Chapter Three
The time was ten minutes after four o’clock in the afternoon. I lay under the
shade of a tree on a sloping hill that went away down to the highway.
By keeping to the woods and following the river I had covered quite a
distance. No sound of any pursuit had followed me. The pepper idea had paid
off. The dogs hadn’t been able to pick up my scent.
But I was still five miles from the railway, and now the country had become
flat and open. I didn’t dare move out of the woods until dark.
Below me on the far side of the highway was a small farm. It wasn’t much of
a place, consisting of the farmhouse, three big sheds, a barn and a lot of junk
lying around. I didn’t pay much attention to it until I saw a girl come out of
the farmhouse and walk over to one of the sheds. She was carrying two big
baskets of cantaloupes.
From this distance I couldn’t see what she looked like, and I didn’t care. My
eyes watched those cantaloupes and my mouth watered at the sight of them.
When it was dark I would sneak down there and grab myself a few.
There was a heap of traffic on the highway, mostly trucks carrying
cantaloupes to Oakland. Every now and then a glittering Cadillac or an
Oldsmobile would blast its impatient way past the trucks. From time to time I
sported a State trooper on his motorcycle, patrolling, and once, a police radio
car.
The hours dragged by.
At six o’clock a battered truck came up the dirt road leading to the farm. It
was loaded with cantaloupes. I watched it pull up outside one of the sheds.
The girl came out of the farmhouse.
Two men got down off the truck. One of them was young, the other middle-aged.
They all moved over to the farmhouse and I imagined them sitting down to
supper, and the thought tormented me. I was hungry enough to think
longingly of Farnworth’s f!lthy food.
Another couple of hours crawled by. The sun went down and the stars came
out. The traffic had practically ceased. I hadn’t seen a State trooper for some
time. I decided it would be safe to move.
I reached the highway without seeing a car. There was a light showing in one
of the windows of the farmhouse. I had watched for a dog, but hadn’t seen
one. I crossed the highway at a run and reached the dirt road leading up to the
farm.
The farm gate was closed. I climbed it, and then moved away from the
farmhouse to one of the sheds.
I paused outside the open door. It was dark in there, but I could smell the
cantaloupes.
I went in. I had no knife, but I split the cantaloupes in my hands. The warm
sweet juice and the pulpy flesh quenched my thirst and satisfied my hunger.
I was so tired I could scarcely keep my eyes open. I decided to take a short
rest before walking the last five miles to the railway.
I groped my way behind a pile of cantaloupes and stretched out on the
ground. I could hear the radio coming from the farmhouse, playing dance music. I closed my eyes. This was a lot better than sleeping in that stinking
bunkhouse at Farnworth. I wondered if I would be able to board a train … so
far my luck had held … so far…
I woke with a start that set my heart thumping.
Through the open door of the shed I could see the outline of the distant hills.
The sun was coming up in a blood red sky and its pale fight filtered into the
shed.
As I struggled to my feet, panic gripping me, I realised I had slept like a dead
man for more than eight hours.
Already I could hear the rumble of trucks on the highway. I wouldn’t dare
cross the fields now to the railway.
In my black and grey striped prison uniform I would be spotted by any of the
passing truck drivers.
Then I heard sounds from the farmhouse: voices and movements. A little
later I smelt ham grilling.
I watched and waited for half an hour or so, then the two men came out,
followed by the girl. She was around seventeen and very sunburned. She
wasn’t pretty, but she had a good figure, and when she smiled she was
attractive.
The three talked together for some moments, then the two men climbed up
onto the truck and drove away. The girl went back into the farmhouse.
I made another meal of cantaloupes, then I settled down behind a pile of
crates.
I was trapped in this shed now until nightfall. Thinking about it, I saw that it
might not be such a bad thing. Staying here in comparative safety would give
the hunt for me time to cool off.
I rested my head on a rolled up sack and closed my eyes. It was hot in the
shed and I dozed off.
I came abruptly awake an hour or so later.
Someone was in the shed.
I could hear movements. Very cautiously I edged to the front of the crates
and took a quick look.
The girl was sorting cantaloupes into sizes, making three piles of them. She
worked quickly and expertly, her back turned to me, her long hair falling over
her shoulders as she stooped over the pile.
I watched her, wondering if I dare let her know I was there, and then
suddenly realising that she did know I was watching her. She had paused
abruptly in her work, then she had gone on again, but without the rhythm she
had used before. I knew she was now frightened. I could tell that by the way
she fumbled with the cantaloupes.
I was sure if I didn’t do something fast, she would bolt out of the shed and
probably start screaming. I could feel the growing tension in her.
I said very quietly, “Don’t be frightened,” and I stood up so she could see me.
She whirled around. I was sorry for her. She went white under her tan and she
tried to scream, but no sound came.
I must have looked pretty terrible. I hadn’t shaved for two days. I was filthy
dirty. I was big and tough looking, and I saw I had struck terr0r into her; that
made me feel bad.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I said, watching her as she slowly backed away
from me until she reached the wall of the shed. She was wearing a pair of
jeans and a red and white cowboy shirt. As she pressed herself against the
wall, I could see her small bre@$ts lifting and falling under her shirt.
She said in a tiny, tight voice, “Don’t come near me!”
“I’m sorry I frightened you. You frightened me,” I said. ‘I’m the man they’re
hunting for— from Farnworth. Will you help me?” I kept talking. I was
scared she would run out and start screaming. “I’m hungry and I want
clothes. Will you give me a break?”
I could see she was getting over the shock and she was relaxing.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I was hungry. I came after the cantaloupes last night. Then I was fool
enough to fall asleep. I planned to reach the railway while it was dark.”
“But they are watching the railway,” she said breathlessly and I knew then
she was on my side. “It was on the radio last night. That’s where they expect
you to go.”
“Then I guess I’ll have to think of something else. I don’t want to get you in
trouble, but will you help me? If you don’t, I’m sunk.”
She stared at me for a long moment
“I’ve read about Farnworth,” she said and moved away from the wall. “Yes,
I’ll help you. I couldn’t have it on my conscience to send any man back there.
Are you hungry?”
“That ham smelt pretty good.”
She managed a ghost of a smile.
“Wait here.”
She went to the door. I watched her. I couldn’t be sure if I could trust her but
there was nothing else I could do. If she called the cops then it was my bad luck.
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