Jayrod Nash is not your typical fourth grade boy. The abuse he suffers at the hands of his father is brutal, and he doesn't find much comfort in his mother. At school, his shyness makes him a prime target for the class bully, but Jayrod is getting tired of being everybody's punching bag. Arnold Wise is Jayrod's best friend, and he's starting to realize that something in the Nash household is terribly wrong. Twice a day, a train rumbles through the woods behind Jayrod's rural Mississippi home. The day train fills his head with dreams of adventure, but at night his thoughts turn to escape. Escape from a life of pain and neglect. With Arnold's help, he stops the train and sneaks aboard, and soon learns that problems can't be solved by running away.