Wainright who mentioned it, his voice sounding strained. 'It looks as if we're in the clear.'
'Not quite,' Danner replied without spirit. When Wainright shot him a quizzical look, he nodded over his shoulder toward the north.
'We'll be at the bridge soon. At this speed that old structure won't hold up.'
Wainright jumped to his feet and stared anxiously ahead. 'We're far enough ahead of the fire to slow down,' he said.
Danner stood up slowly. 'Too far ahead. That puts us too close to the bridge. We'll be there before we could get forward and warn the engineer.' Even then he could see the spans ahead. 'Get ready to jump.'
Wainright crouched at the left edge of the boxcar as Danner hunkered down on the right side, his eyes fixed on the bridge ahead. Sparks from the locomotive showered both sides of the track and some of them pelted against his face.
The locomotive reached the bridge and started across and Danner almost stopped breathing. The bridge seemed to be holding. As the last car neared the bridge Danner could see the overhead beams vibrating, could even feel a tremor from the treacherous trackage across the piling. Then the last boxcar started across, swaying dangerously. Too late to jump now, Danner realized.
A sinking sensation touched him and he knew the bridge was collapsing under the burden of the train. Yet the Mogul engine struggled on, and the long string of cars followed. Finally the entire train pulled clear of the bridge and Danner heard a sharp cracking followed by a series of heavy rumbles. He looked back in time to see the old bridge drop into the bed of the river, and a weakness worked upward through his body.
How long he sat frozen to the top of the boxcar he didn't know, but he became aware of the train slowing and he looked around to find Wainright getting up.
'The main line is just ahead,' Wainright said. 'What now?'
What now, Danner thought with a dullness he didn't fully understand. Then he shook off the feeling and got to his feet.
'We might as well take it on to Junction City right now,' Danner said. 'If I went back to Richfield without a stack of bank drafts, those grangers might decide to hang me anyway.'
Billy McDaniel favored Danner with his characteristic, dog-friendly grin, then leaned back against the pillows piled up at the back of his bed. Pale and thin looking, he'd be out of bed within a couple of weeks, the doctor had said when Danner first came in. Now Danner relaxed in the bedside chair and finished giving Billy an account of his finding the train and the events which followed. McDaniel listened attentively, occasionally smiling with satisfaction. But when Danner explained about the pin-fire pistol, a shadow touched the heavy features. Silence fell between them, each lost in his own thoughts until Danner heard the door open behind him.
Lona walked to the foot of the bed, smiling serenely at both of them. A red ribbon gathered her long pale hair at shoulder level, giving her a girlish appearance.
'I hate to break up your visit,' she told Danner, 'but Billy must not be overtaxed.'
Danner nodded his understanding and got up to leave. Hesitating, he darted a glance at Lona, wondering how to tell Lona of his decision. Reluctantly, he looked at McDaniel.
'As soon as you are on your feet, I'm giving you title to my half of the farm.' He raised his hand to stifle the protest he saw rising to the face of McDaniel. 'We'll keep it businesslike. You give me a mortgage for the amount due and pay it off when you can.'
They both glanced at Lona expectantly, awaiting an outburst of protest. But she remained silent. Except for a touch of color on each cheek, she appeared completely unconcerned. Danner waited, finally growing restless with the continued silence.
'I'll drop in again tomorrow,' he told McDaniel. 'You take it easy.' With a nod to Lona, he left the room. Hurriedly he moved down the corridor, across the reception room and had reached the outer door when Lona called to him. He stopped and turned to face her. It would come now, he thought. She just hadn't wanted to make a scene in front of McDaniel. Strangely, though, he saw no signs of anger on her face. But he did detect some turmoil in the way she toyed with the cameo hanging at her throat.
'I'm sorry about the farm,' Danner ventured. 'I—Billy belongs out there—but I just don't fit in.'
'I know.' She moved over to the west window and gazed out at a yard engine moving empty flatcars. 'I'm glad, actually. It makes it easier to say what I must.'
Unsure of the direction she was heading, Danner waited. When she faced him again, her lips were drawn out in a thin line.
'I've decided not to marry you.' The simple statement caught him unprepared. He met her steady gaze uncertainly.
'That farm couldn't mean that much, not even to you.'
'It isn't the farm,' she snapped, a hint of temper showing now. 'I made this decision two days ago, before I knew—well—' She made a helpless gesture then faced the window again. 'After I found out why you went to Topeka.'
'We don't have to live on a farm to have a good marriage.'
'No.' She turned on him, her face flushed. 'No, we don't. But we do have to love each other. You've never loved me. I knew that from the first, but I thought you would, eventually. Perhaps you would have if Melinda hadn't—'
'Lona,' Danner caught her by the shoulders. 'There's never been—'
'I know,' she interrupted bitterly. 'Maybe you don't even realize what she means to you. But I've seen it for some time, although I didn't want to admit it. Anyway,' she lifted her shoulders, 'my mind is made up. Please don't come to see me again.'
Anger—or at least disappointment—should have touched Danner then, but he felt nothing. He dropped his hands from her shoulders, not knowing what to say. She moved away from him then, stopping at the corridor and looking back.
'I've decided to marry Billy, if and when he asks me. And I don't think that will be long once he learns I'm unattached, because he's loved me for a long time.' When she saw that Danner wasn't going to reply, she turned and vanished down the long corridor.
How long he stood there staring along the vacant corridor Danner didn't know. He heard the morning westbound passenger train arrive and leave, then he opened the front door and started along the boardwalk toward the depot. Lona was right, he thought. She deserved more from marriage than she could get from him. Could she also be right about Melinda? Was that why Melinda filled his thoughts so often, and why he wanted to please her? He didn't think so, but it didn't really matter. He and Melinda came from different worlds, too, just as he and Lona did. And there was still the matter of the unexplained Spaulding robbery.
Danner mounted the steps to the depot platform and crossed it to the office. Nodding to the clerks, he rapped on Wainright's office door. A gruff voice told him to come in. He stopped just inside the door, staring at Old Man Corbin who stood in front of Wainright's desk. Corbin must have come in on the morning westbound. Now he puffed angrily on a long black cigar, devoid of his usual benevolent appearance.
'Good to see you, Mr. Danner,' Corbin greeted him. Danner nodded and removed his hat. Wainright slumped in a chair behind his desk with a trace of sulkiness, absently fingering the sawed-off shotgun which lay on the desk top. Apparently, he had become quite fond of the vicious weapon. Hostility hung heavily in the air. It was obvious that Corbin and his nephew had been brawling just before Danner arrived, and just as obvious that the old man had come out on top. Even yet, anger stained the faces of both men.
'Finding that train was a good piece of work,' Corbin said with some of his usual heartiness. 'Congratulations.'
Danner nodded his thanks.
Corbin replaced the cigar in his mouth and with hands clasped behind his back, he paced back and forth in silence. Then he stopped and removed the cigar.
'I want to offer you my apologies for the way my nephew has treated you,' Corbin said. 'I've decided to remove him as general manager here. If you'll return to your old job, I'm sure the next manager will treat you with
