Before the conductor had time to realize what was going on, Garth jammed the Colt’s muzzle in the man’s belly. He said, “You can do what you’re told, or I’ll blow your guts right through your backbone.”
A sharply indrawn breath of surprise hissed between the conductor’s teeth as he stiffened in alarm. “Is this a holdup?” he asked.
“Nope. You’re gonna take my pard and me up to the engine, you understand? You cooperate with us, and nobody’ll get hurt.”
Nobody but Thorpe, Bodine, Two Wolves, and anybody else who got in their way, Garth thought.
For a moment, the conductor looked like he might be stubborn, but then he sighed and nodded. “All right,” he said. “Just leave the passengers alone.”
Garth jabbed harder with the pistol, making the man gasp in pain. “Don’t go givin’ orders,” Garth snapped. “Now move.”
The conductor turned and started making his way along the narrow walkway built onto the side of the coal tender. Garth held the gun in his right hand, and used the left to hold the grab-irons along the way. The train swayed slightly, and if a man wasn’t careful, he could get pitched off. Jeffries came along behind him, also with a drawn gun.
They reached the end of the walkway. The conductor stepped around onto the platform at the front of the tender, which was closely coupled to the locomotive. The engineer sat on his stool, leaning over slightly to peer out the window along the tracks as he held his hand loosely on the throttle. The fireman was on the other side of the cab, leaning on his shovel at the moment.
The fireman spotted Garth and Jeffries first, and started to lift his shovel as if he intended to use it as a weapon. Jeffries stepped around Garth and the conductor and leveled his gun at the man.
“Don’t do it, friend,” he warned.
The engineer bolted up off his stool. “What the hell!”
“Careful, Fred,” the conductor warned. “This bastard’s got a gun in my back!”
Garth said, “And since we don’t need you anymore, I don’t cotton to bein’ called a bastard!”
His gun rose and fell suddenly, crunching down on the conductor’s head. The man groaned in pain and fell to his knees, driven down by the blow, then pitched forward on his face.
His face mottled with rage, the engineer started toward Garth, but the outlaw stepped back quickly and leveled his Colt again. “Might as well tell you now,” Garth said, “I can run one of these contraptions if I have to. So don’t think I won’t plug you if I have to.”
The engineer stopped and struggled to control his anger with a visible effort. Finally, he asked, “What do you want? Is this a robbery?”
“Nope,” Garth said again. “Just keep this locomotive rollin’ all the way to that water stop up ahead. When we get there, you can take on water just like you always do. Nobody has to know anything’s goin’ on except us.” He paused. “There’s one more thing. I think some fellas are gonna be waitin’ there to get on the train. You’ll let ’em do it, understand?”
“Friends of yours?” the engineer grated.
“One of ’em is. The others…not hardly.”
Garth moved so that he could cover both the engineer and the fireman, then nodded toward the unconscious conductor. “Get that uniform on, Jeffries. I don’t reckon any of those lawdogs ever got a good enough look at you to recognize you.”
Jeffries nodded and holstered his revolver. He bent and began pulling the blue coat off the conductor.
By the time the water tank had come into view up ahead, Jeffries had the uniform on and was tugging the black cap down on his head. “How do I look?” he asked with a grin.
“Good enough to fool those varmints. Just stay out of the passenger cars and away from the brakes. We don’t want any of ’em to realize you ain’t the real conductor.”
Jeffries nodded in understanding. He had taken off his gunbelt, but he had the Colt tucked behind his belt. The conductor’s coat concealed the gun butt.
“Slow and easy, just like normal,” Garth told the engineer. The man blew the whistle and then worked the control levers, slowing the train. Garth risked a glance toward the water tank, and felt a surge of excitement and anticipation as he spotted the small group of men standing near the tracks.
The wind blew the long hair of the man in the center. That would be Joshua. He was flanked by Thorpe and some nameless deputy, who were hanging on to him. Bodine and Two Wolves were on either side of them.
All nice and neat, Garth thought, and he and Jeffries could have just gunned them all down, if not for the fact that Joshua would be in the line of fire, too. After this much time and trouble, Garth didn’t want to take any more chances on harming his leader and friend.
Steam shot out in clouds as the train slowed more. The locomotive was almost even with the water tank now. With practiced ease, the engineer brought it to a smooth halt. With a giant hiss, more steam billowed out, obscuring Garth’s view of the waiting men. He crouched, not wanting any of them to spot him.
Then, as the steam blew away, Jeffries let out a startled, bitter curse and exclaimed, “Bodine and Two Wolves—they’re gone!”
Chapter 37
As the train eased to a stop next to the water tank, Matt said to Thorpe, “Something’s wrong, Marshal. Better get Shade back under cover while Sam and I check it out.”
“What—” Thorpe started to ask, but he was too late. The blood brothers were already moving.
