Luke awoke in his drifting rowboat as a loud train horn and industrial noises signaled a trestle ahead. Passing beneath, he noted various freight cars before angling toward a derelict riverbank with boarded buildings and litter. He spotted the faded "red" steps Maureen had described and carefully landed, retrieving his shoes from the boat and keeping Maureen's purple scarf as a talisman before climbing to the rail yard above.

From the top, Luke surveyed the Dennison River Bend switching yard as dawn brightened. Recalling train lore from his friend Rolf’s father, Vic Destin, Luke assessed the operations: a switch engine pushing freight over the hump, a tower operator guiding cars by lever, and a pin-puller uncoupling rolling stock. He considered Maureen’s suggestion to hop a freight but weighed the risks of going to the police: he could be accused in his parents’ murders, and the town might be financially tied to the Institute.

Choosing distance over disclosure, Luke crept among rusty, disused tracks and abandoned cars to the office porch and read the posted schedule. He noted nothing on Tracks 2 and 5, a 5 PM New Brunswick departure on Track 1, a 2:30 PM Burlington/Montreal on Track 4, and most promising, Train 4297 scheduled out at 10 AM on Track 3 for Portland, Portsmouth, and Sturbridge, with a 9 AM cutoff.

Luke hid and observed as cars were sorted, workers joked, and a potato unloading turned into a brief food fight. When the office staff went inside and the yard briefly quieted, he sprinted down the hump, dodging sensors and pads, and targeted a grimy SOUTHWAY EXPRESS boxcar on Track 3 with a side door ajar. He squeezed in, scraping his injured back, and found the car three-quarters full of new goods: power equipment and boxed or wrapped furniture bound for Bender and Bowen Fine Furniture in Sturbridge.

Reasoning that this car would go to the end of the line, Luke created a hideout behind cartons and found furniture pads to lie on. While the switch engine continued adding cars, he endured anxious waits and jolts, fearing discovery or a yard-wide search if the Institute had already alerted locals. Voices came and went outside, but no one opened his car.

Finally, a heavy coupling thud preceded sustained movement. Luke peered through the gap as the yard office, deserted buildings, and nearby lots slid past, then glimpsed downtown Dennison River Bend with shops, a gas station, and traffic halted for the train. Realizing he was truly outbound, he performed a small, weary victory shuffle inside the swaying car, grateful to be farther from the Institute’s control.