Hey, everone! I know this chapter's a little short...but, trust me...it's far from boring!

CHAPTER EIGHT: FLAT-TOP TUNNEL

After crossing between cars, I ran down the aisle of the second car. The boy sitting there didn't seem to notice me, which didn't affect me in the least.

I flung open the door at the back of the car, and all that awaited me was train tracks, snow, and really cold wind.

No one was there.

Shoot! Don't tell me all three of them jumped off!

Suddenly, I heard a voice on top of the roof. "Wait!…Wait!" it called into the darkness.

I cocked my head. Wait for what?

"Wake up!" I suddenly heard it say. "Wake up! WAKE UP!"

I listened closer and then I realized who it was.

Dad.

But then there was another voice. Saying something about… "jumpin' them knuckles". Uh, no. Absolutely not. I had no idea what that meant, but there was no way my father was jumping anything. I began to climb the ladder to the roof.

As soon as I got up there, I was faced with something startling: my father hanging from the roof and some crazy hobo on skis.

"DAD!" I screamed.

"LUCY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP HERE? I TOLD YOU TO STAY IN THE CAR!"

I was about to answer, but the hobo quickly stuck out his ski pole to Dad. He grabbed on, and they were off, the hobo obviously not seeing me.

Well, that was just great. I got to spend the next some-odd minutes chasing my dad and a hobo on skis, all while on top of a fast-moving locomotive.

Oh, yeah.

This so beat staying at home.

...

Jumping from car roof to car roof is harder than it looks. It didn't help that the wind was blowing against the way I was going and that it was snowing. But it did help that the train was going downhill. And the cars weren't spaced that far apart.

After every car I jumped, I saw a black blur getting closer and closer. I knew that that was my dad, and that kept me going. Just knowing that I was getting nearer to him, knowing that I had a chance to help him…that was all that mattered.

I finally caught up with them and stood right behind them. As I breathed a sigh of relief, I saw that we were approaching a tunnel. The opening looked just like the mouth of a monster, sharp icicles dangling from the top.

Over the roar of the wind, I heard the word "JUMP!" And the hobo disappeared!

Dad jumped into the coal car, but didn't sink in right away. His head still poked out of the pile of coals, and he had a pretty good view of me.

"DAD!" I called.

"LUCY! LOOK OUT!" I looked up to see the tunnel opening nearing pretty fast. I screamed, but my voice was lost in the wind.

As my dad sank into the coal pile, I could hear him cry, "LUCY! NOOOOOO!"

I closed my eyes and prepared to hit the tunnel wall.

And then everything went black.