Authors: William W. Johnstone
Shot in the Back (10 page)
“Well now, I wouldn't put it past him.”
“Pa, do you remember what Frank said when he spoke over Ma's grave? I mean about her not havin' to learn to be an angel and all that.”
“Of course I remember,” Jesse said. “I was real proud of your brother that day. I think the words he spoke were just fine.”
“I think they were, too. Pa, his talk about Ma being an angel and all. Do you reckon she is in heaven?”
“Yes, as sure as a gun is iron she is in heaven.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
They spent that night down in an arroyo.
“Why are we throwing out our sleeping rolls down here?” Billy asked. “There ain't no breeze down here. Seems to me it would be a lot cooler up top.”
“You want to eat your food raw?”
“No.”
“Do you have any idea how far away you can see a campfire at night?”
“No, I don't know. I've never really given it any thought.”
“If you are down on the ground, you can see it for three or four miles. If you're up on a high enough hill, so the world doesn't curve away from you, you could see a campfire from fifteen to twenty miles away. But down in the arroyo, can't nobody see it.”
“Who thinks about things like that?”
“I do,” Jesse said. “And you are going to have to start thinking about it. Billy, I may not always be here. But believe me when I say that if you want to stay out of jail, better yet, if you want to stay alive . . . you absolutely must start thinking about things like that.”
“I will, Pa,” Billy promised. “I will.”
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As Jesse and Billy stretched out that night, Jesse looked over at the low-burning fire and let his thoughts drift back more than thirty years ago. That was when he held up his first train.
Near Adair, IowaâJuly 21, 1873
“One hundred thousand dollars in gold,” Frank said. “That's what this train is carrying.”
“If we wreck the train, someone could be hurt,” Bob Younger said. “Someone could even be killed.”
“Do you think the train would just stop if we held up our hand?” Jesse asked.
“No, but if someone gets killed, wouldn't your conscience bother you?”
“Whatever conscience I had, I left back in the war,” Jesse said.
“Conscience is but a word that cowards use, devised at first to keep the strong in awe,” Frank said.
“That don't make no sense at all,” Cole Younger said.
“It's probably from one of those books Frank is always reading,” Jesse said.
“You're right, Dingus. It is from King Richard the Third. Shakespeare.”
“The third? You mean there was three kings named Richard?” Bob asked.
“There were.”
“How did they tell them apart?”
“Get ready,” Jesse said. “Here comes the train.”
“One hunnert thousand dollars,” Bob said. “Woowee. I didn't know there was that much money in the whole world.”
Earlier, the men had loosened a length of the rail that was just beyond a blind curve, choosing the location so that by the time the engineer saw it, he wouldn't be able to stop.
Just as the train came around the curve, they pulled on the rope that was tied to the track. The locomotive hit the dislodged rail and turned over. The boiler burst with a loud noise and a gush of hot steam as the engine slid along the ground, throwing up rocks and dirt. Finally it stopped, and with guns drawn, Jesse and the others ran toward the train.
The first thing they saw was the engineer. He had been thrown from the cab when the engine overturned. They didn't have to examine his mutilated body too closely to see he was dead.
The tender, baggage car, and express car also left the track, though the express car had not overturned. The express agent, who was uninjured, opened the door to see what had happened.
“Throw down that money shipment,” Jesse called up to him.
“Did you men do this?” the agent asked.
“The one hundred thousand dollars,” Jesse repeated. “Throw it down now, if you want to live.”
“Mister, you've made a big mistake,” the agent said. “We aren't carrying that money shipment. They delayed it. It's going on another train.”
“I'm coming onto the car to have a look for myself,” Jesse said. “And if I find you're lying, I'm going to kill you.”
“Come on, look for yourself. I'm not lying, I swear to you, I'm not lying!”
“Open the safe,” Jesse ordered.
With shaking hands, the agent opened the safe and stepped back. Inside, there was a canvas bag marked,
BANK OF DUBUQUE
.
BANK OF DUBUQUE
.
“What is this?” Jesse asked, holding up the bag.
“It's two thousand dollars,” the nervous agent replied. “That's all the money we're carrying.”
“Damn,” Cole said. “All this for two thousand dollars?”
“Maybe we can get a donation from some of the passengers,” Frank suggested.
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A trapped gas bubble in one of the logs popped, sending up a shower of sparks and jerking Jesse back from his thoughts. Tomorrow he and Billy would hold up a train. He was leading his son into a life of crime.
No, that wasn't right. Billy had already taken up a life of crime. Jesse was just showing him how to survive.
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The sign painted on the side of the water tank read:
TANK NO. 27, TEXAS AND PACIFIC RAILROAD
.
TANK NO. 27, TEXAS AND PACIFIC RAILROAD
.
Jesse and Billy had come here an hour earlier, and they waited now behind some scrub brush that grew just high enough to keep them out of sight from the approaching train. They had ground-tethered their horses just on the other side of a tree line, which was about twenty yards behind where they were waiting.
“Pa, what are we going to do with the money?” Billy asked excitedly.
“Boy, haven't you ever heard the term, âDon't count your chickens before they hatch'?”
“Well, yeah, sure, I've heard that.”
“Then don't spend the money before we've got it in our pocket.”
“Yeah,” Billy said. “Yeah, I see what you mean. I guess I'm just gettin' excited is all.”
“Don't. Don't get excited; don't get scared. Just stay calm. That way you won't make mistakes.”
“Pa, how do you know about all this, anyhow?”
They heard a distant whistle.
“There's the train,” Jesse said, not answering Billy's question. “All right, get ready. And Billy?”
“Yeah, Pa?”
“Remember when I told you that anytime you pull your gun, you must be ready to kill if you have to?”
“I remember.”
“The other side of that is, don't shoot anyone unless you absolutely have to.”
“All right,” Billy replied.
The train rumbled to a stop by the water tank.
“Wait until the fireman swings the spout over,” Jesse said quietly.
The fireman climbed onto the tender, then opened the hatch.
“Damn, Hank, this tank is as dry as a bone. Whatever steam we got in the pipes is all that's left. Don't think we coulda gone another mile,” the fireman called down to the engineer.
If the engineer answered, neither Jesse nor Billy heard the reply.
The fireman pulled the spout down from the tower. A moment later, there was the loud rush of water pouring into the tank.
“Now,” Jesse said.
Jesse and Billy closed the distance between them and the train. The engineer was on the other side of the cab, looking out the window, so he didn't see Billy climb onto the locomotive deck.
“Mr. Engineer, I would like for you to step down onto the ground, if you would, please,” Billy said.
“What? You can't be up here! Where did you come from? Get back down,” the engineer said, surprised by Billy's unexpected appearance.
“My pa and I are the ones giving the orders now. Just do as we say.” Billy cocked his pistol.
“No, no! Don't shoot! I'm gettin' down!”
“Hank? What are you doin' out of the cab?” the fireman called from the top of the tender. Because he was busy monitoring the water transfer, he had not seen Billy climb onto the locomotive.
Jesse stepped out where the fireman could see him. “Stop the water,” he said.
“What? I can't do that. This tank is nigh empty.”
Jesse pointed the pistol at him. “I said, stop the water. Return the spout to the tank.”
The fireman did as he was ordered.
“Now, climb down into the cab and extinguish your fire, then let off all the steam.”
“Mister, if I do that, it'll take near an hour to get the steam back up. We'll have to clear the track before then 'cause there'll be another train comin' along.”
“You'll just have to signal the train to wait until you can get yourself going again,” Jesse said. “Now, do what I tell you.”
“Yes, sir,” the fireman replied.
The fireman climbed back down into the cab, then under Billy's watch opened the steam pressure relief valve. Steam began gushing from the drive cylinders on both sides of the engine.
“There,” the fireman said. “The pressure is at zero.”
“All right, now put out the fire.”
“How am I goin' to do that?”
“If it was me puttin' out the fire, I'd be usin' that fire extinguisher,” Billy said, pointing to the copper instrument in the corner.
The fireman extinguished the fire.
“Now, climb down to join your friend on the ground,” Billy ordered.
“What is this?” the engineer asked as Billy and the fireman stepped down from the cab. “Paul, why'd you vent the steam?”
“I had no choice,” the fireman said. “This feller made me do it.” He nodded toward Billy. “Not only that, he made me put out the fire.”
“Good Lord, man, we have to reach the double track in San Martin in forty-five minutes, or we'll be head-to-head with the eastbound.”
“There warn't nothin' I could do, Hank.”
“What is all this about?” the engineer asked Jesse.
“Isn't it obvious? We're robbing the train,” Jesse said.
“People don't rob trains anymore.”
“Really? Well, I guess nobody ever told me that. Now, come with me, back to the express car.”
Jesse motioned with his pistol, and the engineer complied.
“Knock on the door and tell the express man to open up,” Jesse ordered.
“Don't know as he'll be able to hear me if I just knock with my fist. That door's pretty thick.”
“Pick up a rock,” Jesse suggested.
The engineer picked up a rock from the ballast and knocked on the door. “Earl Ray?” he called. “Earl Ray, this is Hank. Open the door.”
The door slid open. “What do you need, Hank?”
“Hello, Earl Ray,” Jesse said, showing the express man his pistol.
“Who are you? What's going on?” Earl Ray asked.
“What's going on is a train robbery.”
“Are you serious? Who robs trains anymore?”
Jesse looked at the engineer and chuckled. “Tell him, Hank. Who robs trains anymore?”
“This feller does,” Hank said.
“Now, Earl Ray, this is what I'd like for you to do. I want you to drop down the money shipment bag.”
“What makes you think we're carrying any money?”
“How else do banks pay off checks, other than by money exchange?” Jesse asked. “Every train carries a money shipment now. And I know that you are carrying at least five thousand dollars to the San Francisco Bank and Savings to cover the check written by my friend Emerson Williams. Now, toss it down here, like I asked.”
“I can't do that.”
“If you don't toss it down, I'm going to kill Hank. And if that doesn't get you to toss it down, then I'll kill Paul. And if you still won't toss it down, then I'll kill you, and just go find another train to rob where the express agent has more sense than you do.”
“For God's sake, Earl Ray, give him the money,” Hank said. “It's not like it's your money!”
“Hank does have a point, Earl Ray,” Jesse said. “It isn't your money. Now, toss it down to the boy.”
“All right, all right, I'll toss it down.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Jesse said.
The express agent tossed a canvas bag down to Billy.
“It's got a lock,” Billy said.
“Drop it onto the ground,” Jesse said.
When Billy complied, Jesse shot the lock off. “Make sure there's money inside.”
Billy glanced in, then, with a big smile, pulled out a bound packet of twenty-dollar bills.
“Look at this!” he said.
“All right, Paul, you can start the water going again, then get your fire going and the steam pressure built back up. I expect your passengers are anxious to get to where they're going,” Jesse said.
“Yes, sir,” the engineer said.
“What's going on here? What was that shot?” someone yelled several cars back.
The shout came from the conductor, who was on the steps of the car holding on to the assist rail and leaning out.
Jesse fired toward him, the bullet hitting the assist rail just above the conductor's hand. The expression on his face reflected his panic, and he disappeared quickly back into the car.
“I tell you what, Earl Ray, maybe you'd better go back there and keep ever'one in the train calm, while Hank and Paul are getting the pressure built back up,” Jesse said. “Someone else is liable to get curious, and if I can't scare him back the way I did the conductor, then I'll have to kill him. And I know that neither one of us wants that, now, do we?”
“I'm going, I'm going,” Earl Ray said, moving quickly toward the passenger cars of the train.
Jesse and Billy waited until the fireman was once again filling the tank with water, and both Hank and Earl Ray were back onto the train. Then, they ran away from the track, disappearing quickly into the line of trees so they couldn't be seen by anyone on the train.
“Let's put some distance between us and the track,” Jesse said.
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