Passing through the cars they saw that the other passengers were in a state of confusion and worry as they gathered by the windows, looking out to see what had brought them to such a sudden and unexpected stop.
“Can you gentlemen tell us what has happened?” one of the passengers asked. “Why was there such a sudden stop?”
“Have we had a train wreck?” another asked.
“Just stay here in your seats and keep calm,” Kelly said. “We’re goin’ up to the front of the train now to find out what happened. We’ll let the rest of you know as soon as we know.”
“Thank you.”
Nobody noticed that the man who had been a prisoner when the train left the depot was now as free as the others. And nobody noticed that all four had pistols in their hands, Santelli having taken Proxmire’s weapon.
When the four men reached the dining car they saw the kitchen staff gathered around a man who had obviously been injured.
“What happened here?” Kelly asked.
“Some man came through and hit Pete over the head with his gun,” a staff member answered.
Kelly smiled and looked at the others with him. “Looks like Parker left his calling card.”
“The man who did this. Where did he go?” Santelli asked.
“As far as I know, he’s dead, along with the engineer and fireman.”
“He’s dead? What do you mean he’s dead? And what do you mean the fireman and the engineer are dead? What are you talking about?” Santelli exclaimed.
“Where you been, Mister? Didn’t you notice the train come to a sudden stop?”
“Yes, of course I noticed it.”
“Well, what do you think stopped it?”
“I would think the engineer.”
“The engineer didn’t have nothin’ to do with it. The front end of this train is under about three hundred feet of snow. We been hit by an avalanche. We’re stuck here.”
Moving quickly to the front of the car, Santelli opened the door and discovered an impenetrable wall of white. “What the hell?” He slammed the door and turned around. “What happened?”
“What happened is the mountain collapsed on us. That’s what happened. Like I told you, we’re trapped here.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The sudden stop of the train jarred Matt, and he looked over toward Becky to see if she was all right. Fortunately, Becky’s mother was sitting in the seat in a way that sufficiently braced her and the little girl, so the sudden stop caused no problem.
It had tumbled a sleeping Jenny out of her seat, though, and Matt hurried over to help her up. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” Jenny answered. “I wonder why we stopped so suddenly. You don’t think we hit anything, do you?”
“No, I’m sure that the engineer must have seen something on the tracks ahead and brought the train to a stop. We weren’t going very fast, so it was fairly easy to stop.”
“What are they doing up there?” Senator Daniels asked, irritation in his voice clearly evident. “Is this some puerile stunt? I intend to find the conductor and give him a piece of my mind.”
“Why would you pick on the conductor, dear? He wasn’t driving the train,” Millie said.
“No, but he is supposed to be in charge.” Senator Daniels fumed in anger.
“Senator, I’m quite sure this is not some childish stunt,” Matt said. “No doubt there is a perfectly good reason for the sudden stop.”
“There may be a reason for the stop, but I guarantee you, it isn’t a good reason,” Daniels complained. “I simply must get to Red Cliff in time to prepare for my speech on Christmas Eve. Don’t people realize a speech requires preparation?”
Luke sunk down several feet into the large bank of snow. Snow got into his ears, his eyes, and his nose, and he realized he couldn’t breathe. Frightened that he might suffocate, he began to flail his arms about until he was able to open up a little pocket of air in front of his face. Still unable to breathe through his nose, he opened his mouth and took in a deep, gasping breath. The air that went into his lungs was so cold he felt a sharp pain in his chest, and for a moment he feared he might be having a heart attack.
Taking in the cold air with deep, painful gasps, he finally managed to work his way out of the snowbank and brush snow off his face. Opening his eyes, he saw a narrow gap right alongside the cars and pushed his way to it. Keeping his hand on the cars to steady himself, he stayed on that band of relatively clear path, hurried to the back of the train, and climbed up onto the vestibule.
Matt had just returned to his seat, when, unexpectedly, the rear door opened, and he felt a blast of frigid air. Looking toward the door he saw what appeared to be a snowman. He had to look a second time before he realized it was Luke Shardeen covered in snow and nearly frozen to death. His hands were still cuffed.
“Luke?” Matt asked, the tone of his voice mirroring his curiosity.
Luke moved away from the back door and stumbled into the car, his sudden and unexpected appearance startling all the other passengers. Without so much as a word to anyone, he moved quickly to the stove to warm himself.
Jenny was the next person to recognize the intruder under all the clinging snow. “Luke!” She hurried to him. As he shivered, she began brushing the snow away from him.
“What are you doing in this car?” Senator Daniels demanded. “You are getting snow over everything, and you are frightening the people.”
“I’m . . . s-s-sorry,” Luke stammered. He was shaking almost uncontrollably.
“Wait a minute! You are one of the prisoners, aren’t you?” Daniels insisted when he saw the handcuffs. “What did you do, attempt to escape?”
Luke was still shaking too much to reply.
“Answer me!” Senator Daniels snapped sharply. “Did you attempt an escape?”
“Please, Senator, can’t you see that he is nearly frozen to death?” Jenny asked.
“He’s going to be worse than that when he is returned to custody. I’m going up to the next car, right now, and tell the deputy that his prisoner is back here.” Daniels pointed to Luke. “I’ll have you returned to his custody.”
“You c-c-can’t do that,” Luke managed to say.
“And just what is going to keep me from doing it?”
Luke paused for a moment before he answered, this time managing to speak without stuttering. “You can’t do it because Proxmire is dead.”
“He’s dead? Good heavens man, did you kill him?”
“No. Some men in the car were in league with Santelli. One of them, I expect, is responsible for getting the train stopped. The remaining three killed the deputy and set Santelli free.”
“And you?”
“They were going to kill me as well,” Luke answered. “But I jumped off the train into a deep snowbank and got away.”
“I don’t believe you,” Senator Daniels uttered.
“I believe him,” Jenny affirmed.
“Yes, I am sure someone like you would believe him,” Daniels grumbled.
“I believe him, too,” Matt agreed. “Hold your hands out, Luke. I’ll get those cuffs off of you.”
“You have a key?” Luke asked in surprise.
“Of sorts,” Matt said with a smile as he held up his penknife.
