Adventures of Pudge

PUDGE AND THE BANDITS

Twelve year old Pudge Hammond and his friend, Dan Williams, were riding their bikes on an old logging road toward a

deserted cabin they had discovered this past summer. They had visited the area several times during the summer to fish the

pond in back of the cabin. Unknown to their parents they had also gone swimming in the pond, an action their parents would

have forbidden.

At the time of their earlier visits they had made no attempt to enter the cabin. It looked so rundown they were afraid it

would collapse and trap them inside. Now, on a Saturday in early October, they were determined they would at least look

inside. Who knows, maybe they would find something interesting.

“I smell smoke,” said Pudge as they neared the cabin.

“Me too,” Dan replied. “Do you think someone’s living there?”

“That dump? I don’t know how they could.”

Rounding a turn in the road brought the cabin in sight. Much to their astonishment smoke was rising from the chimney.

“That’s strange,” Pudge commented. “Why would anyone want to live there?”

“Maybe they’re bandits and this is their hideout,” was Dan’s response. “Let’s hide our bikes in the ravine and sneak up

close.”

“I don’t want to get shot,” Pudge replied.

“If we’re quiet no one will even know.”

A short distance from the road was a rocky ravine which served as a runoff for melted snow during the spring but was dry

at this time of the year. The boys quietly pushed their bikes to the edge of the ravine and found a place to hide them

between two large boulders. They then walked, even more quietly, back through the woods until they were about fifty feet

from the cabin. Here they settled down behind a bush to wait and watch. From their hiding place they could see a car

parked behind the cabin, out of sight of the road.

For more than an hour nothing happened. Then, just as the boys had decided to creep closer, the door opened and a

man walked out carrying a shotgun. The boys shrank behind the bush wishing themselves to become invisible.

Apparently their ploy didn’t work as the man immediately started walking toward them, pointed the gun in their direction

and yelled, “Whoever you are, come out of there before I shoot.”

At this point, two more men came running out of the cabin, each of them carrying a gun. The boys waited no longer,

burst from their hiding place and ran toward the ravine. Pudge was soon able to put distance between himself and the men

but Dan, not as swift as Pudge, wasn’t as lucky. Dan stumbled over a root and lost his footing allowing one of the men to

catch up with him and hold him while the other two continued their pursuit of Pudge.

When Pudge reached the ravine he realized he would not be able to retrieve his bike but would have to try to escape on

foot. If he could get away he would notify the police; they would be able to rescue Dan.

Pudge ran as fast as he could, darting and dodging between the boulders in the ravine, expecting any minute to hear a

shotgun blast. So far he had been able to stay far enough ahead of his pursuers for the men to get a good shot at him.

As he rounded a bend in the ravine a rock suddenly rolled from beneath his feet causing him to lose his balance and

stumble. A sharp pain shot through his ankle. He realized instantly he would no longer be able to run and needed a place to

hide.

Luck was with him. To his right was a small opening at the base of the rocks. This opening led to a tiny cave formed

when two rocks slid together. Quickly, Pudge squeezed through the opening and crawled to a dark corner of the cave. Here

he would be safe, at least for a while, and if the men did discover his hiding place would not be able to reach him either by

crawling in or by firing their guns.

He knew that his safety depended on him being absolutely quiet. Even the slightest sound would be a dead giveaway to

his adversaries. Being quiet would be difficult, his ankle caused him so much pain he was afraid it would make him cry out.

In addition, when he crawled into the cave he had to squirm so close to the ground his pants were filled with dirt and were

very uncomfortable.

One thing he was sure of, if he could hold out long enough his dad would find him. Ever since he and Dan had failed to

tell their parents where they were going a year ago, and had come home much later than planned, they had been required to

let their parents know where they were going and what time they would be home. If they didn’t they would be grounded for an

indefinite period of time and wouldn’t be able to go anywhere.

Pudge and Dan had talked about the cabin with Pudge’s dad the first time they visited the cabin and were surprised to

learn he already knew of its existence. It had been one of his favorite destinations when he was a boy.

“I’m surprised it’s still standing,” Mr. Hammond told them. “My friend, Billy Burton and I used to go there a lot during the

summer. That was at least 25 years ago; the cabin was kind of ramshackle even then. I’m afraid the fishing wasn’t very

good and the pond was too polluted for swimming. So, don’t go swimming in it.”

Several times, as Pudge was lying quietly in his cave, he heard the scuff of feet as one of the men approached his hiding

place. He also smelled cigarette smoke on one occasion as one of the men lit up. So far they had not discovered the

entrance to his cave, or if they had assumed it was too small for him to have used.

An hour after Pudge crawled into his hole he began to feel fidgety. Everything in the cave seemed to be giving him an

itch and everything outside seemed quiet. Maybe this would be a good time for him to make his escape. He turned to face

the exit and began to crawl ever so slowly towards it. As he neared the cave entrance a slight noise caused him to stop and

reconsider. From his position he was able to see a short distance; there, not more than twenty feet away, one of the gang

members sat on a rock smoking a cigarette, his eyes in constant motion as he searched the area around him.

Pudge immediately backed into the darkened corner of his cave and lay there pondering what to do next. His lunch was

with his bike and he was getting hungry, thirsty as well. As he didn’t have a watch with him he had to guess that it must be

close to two o’clock by now. He and Dan were supposed to be home by four, which meant his dad wouldn’t come looking for

them for hours. He wasn’t sure he could hold out that long.

Pudge crawled to the entrance for another look; the man was still there. As Pudge watched the man threw his cigarette

down and stood up. After stretching his arms over his head to relieve some stiffness in his body he began to walk away

from Pudge in the direction of the cabin. As he did he called out to one of the other men, who must have been close by,

“Hey, Frankie, I think I’ll go keep an eye on those bikes. If he wants to go anywhere he’ll have to go there first.”

Frankie answered, “I think he’s gone. If so, he’s gonna tell the cops about us. I think we needa get outa here; let’s go

talk to Mac.”

“I’ll go; you wait here and keep your eyes open. I’ll see what Mac has to say.”

“Okay.”

As they were talking Pudge guessed that Frankie was about fifty yards away in the opposite direction from the cabin. "I

wonder if I can go towards the cabin and cross the road without him seeing me,” he said to himself. He crawled out of the

cave to get a better look and knew immediately he wouldn’t be able to walk. His ankle was badly swollen and too painful.

He knew he couldn’t stay in the cave any longer either; some other solution was needed. Besides, if he was in the cave his

dad would never find him.

Pudge crawled on his hands and knees to where an opening between two boulders provided him with a better sight of

the remaining watcher. The man was sitting on a rock, much close than the 50 yards Pudge had guessed. One point was in

Pudge’s favor, the man was facing away from him.

Pudge continued crawling, as quietly as he could, stopping frequently to glance in the direction of the man he now

thought of as his enemy. The man continued to look in the opposite direction. After what seemed like hours, but in reality

was only twenty minutes, he reached the road. With no one in sight he scampered across and sat behind a tree. His ankle

was throbbing and hurt so much Pudge had to clench his teeth to prevent himself from crying out.

At least he felt safe here; the bandits wouldn’t think of looking for him in this direction. Now there was nothing he could

do but wait for them to decide what they were going to do. If necessary, he could wait here until his dad came.

A short time later Pudge heard the sound of a car engine. In a few minutes the car that had been parked behind the

cabin zoomed by. From what Pudge could see all three men were in it. At the rate they were traveling on this road maybe

they’ll wreck the car, he thought. But where was Dan? Pudge didn’t see him in the car; they must have left him at the cabin

all tied up.

Using a dead branch he found on the ground as a crutch Pudge painfully made his way back to the cabin. When he

arrived he found Dan sitting in a chair with his hands behind him tied to the back of the chair and his ankles to the legs.

Pudge limped inside and untied his friend. Fortunately the men had never been Boy Scouts; if they had the knots would have

been more difficult.

“Whew, what happened to you?” asked Dan. “I thought you would be a long way from here.”

“I tripped on a rock and twisted my ankle, then I hid in a cave until one of the men said he was coming back here. I don’t

think I’ll be able to ride my bike so I guess you’ll have to go get help.”

“Okay, I’ll go to that farmhouse near the highway and ask them to call the cops.”

“Bring me my lunch and water bottle before you go. I’m hungry and thirsty.”

“Okay.”

When Dan left Pudge looked around inside the cabin and was immediately repulsed by what he saw. There was

garbage and trash everywhere. Remains of food and dirty dishes were piled up in the sink, several bowls had been used as

ashtrays and were overflowing. He looked in the bathroom and almost vomited at the conditions. The sink was the filthiest

he had ever seen, wet towels were on the floor and whoever had used the toilet last, maybe the last two or three times, hadn’t

bothered to flush it.

Pudge decide to wait outside until Dan returned. He didn’t want to eat his lunch in this disgusting place.

Dan returned in a few minutes with an angry look on his face. “Those dirty blankety-blanks slashed all our tires.”

“Oh jeez,” Pudge replied.

After discussing the situation for several minutes they decided that even though it meant ruining the wheels to ride a bike

with the tires removed, there wasn’t anything else Dan could do unless he wanted to walk all the way to the farmhouse.

“Here’s your lunch,” said Dan. “I’ll go cut the tires all the way off my bike. See you soon.”

About an hour later a state police car pulled up to the cabin. Two officers got out followed by Dan. Pudge stayed where

he was, sitting on the ground with his back against the cabin near the door.

“This is the first time I’ve ridden in a police car when I wasn’t in trouble,” crowed Dan.

“I’m Sergeant Dubinsky and this is Officer Blaine,” said the first officer, a tall, balding, dark complexioned man in his mid-

forties. Dan tells us you had some problems with crooks. Is that right?”

“Yeah,” Pudge answered. “We rode our bikes out here to get a closer look at the cabin. We were here a couple of

times last summer but we went fishing then. Some men came out with guns and chased us. They caught Dan, but I got away

and hid in a cave. I twisted my ankle too, so I can’t walk.”

At this the younger of the two officers knelt down next to Pudge. Officer Blaine was considerably shorter and younger

than the sergeant and had fiery red hair. He very gently ran his hand along Pudge’s ankle, causing Pudge to wince several

times.

“I don’t think it’s broken, but to be on the safe side I’ll put a splint and bandage on it. That should hold you until a doctor

can look at it.”

Officer Blaine rummaged through the trunk of the police car and came up with a first aid kit, which he placed on the

ground near Pudge’s feet. He then used two flat sticks that looked like tongue depressors and some bandages to apply a

very neat wrap on the ankle.

“You’re sure there were three men?” asked Sergeant Dubinsky.

“I saw three,” said Dan. “The one who caught me and the two that chased Pudge.”

“Can you tell me what they looked like?” the sergeant asked Dan.

“The one that caught me was about my dads age, forty maybe. He wasn’t as tall as you, maybe about the same as

Officer Blaine, but heavier. I don’t know what the other two looked like.”

“How about you?” the sergeant asked Pudge. “And for the record, do you have another name besides Pudge?”

“Yes, it’s Paul, but nobody calls me that except my teacher. In answer to your other question, I didn’t get a chance to look

at them ,I was running too fast. Then I fell and hurt my ankle and found a place to hide as fast as I could. I know two of their

names though. The one who caught Dan was Mac and one of the others was Frankie.”

“What kind of car were they driving?”

This was an easy question for Dan to answer, cars were kind of a hobby of his. “It was a dark blue Ford, four door

sedan, this year or last year’s model. I didn’t see the license plate.”

“Okay, thanks boys. Officer Blaine has already called in some of the information. We’ll add your information to what we

had before. One of your dads should be here soon to pick you up, headquarters called them right after we first called in. Is

there anything you need while you’re waiting?”

“Yeah,” grumbled Pudge, “new tires for our bikes. Those jerks cut ours into pieces.”

A short time later both of their dads arrived in Mr. Williams’ pickup. Pudge’s bike was loaded in the back, Dan climbed

in the back with the bike and Pudge was helped into the front seat between the two mn. Dan’s bike was added when they

reached the farmhouse he had ridden to for help.

On the way back to their home in Wayton Mr. Hammond told Pudge what he had found out about the bandits. “The

police have been looking for them for almost a month. They held up a number of liquor stores and gas stations near Boston

and then just disappeared from view. The only reason I knew about them was they tried to steal a shipment from the

baggage room in Framingham. They weren’t successful because the station master outfoxed them, but all the other station

masters in the area, including me, were notified.

“One of the men, the one called Frankie, lived in Wayton when he was a boy and apparently knew about the cabin.

That’s why they were there.”

When they arrived in Wayton Pudge was taken to the family doctor’s office. X-rays showed there were no broken bones.

The ankle was rewrapped and made more comfortable for Pudge. He was able to move about almost normally in a few

weeks.

Two weeks after the incident at the cabin Pudge heard on the news that the bandits had all been captured after a chase

in which many shots wee fired and two of the desperadoes were wounded.

A month later each of the boys received a $100 reward that had been posted by the merchants’ association in one of the

towns where the robberies had taken place.