Smokey the Hobo

Book One:   "Smokey Finds Topper"

Chapter One

"Sit here, Smokey, this is my favorite spot when I ride the train to Chicago," John Carpenter said after the two men had boarded the coach.

"Hey, mahn, thank you, you know...from the bottom of my heart," the hobo said as he carefully laid the bandanna with all of his belongings on the seat.  Sitting down, he said, "Ah, mahn, ah really appreciate dis, and ah am goin' to repay you, mahn."

"You already have, my good man," John answered, patting his friend on the shoulder.  "And I owe  you even more," he added, fighting back tears.

"Tickets!" came the cry from the uniformed conductor coming down the aisle.  As he neared the two men, he looked startled.

"Hey, we don' allow hoboes on this train!" the conductor said in his booming voice, startling John, Smokey, and everyone around them.   "Unless you have a ticket, you'll have to get off...now!"

"Hey, wait a minute, conductor," John said in an irritated voice.  "This man is a friend of mine, and here, I've got his ticket," he added, sticking the ticket out to the conductor.  Still steaming, John continued, "And it's good all the way through Chicago to Cincinnati!  Do you have a problem with that?"

"Uh, no, sir," the conductor said sheepishly as he took the ticket, punched it, and handed it to Smokey.  "Tickets," he shouted as he continued on.

"Whooaa, thank you, mahn," the hobo said to his friend, sighing in relief.

A man seated across the aisle let out a loud "Harumph!" as the conductor punched his ticket.  The conductor then moved past the hobo and his friend.

The other man was upset that a hobo was actually riding "in" a train.  "Hoboes should be riding in a boxcar," he exclaimed out loud.  "That's where they belong, with their own kind, not in here!"

There was no way the man wanted to sit anywhere near one of those "tramps."  He got up and moved to a different seat in the coach.

Smokey crossed his arms, daring anyone else to challenge his right to be on this train.

John Carpenter chuckled when he saw Smokey's reaction.  He smiled when he realized his friend now had the situation well in hand.

Waving the punched ticket at John, Smokey said, "Mahn, it would have been a cold ride on dat rattler to Cch-cah-go without dis."

With a puzzled look, John asked:  "A rattler, what's that?"

"Oh, it's just dem freights, ya know," Smokey answered.   "Dey rattle and creak and rumbles along from town to town," he added, "but, you know, you get used to dem, eh.  Hey, mahn, you can even sleep on dem, you know?"

They heard the long, loud blast of the locomotive's whistle.

Smokey stood up, knowing his friend had to leave the train.   "Better get back to yer family, mahn," he said, grasping John Carpenter's hand firmly with both of his hands.

"All aboard!" came the cry from the conductor.

"Thank you!  And God bless you!  God bless all of you!" Smokey said, tearfully.

Fighting back tears of his own, John turned to leave, then stopped.   He turned back to Smokey and said:  "We're going to miss you.  And we would love to see you the next time you're in Denver.  You are always welcome here.  So, please, do stay in touch!"

The train lurched forward.  John barely heard Smokey's response.  "Okay, mahn, I promise."  Smokey sat down and looked out the window as his friend got off the train.  He saw the rest of the family waiting on the depot platform.

The whistle blew once again as the train inched forward.

Alice Carpenter was holding Amanda's hand and Tommy had a solid grip on Topper's collar.  Smokey opened the window, leaned out, and felt the cold blast of January air.  He tried to reach out to the family that had been so generous, but the train was moving.  He could only wave good-by.

As the train picked up speed, he saw Topper rip away from Tommy's grip and run alongside the train.  "Stay, Topper, stay!" Smokey yelled as the dog neared the end of the platform.  Topper, as usual, obeyed.

When he could no longer see Topper, Smokey closed the window and began to cry.  Seeing his reflection caused him to choke back the tears and wonder.   "How did you get so lucky, you know?  Here you are, riding inside, mahn...inside the train?

Smokey pulled his sack of belongings closer, reached in and took out a brand new sketch pad and a long, sharp, fresh pencil.  He sat in the most comfortable position and continued his habit of drawing the adventures of his life.   As he began to sketch the depot scene with Topper and her family, he also began to reflect on the recent events in his life.  He thought:  "Hey, mahn, how did this all get started, you know?"  As he reminisced, Smokey chuckled at his good fortune and said to himself, smugly, "Hey, ah wonder what the poor people are doin' today?"

As the fading light of day turned darker, the train carried him toward Chicago and further away from his friends in Denver.  Staring out the window, Smokey recalled how this whole adventure started.

To order your copy of "Smokey the Hobo: Smokey Finds Topper," send an Email to smokey@simplysuccess.com.