Chapters 3 and 4 Summary

Chapter 3: American Flyer

Bored in his cellar room again, Max's thoughts keep returning to his new, strange little neighbor. Max ventures out to the backyard again and spots the Freak standing beneath a scraggly tree in his backyard. He is holding his crutch up in the air and making the motion of jumping, although his feet do not leave the ground. The Freak looks angry and gets down on all fours and crawls quickly to a shed. He brings out an old rusted American Flyer wagon and tugs it over to the tree. He manages to climb on the wagon and then reaches with his crutch again but unfortunately still cannot connect with the object he is trying to retrieve from the tree's branches.

Max stealthily approaches but stays his distance—he does not want to be hit by the...