Maniac Magee: Chapter 44 Summary & Analysis

As summer wears on, Maniac sometimes thinks he hears a second set of footsteps during his early morning runs. And one day, he turns a corner and runs into Mars Bar. From then on, they encounter each other often—sometimes running in the same direction, but on opposite sides of the street. Eventually, without a word, they start meeting along their route and silently running together, matching their pace.

One day, Maniac and Mars Bar are running down Main Street when they’re stopped by a sobbing Piper McNab, who is covered in mud. They follow him to the platform for the P & W trolley. Gradually, they piece together what’s happened. Piper had been sailing his raft down the river, and Russell was supposed to “bomb” him with rocks from above. But, high on the trolley trestle, Russell got scared and froze—and now a trolley is coming. Piper begs Maniac to save his brother. But Maniac stares unblinkingly at the trestle and walks away.