Secret Signs Read Online Free Page B

You plan on hopping a freight to Calgary? Because that’s about the only way a pup like you is going to make it out there. I was thinking of heading to Calgary myself, but I have to plan for it. It’s a long way.”
    Henry knew the jig was up. “So what would it cost for you to take me with you?”
    Clickety Clack spat a new gob into the dirt. “I travel alone, boy.” A greedy gleam came into his eye. “But for curiosity’s sake, what do you have?”
    Henry thought of the five one-dollar bills in his pocket. He also remembered the desperate farmer who’d tried to rob him. He wasn’t going to trust this old man for a minute. “I’ll pay you five dollars
cash
totake me to Calgary.” The mention of money immediately got the tramp’s attention.
    â€œYou have that much on you? Where you hiding it?” Clickety Clack’s hungry eyes went to Henry’s book bag.
    â€œAll you need to know is that I won’t pay until we get to the Glenmore Dam.” Henry stuck his chin out defiantly. He wouldn’t be tricked again.
    â€œThat’s a long way to go on faith, boy. I’ll have to see it before I take a step.” Clickety Clack clasped his hands as though praying.
    Hesitantly, Henry pulled the cash out of his pocket for the hobo’s inspection.
    Clickety Clack reached out a gnarled hand, but Henry snatched the bills back. “Is it a deal?”
    The hobo rubbed his bristly chin. “Deal!” He grinned, then spat into his dirty palm and held it out for Henry to shake.
    Reluctantly, Henry clasped the hobo’s disgusting hand to seal the bargain.
    This was not how he’d imagined today would go. He’d thought by tonight he’d
    be eating dinner with his father, but instead it looked like he’d be with this raggedy tramp, hopping a freight train to Alberta!

C HAPTER 6

    â€œOkay, boy, this is where we catch our ride. As soon as I spot a train heading for Alberta, we wait for it to start rolling, then it’s
all aboard
.” Clickety Clack stuck a fresh plug of tobacco in his mouth and settled in to wait.
    They’d managed to sneak through a hole in the fence at the railway yards and were hiding near the tracks. It was well after noon, but the June sun was still a blistering ball in the clear blue sky.
    â€œAnd how do you know which train is going to Alberta?” Henry asked his gruff guide.
    Clickety Clack winked at Henry. “That’s why you’re paying me the big bucks,boy.” Several trains went by but the hobo ignored them.
    Bored with the endless waiting, Henry absently reached into his pocket and felt something wedged in the bottom. He pulled out the stub of red crayon he’d used to leave the hobo sign for his pa. As he doodled on the fence, he saw that his drawing resembled a locomotive. Henry blinked.
    Why, he’d created a hobo sign! This one would let other boys know they could catch a train here. Henry wondered if there were any other boys in the world having adventures like his.
    Clickety Clack glanced at Henry’s drawing, narrowed his eyes and grunted.
    Henry watched the engines pull into the yard, then slow to a stop with a loud whoosh and a huge cloud of billowing steam. He wondered if they were ever going to find a train bound for Alberta. “Which one are we going to take?” he asked impatiently.
    A noise from the far side of a stationary boxcar made Clickety Clack grab Henry’s arm. “Hush up, boy!”
    â€œWhat’s wrong?” Henry asked.
    â€œQuiet! Over there, behind that boxcar—
bulls
.” Clickety Clack crouched even lower behind the large wooden crate they’d been using for cover.
    Henry couldn’t imagine why livestock would be roaming loose in a train yard, but when he stood to get a better look, Clickety Clack yanked him down.
    â€œDidn’t you hear me? I said there are two bulls behind that car and they’ve got a