“Maybe Dodd isn’t going to rob the train,” one of the others suggested.
“He’s not going to rob it,” Murtaugh replied.
“What do you mean he isn’t going to rob the train? Isn’t that why we are here?”
“He is going to try to rob the train,” Murtaugh said. “But he is not going to, because we aren’t going to allow it. ”
“Well, if he isn’t going to try it here, where is he going to try?”
“I don’t know,” Murtaugh admitted.
“How far to the next water tank?” Smoke asked.
“It’s all the way back in Lunning,” Bobby Lee said. “Damn, if they are waiting there while we came up here, I’m going to feel pretty foolish. I’m sorry, Smoke, looks like I led you on a wild-goose chase.”
“Don’t worry about it, Bobby Lee. We’ll just do what has to be done,” Smoke said.
“What would that be? If Dodd is waiting in Lunning, there’s no way we can get there in time to stop him. The train will run twenty-five to thirty miles per hour, we would kill the horses trying to keep up that pace.”
“We aren’t going to try and keep up with the train,” Smoke said.
“We’ve lost the opportunity, haven’t we?”
“No,” Smoke said. “The train hasn’t been robbed yet, has it?”
“No,” Bobby Lee said. “If it had been, the express man would have made a report as soon as the train arrived. But nobody came out of the express car.”
“Then it isn’t too late to prevent the robbery.”
“How?”
“Simple,” Smoke said. “We’ll just ride on the train. I’ll get us a couple of tickets.”
“What about our horses? There’s no stock car on this train.”
“We’ll board them here, then take the next train back.”
Chapter Twenty-five
Bobby Lee took care of boarding the horses while Smoke bought tickets. The train was already rolling out of the station when the two men ran down the platform, then leaped up onto the rear mounting step of the last car. There was a porter standing out on the rear platform, and he reached down to help each of them board.
“Thanks,” Smoke said.
“Yes, sir, glad to help,” the porter said. “You gents just barely made it.”
The passage of the train and a twist of wind caused a plume of smoke from the engine to whirl around onto the platform, burning Smoke’s nose and eyes. He coughed and waved his hand. “Let’s get inside,” he said.
“Where should we go?” Bobby Lee asked.
“If we can find a seat in this car, this is where we should be. That way, if Dodd does try anything, he will be in front of us.”
“Good idea,” Bobby Lee said. He saw a couple of seats halfway up the car on the left-hand side. “How about if we sit there?” “Good choice,” Smoke replied.
“Wait a minute, do you really intend to wreck the train?” Emmett Clark asked after Dodd explained his plan to the others.
“Yes.”
“Why? All you have to do is wait by a water tower. You know the train is going to stop there.”
“This train is carrying one hundred thousand dollars,” Dodd said. “That means it is going to be full of guards, all of them riding in the express car. And every one of them will be expecting us to hit the train at one of the watering stops. They won’t be expecting us to wreck the train. And chances are that after we wreck it, they won’t be in any condition to stop us.”
“You mean they might be killed in the train wreck,” Clark said. It wasn’t a question; it was an accusatory declaration.
“Yeah,” Dodd said. “I wrecked my share of trains and killed my share of people during the war. What’s different about this one?”
“There are innocent people on this train,” Clark said.
“There were innocent people on the other trains I wrecked too,” Dodd said. “Do you have a problem with that?”
“I don’t have any problem with it,” Wallace said. Wallace, Beard and Jackson had joined up with Dodd on the same day Clark took him the newspaper article about the money shipment. “I need money if I am going to get a new start somewhere, and I don’t care what I have to do to get it.”
“Look, Clark, if you don’t want to be a part of this, you can ride out now,” Dodd said.
“What is the breakdown again?” Clark asked.
“There are six of us,” Dodd said. You will each get fifteen thousand dollars, and I will get twenty-five.”
“I don’t like that,” Clark said.
“Then ride out now,” Wallace said. “That will just be more money for the rest of us.”
