made worse by having to use as little coal as possible, in order to save fuel.
“The irony,” Bailey pointed out, “is that there is enough fuel in the tender to keep every stove on the train going until summer.”
“You can’t get to it,” Troy said, shaking his head. “The engine, tender, and the baggage car are all under a pile of snow as high as a mountain.”
“We’ve got to do something, or it’s going to get very, very cold in here.”
Suddenly the back door opened and two men blew in. As Luke had been earlier, they were covered with snow.
“Don! Beans!” Bailey shouted excitedly. He went to the two men and embraced them happily.
“Who are these people?” Senator Daniels demanded.
“The engineer and the fireman,” Troy explained. “Praise be the Lord, they ain’t dead!”
Moving quickly to the stove, Don told the others about the man who had attempted to stop the train and how shooting the gun had brought the avalanche down. Matt reported the current predicament, how four armed men were holding the entire train hostage by occupying the dining car and commandeering the only food.
“Who are these men anyway?” Don asked. “Why did they stop the train?”
Luke explained it had all been planned as a means to free Michael Santelli.
“But it backfired on them,” Bailey added.
“Actually, it backfired on all of us.” Luke muttered glumly.
Deckert stroked his chin as he read the telegram from the station agent in Big Rock.
TRAIN FROM BUENA VISTA NOT ARRIVED STOP
FOURTEEN HOURS OVERDUE STOP PHIL WILSON
STOP STATION AGENT BIG ROCK.
“Where do you think the train is?” Ticket Agent Garrison asked.
“Like as not it’s stranded at the top of the pass.”
“If they can’t get through goin’ forward, why don’t they come back here and wait it out?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they can’t go either way.” Deckert drummed his fingers on the desk.
“So, what are we going to do?”
“If we haven’t heard anything by tomorrow morning, we’ll send a relief train up after them.”
“Good idea,” Garrison said.
“I shouldn’t have let them go.”
“It’s not your fault, Mr. Deckert. The conductor makes the decision as to whether or not to go . . . doesn’t he?”
“Yes, and Mr. Bailey seemed hell-bent to go.”
“Then it’s not your fault.”
“Yeah, that’s what I keep telling myself.”
“What about the people here in town? People who have relatives and such on the train?” Garrison asked. “When are you going to tell them?”
“I reckon I’ll tell anyone who comes to ask about it. And no doubt it’ll be in the newspaper soon enough.”
“I’m sure glad I’m not up there.” Garrison shook his head. “They might be there all the way through Christmas. I’d sure hate to spend Christmas stuck on the top of the pass.”
“Ah, it won’t be all that bad,” Deckert pointed out. “They’ll be warm enough, I reckon. I mean if they had to, there’s enough coal in the tender to keep all the heating stoves going until next summer. And food enough for a week or two.”
Luke and Jenny were sitting together, as much for warmth as anything else. Suddenly, Luke stood up. “I’ll be right back. I’m going into the next car for a moment.”
“Luke, must you? What if those men are there? They tried to kill you, remember?”
“You heard the porter. They’re in the diner. I’m sure they haven’t come back into the train. When I jumped from the train, I left my coat up there. I’m going after it.”
“All right, but please be careful.”
“I will.”
Luke glanced over toward Matt. He was sitting in a seat with his arms folded, staring at the stove as if by sheer willpower he could cause it to generate more heat. His coat was still spread over Becky.
Luke squatted down beside him. “I left my coat in the other car. I’m going after it. If Deputy Proxmire’s coat is still there, I’ll bring it back for you. I warn you, though, it may have some blood on it.”
“A little blood won’t matter,” Matt said. “And thanks, I would appreciate that.”
Luke left by the front door, crossed the vestibule, then stepped into the other car. He counted eight people in the car, and didn’t see either coat. “Hey. Did any of you see the two coats that were left here?”
“That other fella, the one who was a prisoner with you?”
“You mean Santelli?”
“Yes. He come back and got both of them.”
Luke noticed both stoves were still burning. “If I were you, I’d stop feeding this stove and just keep one of them going. That way your fuel will last longer.”
“Good idea. What about food? Have you folks got any food back there?”
“None,” Luke said.
“If them fellas don’t let us have anything from the diner, we’re goin’ to get powerfully hungry,” the passenger said.
Luke smiled and rubbed his stomach. “I’m already hungry.”
“Yeah, I am, too.”
“Ain’t no need in worryin’ about food,” one of the others said. “We’re likely to freeze to death before we starve to death.”
Luke returned to the rear car and told Matt the coats were gone. “I’m sorry. It looks as if you and I are going to get pretty cold tonight.”
Matt nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
Luke returned to his seat beside Jenny, and Matt joined the engineer and the fireman close to the stove, fighting the urge to feed more coal into it.
“You know,” Don said. “In a way, I’m almost glad this happened.”
“What?” Beans asked, surprised by the comment. “What do you mean, you are glad this happened?”
Don chuckled. “I didn’t say I was glad, I said I was
“Why?”
“Tell me, Beans, when we are up there in the engine, driving the train, do you ever think about the people we are hauling around the country?”
“Think about them?”
“Yeah, you know, wonder about them.”
“I don’t know as I have thought about them,” Beans said. “Mostly the only thing I think about is keeping the steam up.”
“Well, I think about things like that, too, but I’m always wondering about who is back here, and where they are going. Are we taking some soldier boy home to see his mama and daddy for the first time since he left home? Maybe some young woman is going to meet the man who’s going to be her husband.”
“Or maybe some folks goin’ to see their grandbaby for the first time,” Beans suggested.
Don smiled. “See, you do wonder about the people we carry.”
