In the chap­ter, Mrs. Valerie Pick­well calls her chil­dren for din­ner with a unique and mag­i­cal two-note whis­tle that per­fect­ly res­onates with all ten Pick­well kids, ensur­ing none are ever late for meal­time. This phe­nom­e­non is con­sis­tent, as sig­nal­ing for din­ner, they all come run­ning from var­i­ous activ­i­ties around their neigh­bor­hood, cre­at­ing what Mrs. Pick­well fond­ly refers to as her “small nation.” The large fam­i­ly gath­ers around a Ping-Pong table, the only piece of fur­ni­ture spa­cious enough to accom­mo­date every­one, and din­ner is filled with laugh­ter and spaghetti—a sta­ple meal for them that recurs every third night.

After din­ner, as the chil­dren clear away their plates, Dominic notices a new boy sit­ting at the table. The sib­lings engage in a light, con­fused dis­cus­sion about the boy’s iden­ti­ty, with each sib­ling mis­tak­en­ly believ­ing anoth­er one knew him. The boy prompts curios­i­ty and cre­ates a sense of mys­tery among the Pick­well kids. As they rush out to find him after real­iz­ing he’s miss­ing, they spot him in the distance—the unknown boy is run­ning along the rail­road tracks, clutch­ing a book.

What catch­es their atten­tion is not just his pres­ence but the pecu­liar way he is tra­vers­ing the tracks. Unlike the Pick­wells and oth­er neigh­bor­hood kids who tread cau­tious­ly along the wood­en ties or the cin­ders, this boy is bold enough to run straight along the steel rails them­selves, an auda­cious act that leaves the Pick­well chil­dren blink­ing in sur­prise. The essence of their curios­i­ty and child­hood won­der empha­sizes the thrill of new encoun­ters, lead­ing to intrigu­ing pos­si­bil­i­ties in the nar­ra­tive. The chap­ter encap­su­lates fam­i­ly dynam­ics, explores themes of belong­ing, and intro­duces an adven­tur­ous spir­it through the enig­mat­ic fig­ure of the boy on the rail­road.