"We could've got in it easy if we'd only just brought us along some dynamite," Snooker said, sounding whiny.

"Right," Chase told him. "And got our own selves blowed to Kingdom Come."

"Farney never knew what-for about the stuff. He was the stupidest a.s.s to ever..."

"Don't speak ill of them that's gone," McSween said.

"He wouldn't be be gone if..." gone if..."

"Well, we don't have have dynamite, so leave it lie. Let's just gather up what loot we can from the pa.s.sengers and be on our way." dynamite, so leave it lie. Let's just gather up what loot we can from the pa.s.sengers and be on our way."

"I want in on it," Emmet said.

"You stay with the horses," Chase told him.

"Let him him," Emmet said, nodding at me. "I always gotta mind the horses. It ain't fair."

"We didn't come here to shoot people," Chase said.

"I won't shoot a soul!"

"So long as a soul doesn't happen to cough behind you," McSween said.

That brought him a sharp glance from Emmet.

"Y'all gonna hold that against me forever? It just ain't fair. No fair! All I ever get to do any more is hang on to the reins and wait around while everybody else has the fun."

"Give the boy another chance," Breakenridge said.

"A feller already tried to plug us out a window," Snooker added. "w.i.l.l.y took a shot at him and..."

"Missed," Emmet said.

"Got close enough to scare him off. But what I'm saying, we don't know but what we might run into a feisty pa.s.senger or two. If it comes down to gunplay, couldn't hurt none to have Emmet along."

Chase seemed to think it over for a spell. Then he nodded his head. Looking at me, he said, "You'd have to watch our prisoners here. Think you can handle them?"

"I managed the conductor, and he had the benefit of a firearm." I patted the handle of the revolver I'd taken off him.

"You might have a call to shoot one of these fellers," McSween said. "Have you got the sand?"

"They'll either lie still, or meet dire consequences."

"Good enough for me," Chase said. "All right, Emmet. But mind your weapon. n.o.body's to get ventilated without he pulls down on us and asks for it."

"You got my word." Looking mighty happy now, Emmet climbed down off his horse and handed all the reins to me.

Then the whole gang hurried off on foot. They stayed in a cl.u.s.ter, talking among each other, then split up alongside the first two pa.s.senger cars. When they were in position, they pulled their revolvers. All at the same time, they rushed up the stairs. Chase and Emmet entered the lead car, front and back. McSween and Snooker went in the front of the next, Breakenridge the rear.

They hadn't more than got inside when gunshots thundered. Some folks shrieked and others commenced to bawl. Then I heard Chase call out, "This is a holdup, friends. Settle down. We don't aim to hurt you. We don't want nothing but your money and watches. Just hand 'em on over to my pal when he comes by. We'll get done right quick, and you can be on your way."

I didn't suppose they'd be on their way any too soon, not with the rail out. From where I stood, though, I could see that the engine had stopped short of the ruined section of track, and hadn't derailed at all.

"You're starting down a hard road, son," the engineer said.

I looked down at him, sprawled there on the ground beside the fireman. They both had their heads turned, their eyes on me. Neither of them made a move to get up, but I switched the load of reins into my left hand and unholstered the Colt.

"You don't want no part of these doings," the engineer told me.

"If I'd taken no part in these doings, sir, your train would presently be a heap of debris at the bottom of the gorge. It was my idea to flag you down."

"If that's the case, I'm mighty grateful."

"Your conductor took me for one of the outlaws and tried to shoot me down."

"That's no call for you to turn to a life of crime, son. I ain't asking you to let us go or nothing of the sort. All I'm saying is you shouldn't ride off with this bunch. You ride with outlaws, you'll wind up eating lead or swinging at the short end of a rope. That's a plain fact. What you wanta do is bid 'em a fare-thee-well and stay here. We'll see to it you get a fair trial."

Up till he mentioned the fair trial, he near had me.

"I do appreciate your concern, sir. However, I'd rather prefer to take my chances with the gang. They haven't shot at me once, whereas your law-abiding conductor never gave me so much as the benefit of a doubt before he fired upon me."

"You're making a bad mistake, son."

"Perhaps. Now you lie still and leave me in peace."

"Leave him in peace," the fireman said. "He's a dead man, but just don't know it yet."

"Shut your mouth." I pointed my Colt at it. He grinned, then rested his face on his crossed arms.

Pretty soon, Chase and Emmet trotted down the stairs from each end of their car. Emmet had his gun in one hand, a valise in the other. He hadn't gone in with the valise. I wondered if it might be full of loot.

It looked a lot like Whittle's leather bag. Whittle's loot hadn't been money and watches, but parts taken from Mary.

Watching Emmet and Chase hurry on to the third pa.s.senger car, I remembered myself walking along the street so long ago on that cold, rainy night in Whitechapel. Following the Ripper. It came to me how, if I'd only just let him go and not rushed in to save that wh.o.r.e, I never would've found myself standing here in league with a band of robbers.

If I'd let him go, the wh.o.r.e'd be dead. But Trudy and her father and Michael, they'd likely still be among the living. I never would've met up with Sarah. I wondered if the General and Mable might still be alive, but judged they wouldn't be. Me being at the house probably hadn't done them any harm. But Sarah wouldn't have traveled west if not for me, so whatever might come of that would be my fault. Whatever Briggs might do with her.

The ladies in Tombstone, and whoever else Whittle might've killed in America, they wouldn't be dead if it weren't for me. Maybe more women in London would be, though.

Finally, it ran through my head that it was me who'd caused the train not to derail and crash. If I hadn't interfered with Whittle that night, I'd be home with Mother right now and the train would likely be a heap of rubble at the bottom of the gorge, all sorts of pa.s.sengers broken up and dead.

It was enough to make me dizzy, thinking about all the folks whose lives had either been saved or lost, or only just changed considerable, for no other reason than because I'd taken a notion to follow Whittle and stop him from butchering just one wh.o.r.e.

It's mighty confounding, in life, how so much good and harm can get set into motion by just a single lad who only meant to do the proper thing.

Now, I'd thrown in with a gang of outlaws.

I couldn't see much good coming of that, but it sure beat the notion of standing trial.

Anyhow, I waited, bothering my head, but not completely lost in my thoughts. I stayed aware enough to make sure my prisoners behaved and the horses stayed put, and to kind of watch the train. Chase and Emmet weren't in the third pa.s.senger car for long when the others jumped down and hurried along to the last car before the caboose. I was too busy with my other thoughts to wonder about the conductor. He never showed his face, though.

When the bunch started heading back, all the deep thinking deserted me. They had my full attention. They carried three satchels among them, so they must've done rather well. They walked slow, keeping their eyes on the windows till they got past the pa.s.senger cars.

"Any trouble?" Chase asked me.

"Not at all. And you?"

"It went slick as grease."

They emptied the satchels into their saddle bags, then took their reins from me and mounted up.

McSween brought his horse over close to me. "You done a fine job, w.i.l.l.y. Climb on aboard." He reached down to give me a hand.

"Don't do it, son," the engineer warned. He seemed a good fellow who wanted to save me from a bad end.

Emmet laid a bullet into the dirt no more than an inch from the engineer's nose. It threw up dust into his eyes.

I grabbed hold of McSween's hand. He swung me up behind his saddle.

As we galloped toward the bridge, every last one of the band pulled his gun and took to firing into the air. They shouted out whoops and banged away at the sky. Hugging the steed with my knees, I unlimbered both my Colts and let fly.

It was simply bully!

But part of me was listening and counting.

The six-gun I'd taken off the conductor, it fired four times.

CHAPTER THIRTY.

Shooting Lessons We went charging to the bottom of the slope and didn't stop when we came to the water, but raced downstream, staying in the shallows near the sh.o.r.e. We splashed along right quick for a while, then slowed and took it easy.

McSween and I were at the rear. Some of the others were laughing and talking up ahead, but what with the rushy sounds of the water and the hoofs plopping and such, I couldn't make out a thing they said.

We must've put quite a few miles between us and the train before we finally rode up onto the bank and dismounted. I untrapped my feet from the tight boots, waded into the water and helped myself to a drink while the others tied their horses to some bushes and pulled off the saddle bags.

By the time I joined them, they'd dumped the loot into a heap. They were sitting on the ground, busy separating the watches from the money. I sat down by McSween.

Well, looked like they had enough watches to open up a shop. They had a good big pile of coins, too, and a bundle of greenbacks.

"It don't appear we've struck it rich," Breakenridge said.

"Should've let me me try the messenger," Snooker said. try the messenger," Snooker said.

"I stuck my iron through his teeth," Chase told him. "If he could've opened up the safe, he would've."

"Poor fellow wet himself," McSween said, and commenced to roll a smoke. After he got it fired, he offered his makings to me.

I thanked him, and took him up on the offer. The others got busy counting the money and didn't notice how I fumbled about with the tobacco pouch and paper. Otherwise, they'd have had a good laugh on my account. It required quite a bit of work, but I finally had myself a crooked cigarette with tobacco leaking out its tip.

McSween, who'd been watching the count, looked over at me. He only glanced at my cigarette, then plucked it from my mouth. Just as nimble as you please, he flipped it open, took his pouch and tapped in some more tobacco, then tongued the paper, rolled it, tightened it up and smoothed it out.

I was in the midst of saying, "I'm more accustomed to a pipe," when he poked the remade smoke between my lips.

"There you go," was all he said. Then he lit it for me.

"Thank you so much," I said.

We sat there and smoked. By and by, the others finished counting. All together, they'd taken a total of $985.36 from the train pa.s.sengers.

"Well," McSween said, "it's better than we done last month at Pueblo."

"Just by a hair," Chase said.

"We had to divvy up that eight ways," Breakenridge pointed out. "This time, we only got the five of us."

I wondered what had become of the other three. Maybe they'd simply moved on. But maybe they'd been shot or captured. Had Farney been one of them-the fellow who'd blown himself up with dynamite? I didn't think I ought to ask.

"Six," McSween said.

Breakenridge gave me a surly look. "He ain't one of us."

"I don't see it that way, Meriwether," McSween told him.

Breakenridge bristled. It appeared he didn't care to hear what must've been his Christian name. But he kept his mouth shut. Big and powerful as he was, he apparently knew better than to tangle with McSween.

"What do you say, Chase?"

"You needn't give me any," I spoke up. "It's quite all right, really."

"Seems to me," Chase said, "the kid deserves a cut. He handled the conductor for us, tended to the horses, kept the prisoners from acting up."

"Took a shot at that d.a.m.n hothead pa.s.senger," Snooker added.

"And missed," Emmet put in. He did like to remind everybody of my poor aim.

"He done fine," Snooker said.

"We'll cut it six ways," Chase said. And that's what they did. I ended up with $150.00. I did some calculating and judged I'd been shorted to the tune of about fourteen dollars, but I didn't let on.

This was far and away more wealth than I'd ever had in my whole life.

McSween picked out a watch for me. It wasn't near as fine as the one Sarah'd given to me, but I accepted it.