Snookie and Horton - Did We Miss Our Stop?

My dad's childhood nickname was Snookie (It's a long story.), and his older brother was called Horton (An even funnier story, for another time.). They grew-up in rural Garrard County, Kenucky, not far from a little village named Paint Lick. They had a fairly normal life, which means lots of hard work, and lots of hard play.

Just like most children of the Great Depression Snookie and Horton had little or no money most of the time, so they had to find cheap entertainment to fill their time (When they weren't working.). They played baseball, hunted for Native American artifacts, and spent many hours teaching themselves to play the guitar, banjo, and fiddle. All rather tame. But, there was one activity they picked-up on that was a bit over the line by most standards. They liked to, as they put it, "hobo trains".

My dad and his brother would walk three to four miles from their home to the closest point that the train tracks ran. They would wait near the tracks for the train to roll by, run along beside an empty box car as fast as they could, and jump through an open door.

Usually Snookie and Horton would ride to Lancaster, Kentucky, about fifteen miles away, and go to a movie or just hang around the city square watching for pretty girls to walk by. They both were far too shy to actually speak to a girl, but that didn't keep them from looking.

There was one particular trip that both boys talked about long after their hair had turned grey. It seems that on this special day the movie did not let out until after dark, and a train did not come by headed east until nearly midnight. By the time they jumped aboard it was very cold, and the boys were very tired. The wind blowing through the box car's open door did not help matters, so they closed it. The boys then settled in next to one another in an effort to share body heat. They fell asleep.

A sudden jerk of the train woke one of the boys and he shook his brother to wake him. They fumbled around in the dark until they found a latch and opened the door. The sun was shining brightly in their eyes. No conversation was necessary, they both knew they were in trouble. Finally Horton spoke, "Son, where the hell are we?" Snookie did not even reply, he just pointed. A sign on the fast approaching train station said "Harlan".

As the train slowed to a stop both boys jumped off the train and landed in gravel with a loud thud. As they gathered themselves and slapped the dust from their clothes, Horton spoke again, "Mama's gonna kill us."

To which Snookie replied, "Nah, she ain't gonna kill us; she ain't never gonna see us again." Horton laughed for a second, and then replied, "Huh?" At that instant both boys realized the seriousness of the situation.

It took nearly two weeks for Snookie and Horton to find their way back home. The boys were too proud and too shy to ask for help, food, or directions (It's a guy thing.), so they survived on berries they found along the tracks. The boys would jump on a train headed north, jump off, and climb onto another train. Sometimes they walked, but mostly they rode trains. When they did finally arrive at their home they were surprised to discover that they had already been given-up for dead. A search party had looked for them for over a week, but finally gave-up. It was assumed that the boys had drowned in a creek or pond, and everyone was watching for their bodies to float to the top eventually.

Grandma Green didn't actually kill them, but after she stopped kissing and hugging them, she did make them wish they had died. Needless to say, Snookie and Horton's hobo days were a thing of the past At least, that's what they told their mother......?