Chapter 87
Frankie didn’t have money for the train fare, but he reckoned he’d worked out how to avoid the conductor.
Last time, with Cook, he’d watched the conductor doing his rounds – starting at the front of the train, then slowly walking through each carriage, punching tickets.
Every stop, he had to leave off the ticket-punching and lean out the door, making sure everyone was all aboard before he blew his whistle to let the driver know it was safe to go.
So Frankie was in the middle carriage, towards the back of it. He’d kept an eye on the conductor, working his way along the corridor, popping into each compartment, the click of his ticket-puncher keeping everyone informed of his whereabouts.
When they’d come into Cowden, halfway through the journey, Frankie had hurried along the corridor, past the conductor who’d been leaning out of the window, waiting to blow his whistle.
With any luck he’d be safe for the rest of the journey. But he’d have to keep his eyes peeled, just in case.
Frankie took the postcard out of his blazer pocket, and looked at it again. He had a feeling about it. He wanted to show the postcard to his mum. At the very least, he wanted her to see it to know Ruby was all right.
He had a feeling Ruby was trying to send him a message.
If he was right, she was telling him to come and get her.
Of course, he didn’t know where she was, but maybe his mum would know. And if Cook was there, he’d work it out. Cook was good at things like that. He didn’t give up. Cook kept on going and going, until the job was done.