Chapter 23
Contains spoilersOverview
Luke slept nearly uninterrupted as the freight train carried him from Maine through New Hampshire into Massachusetts, narrowly avoiding discovery during a unloading stop in Sturbridge. Workers removed most of the furniture cargo and closed the boxcar, but Luke remained hidden and asleep. A more powerful locomotive took over and the train—now designated 9956—departed south with an oversized consist. The narrative revealed the train’s new route toward Virginia and South Carolina, setting Luke unknowingly on a path to DuPray, South Carolina.
Summary
After leaving the small town behind, Luke succumbed to overwhelming exhaustion in the boxcar, struggling to find a position that did not aggravate the lacerations on his back and buttocks. He slept through intermediate stops at Portland and Portsmouth, and remained asleep when the train reached Sturbridge, Massachusetts, where the boxcar door was opened in the late afternoon light.
Two men entered the car and began unloading furniture—sofas, lamps, and chairs—bringing them within moments of discovering Luke. A call from outside about a brief engine-transfer delay prompted the workers to take a break, giving Luke a chance to consider escape. He peered out, saw a busy yard with many workers, and decided he was too exhausted and incoherent to risk being seen or questioned. He planned to remain hidden and possibly seek police help after dark, reasoning that his parents’ identities could be verified to return him to Minneapolis.
Luke crawled deeper among small-engine equipment—rototillers, lawnmowers, and crated outboards—intending to wait and sleep. He quickly fell back into a deep sleep, even as the workers returned to finish unloading. One of them inspected a nearby John Deere garden tractor just feet away, but Luke went unnoticed. The yard crew then shut the boxcar door fully, sealing him inside.
As switching continued, a new locomotive was coupled on. The narration noted that the original train 4297 had a forty-car pull limit, while the replacement engine was a powerful GE AC6000CW. With a new designation, train 9956 departed Sturbridge pulling seventy cars—far more than the earlier consist.
Luke’s boxcar, now mostly empty after the furniture was removed, would remain that way until a stop in Richmond, Virginia, where home generators would be added. The small engines and equipment surrounding Luke were destined for Fromie’s Small Engine Sales and Service in DuPray, South Carolina, a town on the train’s regular route three times a week. The chapter closed by emphasizing how chance events were steering Luke south toward DuPray.
Who Appears
- Luke Ellis
fugitive escapee from the Institute; sleeps through multiple stops, avoids discovery, and remains sealed in the boxcar as the train heads south.
- Unidentified yard and loading workers
new; unload furniture in Sturbridge, briefly nearly discover Luke, then close the boxcar and depart.