“Here is what’s relevant. The mother wants to keep her little girl with her,” Matt said.
“What’s going on here?” Kyle asked, coming up on the conversation. Then, seeing the woman holding the little girl, he took off his hat. He knew the woman, knew that she and her husband lived on a small ranch just outside Sentinel.
“Why, Mrs. Dobbs,” he said. “I didn’t know you were on—” It was not until that moment that he saw that the little girl was dead. He stopped in mid-sentence and paused for a moment before he resumed speaking. “Oh, no, not your little girl,” he said solicitously. “Mrs. Dobbs, I’m so sorry.”
“I want to keep her with me,” Mrs. Dobbs said. “But he says that I can’t.”
“As I tried to explain to the lady, we have a car reserved for the deceased. The little girl must go in there.”
“No!” Louise said, holding her baby even more tightly.
“I think you can make an exception in this case,” Kyle said.
“You may be a United States marshal, but I am an agent for the Southern Pacific Railroad,” the man said haughtily. “And I will inform you, Marshal, that in terms of railroad policy, I am the one who makes the decisions.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“You are under arrest,” Kyle said.
“What?” the railroad agent gasped. “Under arrest for what?”
“For manslaughter,” Kyle said. “By maintaining an unsafe railroad, you caused the death of this little girl.”
“Are you insane? I had nothing to do with that!”
“You said you represent the railroad, didn’t you?”
“Yes, I do.”
“I hold the railroad responsible for the death of this little girl, as well as the deaths of the others who were killed. And as you are a representative of the railroad, I am putting you under arrest. Boomer, put cuffs on him.”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute!” the railroad agent said. “Isn’t there some way we can work this out?”
“There may be,” Kyle said. “Do you have any suggestions?”
The railroad agent sighed. “Suppose I let the little girl stay with her mother.”
“Then I suppose we could work something out so that you wouldn’t be under arrest,” Kyle said.
“That’s not right, Marshal. That is pure coercion.”
“Really?” Kyle said. “I don’t look at it that way. I look at it as common sense.”
“Very well,” he said. “The woman can keep the girl.”
The railroad agent’s acquiescence was met with words of approval from the other passengers nearby.
Noticing that several of the other passengers had gathered around, Kyle took the opportunity to address them.
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention for a moment? I would like to ask for your assistance. I am United States Marshal Ben Kyle. We had word that this train was transporting a prisoner—a convicted murderer—to Yuma Territorial Prison for hanging. He was riding in the express car.”
“Are you sayin’ he ain’t in there now?” one of the passengers asked.
Marshal Kyle nodded his head. “That’s what I’m saying. He’s gone, and the deputy who had him in custody is dead. I believe the prisoner killed the deputy who was transporting him.”
“What makes you think the prisoner killed the deputy?” the passenger asked. “A lot of folks got killed in this wreck.”
“Yes,” Kyle said. “But how many of them were shot between the eyes?”
“You say the deputy was shot between the eyes?”
“Yes.”
“You’re right. That could only mean that he was killed of a pure purpose,” the passenger said.
“What does this fella look like?” another passenger asked.
“I don’t know,” Kyle replied. “We didn’t get a description of him, just his name. His name is Matt Jensen and he would’ve been in chains when he got on the train.”
Matt glanced at the passengers. Of those who had boarded at Purgatory, only Jerry and his mother had survived. That meant they were the only ones who could identify him. He saw Jerry staring back at him.
“Marshal?” Jerry said.
Jerry’s mother shushed him, then put her arm around him and pulled him to her.
“Yes, son, what is it?” Kyle asked.
Jerry looked up at his mother, and she shook her head no. It was then obvious to Matt that she was not going to give him away.
