to avoid frightening the passengers any more than necessary. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t…uh…fan the flames, so to speak.”
Recognizing an opportunity when he heard one, Nick asked, “How much longer are we going to be stuck on this train?”
“To be honest, I couldn’t say. I got word that the town’s station isn’t allowing anyone to leave the trains.”
“What?”
“There’s some sort of riot going on.” Squinting at Nick, the conductor added, “Couldn’t you hear the gunshots? I thought that’s why you were out here.”
Ever since the train had first gotten up to full speed, Nick hadn’t been able to hear much of anything else besides the roar of the engine, the grinding of the wheels and the screaming of the kids in the passenger cars. For the sake of this conversation, however, he nodded and said, “Of course I heard them. I’d like to have a look for myself instead of sitting out here and waiting for the bullets to start breaking windows.”
“We might be stuck until they clear the track, but that shouldn’t take too long. At least we have sleeper compartments.”
“You let me and my horse out here and I’d sure appreciate it.”
The conductor blinked once and then said, “I just told you that we’re not letting anyone disembark.”
“Then maybe I should consider it my civic duty to let folks know exactly what’s going on. If they ask my opinion, perhaps I should tell them whatever I may have gathered from talking to you. I’m sure they’d love to get the real story.”
“You do that and I can have you detained,” the conductor said sternly.
Nick dug into his pocket and pulled out a few dollars. Tucking them into the conductor’s pocket, he said, “Then how about you do a favor for someone in a real hurry?”
“Fine,” the conductor snapped. “If you’re some sort of goddamn looter, you’ll be shot on sight anyhow. Head to the livery car and I’ll let you out.”
Nick smiled for the first time since he’d been cooped up in that train. “That was easier than I expected.”
“I’ve got more than enough to do without worrying about some lunatic who wants to make things worse,” the conductor replied as the good humor drifted back into his voice. “You already paid for your ticket, so you can get off whenever you like. Try to keep quiet about this, though.”
“You worried about catching hell from the engineer?” Nick asked.
“No. I’m worried that you might start a rush of more folks wanting to get off this train.”
“Even with the shots and the fire?”
Rolling his eyes and nodding, the conductor said, “You’d be amazed at how stupid folks get when they get scared.”
That drew Nick’s eyes back toward the chaos happening in the town. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“If you don’t make it back before we get moving again, you’re on your own. I can give you a slip so you can catch the next train and that can carry you the rest of the way into Cheyenne. That is where you were headed, right?”
“That’s right.”
“You sure about this, mister? Things look awfully rough out there.”
“I wouldn’t have them any other way.”
TEN
The town’s name was Rock Springs. Nick read it on a sign that was still in pristine condition not too far ahead of the train. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw the side of the livery car was already shut tight. There were still plenty of folks sticking their heads out the windows and Nick could only imagine the questions they were throwing at that poor conductor who’d given the okay for Nick to leave.
Kazys must have hated the train ride as much as Nick, because the horse had bounded from the car without even noticing that the ramp hadn’t been lowered. Only the shots, the screams and the roaring fire ahead brought the horse to a stop. Nick tugged on the reins to settle Kazys down a bit, and made a bit more progress by rubbing the horse’s ear.
“It’s all right, boy,” Nick said. “I ain’t out of my mind. When you see this much hell in front of you, it’s always better to be on the move instead of cooped up in a goddamn box.”
Kazys let out a gruff breath and shook his head.
“Or, maybe I am a little out of my head,” Nick added. “Either way, at least we’re off that train.”
When he closed his eyes, Nick actually felt his nerves settle. The sounds drifting from Rock Springs weren’t exactly comforting, but they beat the hell out of rattling around with the rest of the passengers like a bunch of moths knocking against the inside of a crate.
When he opened his eyes, Nick focused on bits and pieces of the chaotic picture in front of him. In the old days, Nick hadn’t been too interested in fires that he hadn’t started. After spending some time living in a town rather than robbing it, Nick knew that every spare hand could be put to good use in a situation like this. Considering the shots that he heard crackling through the air, Nick figured he could be of some use in other aspects as well.
Just as he was about to snap his reins, Nick heard a shot come from somewhere a hell of a lot closer than the town. In fact, the sound of the shot was accompanied by the whistle of a bullet whipping past his head. Nick reflexively hunkered down and snapped Kazys’s reins to get the horse moving.
“That’s right!” someone shouted from not too far away. “You better keep runnin,’ you Chink bastard!”
Another shot was fired at Nick’s back as he touched his heels to Kazys’s sides and rode back toward the tracks. Now that he was moving along the tracks, Nick got a much better view of what had brought the locomotive to a stop. A wrecked wagon with only two wheels lay piled upon the tracks. The front end of that wagon was wedged into the ground and there were several other piles of broken planks and lumber around the wreck.
Nick’s attention was quickly diverted to the men who were circling the wreck. A few of those men were on foot and running back to the train. Another three were on horseback and they seemed to be defending the obstruction. Every one of those riders held guns and one of them had taken a shot at Nick.
The first man to get close to Nick wasn’t one of the armed riders. He ran toward the train, waving his arms, wearing a dirty pair of coveralls and a filthy bandanna wrapped around his neck. “Get the hell away from there!” he shouted. “Those men are crazy!”
Nick rode around so that he was between the man in the coveralls and the ones doing the shooting. After drawing his pistol, Nick took a few shots at the men on horseback. That scattered them just long enough for Nick to rein Kazys to a stop and offer his hand to the man in the coveralls.
“You trying to get back to that train?” Nick asked.
The man took Nick’s hand and climbed onto Kazys’s back behind him. “Hell yes. I’m the engineer. Them others and I were just trying to see about clearing that track.” He winced as Nick fired a few more shots to keep the other horsemen at bay. “They’ll be killed if they don’t get back.”
“I’ve got you with me, so you’re heading back first,” Nick said as he pointed Kazys toward the train and snapped his reins. “I’ll see what I can do for the rest after that.”
“Better be quick. There’s plenty more of them crazy bastards around here.”
Nick had plenty of questions by the time they reached the train, but the engineer climbed down from the saddle and scrambled up into his spot behind the train’s controls. Nick lost sight of him, but figured he was as safe as he could be, wrapped up in all that iron. Turning Kazys back around, Nick got the horse moving toward the wreck.
Two of the other horsemen were now riding straight toward Nick. Between them, there was another man dressed in a similar fashion as the engineer. The other man in coveralls ran as fast as his legs would carry him. Since he knew all of those gunmen’s horses could run a lot faster than a fellow in coveralls, Nick charged straight
