Chapter 9 Summary

When at last it is their turn to board a train for the United States, they find they must ride in empty cattle cars, still full of fresh manure, along with five thousand others trying to leave Mexico. Juan and his friends have a bet as to who can wait longest to board the train as it leaves. Juan and a boy named Eduardo wait too long, and therefore, cannot catch the train as it picks up speed. While Eduardo heads back to town, Juan knows that his entire family is on the train, so he keeps following it down the tracks, through the entire day in the hot sun until his huaraches are totally gone.

Late that night Juan sees the campfires of the people on the train where it has stopped. His feet are bloody, and he can barely walk, but...