always be there for you, just like you’re part of my family.”

  Sam kissed him on the cheek and said, “Catwalk, you are so sweet.” Then she stood up and said, “I have to get back to work. Julio likes apple pie and we have only two pieces left, so I have some baking to do. He might take you flying when he gets back.”