The Journey Back

by Priscilla Cummings

  When we finally finished, I told Luke to do his math while I sat at an unused computer and went online for fun. Well, actually not for fun. What I wanted to do was check to see if there were any articles about my escape. I googled “youth prison escape Maryland.” And up popped a story from a couple days ago:

  JUVENILE ESCAPES FROM

  YOUTH DETENTION CENTER

  CUMBERLAND—Authorities continued their search for a fourteen-year-old boy who escaped from the Cliffside Youth Detention Center ten days ago. They speculate the boy either walked off the property and was picked up or, possibly, that he fled by hiding in a garbage truck. According to state police, the boy may have hijacked a tractor-trailer rig parked at a diner on I-68 and then abandoned the vehicle at a runaway truck ramp on the east side of Sideling Hill.

  “He’s a wily character, for sure,” said State Police Sergeant Dean Cropper. He noted that the abandoned truck had caught fire from burning brakes and was damaged extensively.

  Police have posted notices throughout the state and are searching the nearby C&O Canal towpath, which may have provided an escape route. Authorities also continued to stake out the boy’s home on the Eastern Shore . . .

  I had to look away for a moment. If police were staking out my house then I couldn’t go home. There was more to that article, but I didn’t finish reading it because just then in walked two cops! Clearly, they were looking around.

  My heart beat double time because suddenly I realized this whole thing—us coming into town—was a setup!

  I shot a glance at Nora, who pretended to be busy with her schoolwork.

  When the cops walked toward the refreshment counter, I picked up my crutches. They hadn’t spotted me yet. Then I left—just as quickly as I could.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  * * *

  LOCKED IN

  At first I thought I’d hide in the bathroom, but then I figured that was too obvious. So when I saw this other door, with steps leading down, I went that way instead. When I closed the door I heard it latch behind me. I tried opening it, just to see if I could, but it was locked solid.

  It was pitch black with the door shut. I set down my crutches, sat on the top step, and started easing myself down slowly, only to discover that after four steps there was a wall. I wasn’t going anywhere.

  I shook my head, disgusted at myself for trusting that girl. But then I wondered: Why’d she bother to give me the white card back? Why tell me about that job at the horse farm? Why bring me into town? Why not just have the cops come out to the campground?

  These questions didn’t have answers. I sat, frozen in the dark, feeling my stomach twist itself into a big knot.

  More questions flooded my brain. What did the word wily mean? That state police guy said I was a wily character. What would happen if they found me? The boys back at Cliffside would get a big kick out of my poison ivy, wouldn’t they? Tio would say something nasty right off and I’d have to punch him out for it.

  My mouth went dry while my mind kept jumping around. Would I ride out to Cliffside handcuffed? How many more months—or years—would they tack on to my sentence for running? Who’d take care of Buddy? And Luke?

  I heard people walk past the door. I thought I heard boots clunk past. Those cops were wearing boots. A police radio crackled. “On our way,” someone said.

  Had I made a mistake? Did I jump to the wrong conclusions? If so, it would be really embarrassing to call out for help.

  Meanwhile, I was locked in and that was making me break out into a cold sweat. I didn’t like being locked in. Not one bit. I rubbed the moist palms of my hands on my leg.

  I shifted position. I wiped a hand over my mouth. I glanced back at the door. What was I going to do?

  When I heard Nora’s voice, I quickly pushed myself back up the four steps and leaned toward the crack in the door so I could hear.

  “Go in the men’s room and look,” she said. A few seconds later: “No? Well, go back and sit down, Luke. I’ll check outside.”

  Footsteps. Luke walking away?

  “Nora!” I said in a low voice. “Psssst . . . Nora!”

  “Gerry?! Where are you?”

  She must’ve turned around then and seen the other door. She tried the knob, but the door didn’t budge. She tried harder and it popped open, like it had been stuck, not locked. Boy, I felt like a real idiot then.

  “What are you doing in there?” Nora exclaimed.

  “Shhhhh!” I grabbed her by the arm, pulled her in, and closed the door. “Can I just talk to you for a minute?”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Shhhhhh! I’m hiding!” I whispered back.

  “From who?!”

  “Shhhh! Those cops—are they gone?”

  Her voice calmed, and softened. “I think so. Some cops came in, but they left. Why’d you think the cops were after you?”

  My eyes had adjusted to the dark and I could see the confusion on Nora’s face. “Can we just sit down for a minute so I can explain?”

  “What? Sit down in here?”

  “Yeah, there’s a couple steps behind us.”

  “This is like, ah, getting pretty weird, Gerry—”

  “I know, I know,” I said. “Just give me a minute.”

  We sat down. Nora crossed her arms and frowned.

  “Look,” I began. “I’m in a little bit of trouble.”

  “Yeah. Well, I guess I figured that part out.”

  “You did?”

  “Duh. A kid with nothing? Hiding in the woods? Now scared of police?”

  “Actually, I’m in a lot of trouble, Nora. Please, if I tell you some stuff can you promise not to tell anyone?”

  She lifted her shoulders as though uncertain. But what she said was “sure.”

  “And please don’t turn me in.”

  Nora threw up her hands and glared at me. “If I was going to turn you in, don’t you think I would have done that by now? I mean, why would I?”

  My turn to shrug. “Why wouldn’t you?”

  For a few seconds, we sat there, her and me, not saying anything. I felt stuck. I didn’t want to blow my cover and yet I realized that Nora hadn’t called the cops after all. Here I was hiding though, so I had to tell her something.

  Nora sighed. “Okay, I’ll make it easy for you,” she said. “When Luke and I couldn’t find you, I looked at the Web page you had up on the computer. I read the story about the kid who escaped from this place called Cliffside, and now I’m putting that together with the card I found in your pants pocket and what’s going on here now. So I have a pretty good idea who you are—Michael.”

  I winced, but I didn’t deny it. “Yeah, well, that’s me.” Still, I hesitated. The truth is that I really wanted to trust Nora because not trusting anyone was lonely. Living the way I was, hiding behind a bunch of lies, took a lot of energy. Plus it was complicated—and nerve-racking, too.

  I took in a breath, let it out slow, and decided to take a chance on her.

  “Look, I was at that detention place called Cliffside, but I needed to get home to take care of things, so I busted out of there.”

  “Did you escape in a garbage truck?”

  When I nodded, Nora kind of chuckled. “And is it true you hijacked a tractor-trailer truck?”

  “Yeah,” I told her, and I had to grin a little because no matter what, it was a pretty amazing ride.

  “That’s wild! How’d you know how to drive it?”

  So I told her some about my dad, what he did for a living, and where I come from. But I didn’t tell her the bad stuff my father did, or why I got sent to Cliffside.

  “You know, I never thought you looked like a Gerry,” Nora said. She sat back with her arms still crossed and scrunched up her nose. “But you don’t look like a
Michael either.”

  “That’s funny ’cause no one calls me Michael,” I said. “They call me Digger.”

  “Digger,” she repeated.

  I hoped I hadn’t told her too much. “Been my nickname since I was a little kid. It’s ’cause I called the backhoe a digger.”

  “Cool! I like it.”

  “It’s better than Gerry.”

  “For sure! So can I call you Digger?”

  I smiled a little and when our eyes met in the dim light of that closet I felt something deep inside kind of melt. “Only when no one else is around, okay? You’ve gotta keep it a secret, Nora.”

  “I promise,” she said.

  So Nora knew about me. For better or for worse.

  Later, when her mother was dropping Luke and me off at the campsite, Nora whispered “Good-bye, Digger” into my ear.

  —

  Woody still hadn’t come home. With Buddy trotting beside us, Luke and I walked down to the bathhouse to brush our teeth. After we returned to our tents, I told Luke to change and get ready for bed. When I went in to say good night I saw how he had the checkerboard all set up for a game with his dad. The board was on a small table in between their two cots. It made me feel sorry for Luke that his dad hadn’t come home on time. But it also made me aware of that hole I carried around inside myself. I honestly couldn’t remember my father ever playing any kind of game with me. Not checkers or Clue, Monopoly, not even cards— nothing.

  “I’m sure your dad will be back by morning,” I told Luke.

  He didn’t seem worried, but he wasn’t himself either. Like he was usually full of chitchat and dumb questions. “You’re not going anywhere, are you?”

  “Nope,” I told him. “I’ll be right out there in the pup tent all night.” I knew Luke was counting on me. And since the cops were keeping such a close eye on my family’s home I figured I’d be hanging out here longer than I planned.

  “Do you promise?” Luke asked.

  “What? That I’ll be here? Of course!”

  But I could see he was still a little anxious so I sat down on the cot beside him. “I was thinking you ought to learn how to swim, Luke. If it’s still warm out this week, maybe we can go down to the river one day and get you a lesson.”

  “We’ll stay in the shallow part, though, right?”

  “Absolutely,” I assured him. “So you better get some rest ’cause it’ll be quite a workout.”

  Luke seemed to like the idea. He took off his glasses and set them on the milk crate by his bed. Then he crawled into his sleeping bag and hugged his stuffed tiger.

  I got up to leave.

  “Did you know armadillos can swim?” he asked.

  I turned around. “Armadillos?”

  “Yeah!” Luke nodded eagerly. “An armadillo can fill itself up with air and swim across the river. I saw one do it once!”

  “No armadillos around here, though, are there?” I asked him. “Don’t they live in the South somewhere? Like in Texas?”

  Luke ducked down and pulled the sleeping bag over his head, which I thought was a little strange. What was with him? Was he scared?

  “Hey, tell you what,” I said. “How ’bout if I leave Buddy in here to sleep with you tonight? Until your dad gets back.”

  He whipped the covers off his face. “That would be great!”

  “Buddy, here!” I ordered, pointing to the rug beside Luke’s cot. “Lay down.” The dog did exactly as I told him. “Stay!” I ordered, showing him the palm of my hand. He didn’t move. Really, for a mutt, he was an awesome dog.

  I reached down to pet him on the head. “Good boy.”

  I felt a little tap-tap on my elbow.

  “Can I ask you one more thing?” Luke wanted to know.

  “Sure.”

  “How come Nora called you Digger?”

  “What? You heard that?”

  He grinned, the little devil. Then he reached a hand down to pet Buddy, and the dog licked his fingers.

  I took a hard look at that kid. I felt sorry for him, sure. He seemed like a good kid. But could I trust him, too?

  “All right, I’ll tell you something,” I said. I sat down on the edge of his cot again. “But you have to swear to keep it to yourself.”

  “Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. What is it?”

  “Gerry’s not my real name.”

  “It’s not?” His eyes tripled in size and he sat up.

  “Nope. My real name’s Digger. I told Nora so I’ll tell you, too. When it’s just you and me and Nora, you can call me Digger.”

  “Wow!” Luke exclaimed. “So Gerry was just your adventure name?”

  I kind of laughed. “Yeah, I guess it was my adventure name.” I was thinking, if only this kid knew about the adventures I’d had!

  Luke was beaming like the noonday sun. “You know what?”

  “No. What?”

  “Luke is not my real name either. It’s my adventure name!”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  * * *

  AN OPPORTUNITY

  “Your adventure name? What do you mean?” I asked Luke.

  The smile vanished from his face. “I’m not supposed to talk about it. Daddy will be mad.”

  He reminded me so much of Hank right then that I put both my hands on his shoulders and squeezed them. “Look at me,” I said. “It’s no big deal. Everybody’s got secrets, right?”

  Unsure, Luke nodded weakly.

  “So forget it!”

  But Luke didn’t look convinced.

  “Hey! Come on, let’s read a chapter in that dog book you were reading last night with your dad.”

  “Tornado?”

  “Yeah.”

  Luke loved this story about a dog that dropped out of the sky.

  He reached into the milk crate by his bed to get the book and put his glasses back on. I didn’t ask him anymore about his adventure name. But you can bet your boots I filed away this information.

  —

  On the second day that Woody didn’t come back, I had to start thinking serious about things. My ankle and the poison ivy were better and I still wanted to get home, but not while the police were staking out my family. Besides, what if Luke’s father didn’t come back? Someone had to look out for the kid.

  First thing I did, whenever Luke was down to the bathhouse by himself or taking Buddy for a walk, I’d rush into the tent and rifle through stuff. I was looking for money mostly, money so we could buy food, when I come across a yellow envelope in the bottom of Woody’s duffel bag. Inside was the title to his truck, a couple receipts, and one other thing: a license. It was a Texas license and it had a picture of Woody that didn’t look like Woody. I mean, you could tell it was him, the round cheeks, the high forehead, the foxy eyes. But in this license picture he had short brown hair and was clean shaved. The Woody I knew had longish blond hair and a full beard. And the name on the license was not Sherwood “Woody” Hawkins like he told me, it was Glen David Hardesty.

  Huh. I wondered what that was all about.

  I put the license back, covered up the envelope with clothes, and kept looking for money, but there wasn’t any. Worse come to worse, I still had the three dollars in my pocket and Luke had the change from his twenty. He said it was all he had, but all together I hoped our cash would be enough for a jar of peanut butter, a loaf of bread, some milk, and a bag of ice. Other than that, Luke and me would have to survive on our own for a while.

  Nora worked all weekend at the horse farm, but when she stopped by on Monday I asked if her mother could get us that food.

  She frowned. “Do you have the money? She won’t just buy it.”

  “Yeah. I think I have enough.”

  “It’s just that every penny c
ounts,” she said. “She’s trying hard to save up enough so we can get an apartment before winter.”

  “Sure! I understand,” I said. “I wasn’t asking for free food.”

  “But if you get desperate, tell me, okay? I could probably sneak you guys some cereal or a couple sandwiches or something.”

  “Thanks,” I told her. But I didn’t want to go begging from Nora. I was starting to really like her and I didn’t want her feeling sorry for me.

  “The other thing is that I’d like to look into that job at the horse farm.”

  She perked up. “Great! Next weekend, come with me!”

  We were sitting at our picnic table after Luke and I had a supper of leftover baked beans and half each of a stale, grill-toasted burger roll. It was getting dark earlier so Luke was doing his homework under a lantern in the tent while Nora and I propped up a flashlight on a bag of napkins and started a card game.

  “Where do you think Woody is?” I asked her. I was genuinely concerned, plus I hated being hungry again.

  “Beats me,” she said, dealing out the cards. “One time this summer he gambled all night at the casinos in Charles Town. But don’t worry, he’ll be back.”

  I picked up my cards. “Maybe we need to call him on your cell phone—”

  She shook her head. “I don’t have his number. Plus my cell’s not charged.”

  Didn’t she say that before?

  “A couple of times my mom and I had to take care of Luke when he was late getting home,” Nora went on, still arranging the cards in her hand. “He figures you’re here now—and he knows you won’t call the police.”

  All of a sudden the loud squeal of brakes and a big thump stopped our conversation. The sound was close, like maybe on the main road into camp.

  A woman screamed.

  Luke came running out of the tent. “What was that?”

  Nora and I both set down our cards. I grabbed the flashlight and we three tore down the dirt road, me still favoring that ankle and doing sort of a run/hop, with Buddy right beside us. Right off, we saw a car sideways off the road in a ditch, its lights still on, and smoke pouring out of the engine. Two people stood in the road. “We’re all right!” one of them called out.