Free The Boxcar Blues by Jeff Egerton Page B

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