"Robert F. Young - Little Red Schoolhouse" - читать интересную книгу автора (Young Robert F)

He hurried along the tracks, staring hungrily ahead for some sign of the
valley. The shadows deepened around him and the damp breath of night crept
down from the hills. Insects awoke in the tall meadow grass, katydids and
crickets and frogs began singing in ponds.
After a while, the first star came out.

HE WAS surprised when he came to the big broad-shouldered building. He did
not recall having seen it during his ride on the stork train. That was odd,
because he had never left the window once during the whole trip.
He paused on the tracks, gazing at the towering brick fa├зade with its tiers
and tiers of small barred windows. Most of the upper windows were dark, but
all of the first-floor windows were ablaze with light. The first-floor windows
were different in other respects, too, he noticed. There were no bars on them
and they were much larger than the higher ones. Ronnie wondered why that
should be.
And then he noticed something else. The tracks stretched right up to the
imposing fa├зade and entered the building through a lofty archway. Ronnie
gasped. The building must be a terminal, like the one in the city, where his
parents had met him. But why hadnтАЩt he seen it when the stork train had passed
through it?
 Then he remembered that heтАЩd been put on the train when he was asleep and
could have missed the first part of the journey. HeтАЩd assumed, when he awoke,
that the train was just pulling out of the valley, but perhaps it had pulled
out some time beforeтАФa long time, evenтАФand had passed through the terminal
while he was sleeping.
It was a logical explanation, but Ronnie was reluctant to accept it. If it
was true, then the valley was still a long way off, and he wanted the valley
to be close, close enough for him to reach it tonight. He was so hungry he
could hardly stand it, and he was terribly tired.
He looked miserably at the big hulking building, wondering what to do.
тАЬHello, Ronnie.тАЭ
Ronnie almost collapsed with fright on the tracks. He peered around him
into the shadows. At first he saw no one, but after a while he made out the
figure of a tall man in a gray uniform standing in a grove of locusts
bordering the tracks. The manтАЩs uniform matched the shadows, and Ronnie
realized with a start that he had been standing there all along.



тАЬYou are Ronnie Meadows, arenтАЩt you?тАЭ
тАЬYesтАФyes, sir,тАЭ Ronnie said. He wanted to turn and run, but he knew it
wouldnтАЩt do any good. He was so tired and weak that the tall man could catch
him easily.
тАЬIтАЩve been waiting for you, Ronnie,тАЭ the tall man said, a note of warmth in
his voice. He left the tree shadows and walked over to the tracks. тАЬIтАЩve been
worried about you.тАЭ
тАЬWorried?тАЭ
тАЬWhy, of course. Worrying about boys who leave the valley is my job. You
see, IтАЩm the truant officer.тАЭ