The Gallows Pole

by M. Shaunessy

  “You love your brother that much huh?” She asked.

  “More than oro itself,” he replied, “But don’t worry about him, we’ll get him out. I have a plan.”

  “This plan wouldn’t have to involve us? Does it?” Jacob wondered.

  El Cato chuckled and replied, “You are very smart señor. Perhaps it does. The ten fifteen Santa-Fe train departs out of Albuquerque tomorrow morning bounded eastward towards Oklahoma City. On this train is very special cargo that we need; ten thousand dollars in gold coins. With that, we could buy out the town and free our brothers. But we stumbled on a problem.”

  “What’s that?” Jacob asked as he bit in to burrito.

  “Our faces,” El Cato replied, “It seems that it is plastered all over New Mexico. So it is impossible for us to get on the train, but you two however…If you could pose as passengers, get on, pull the emergency cord, and pretend to rob the other passengers…”

  “Wait, are you saying we have to commit a crime to get my brother out? If so, forget it.”

  “No señor, look, all I want you to do is to, create a, how do you say it? Yes a distraction. You will not commit any crime. We’ll be doing all the work. I just need you two to stop the train and create some, diversion. That’s all. And nothing says a distraction than whipping out a gun firing it in the air. As a matter of fact that would be good idea too.”

  “Well,” Jacob thought, “We don’t need to steal anything?”

  “Not unless you want too.”

  It was something that Jacob was against and it was stealing. He was a natural boy scout that ob-eyed the law. However, from what El Cato was proposing, it was not stealing, not technically anyways. All he and Jane had to do was stop the train, that is all and El Cato will get the gold.

  “No,” he said, “Helping you will make us an accessory to your crime and I can’t come myself to do it.”

  “What?!” El Cato said. He then smiled, “You know, I like you. You are honest about the law, but the truth is, you are not breaking any law and neither are we amigo. We are fighting a war here. You see, twenty years ago my people owned this land, that was until you Americans pushed us out, just like you did with the Indians. This land rightfully belongs to us and we are only trying to get it back, but perhaps I am wrong about you. Perhaps you too hate us Mexicans. Do you señor? Do you hate us that much to kick us out of our land?”

  Jacob frowned, knowing that he is right.

  “No,” he said, “We don’t hate you, but what you are doing is wrong. Stealing is against the law here in America. You know that don’t you?”

  “That money that train is carrying rightfully belongs to us. Before the war, we mined that gold ourselves, in our mines, then you Americans came along and took it, along with our land. I tell you this amigo, who is stealing from who?”

  Jacob never realized that his country, the government he rightly help build for was nothing more than a bully. In addition, for the first time in his life he heard the truth. Maybe it was wrong for the American government to take away their land and money. After all, that was not right.

  “So what do you say amigo? You will help us?”

  Jacob looked to his fiancée. He saw the look in her eyes knowing that will he would make the right decision. Jacob did not know what El Cato is capable of doing if he refused. The last thing he wanted to do is to upset him. He then thought of Gabe. If El Cato was telling the truth and if he had take that gold and buy his Paco’s freedom by buying the town that would also mean that Gabe could set free as well. He wondered if ten thousand would be enough to buy a town never the less Clayton. He also wondered if El Cato had saved enough gold already to buy the town.

  He sighed then said, “Alright. I suppose we can help you, only if you promise to help us release my brother, Gabe.”

  El Cato nodded then smiled showing his dirty teeth and said, “No Problemo Amigo. Ha ha ha.”

  After they ate, El Cato showed them where they could spend the night. He set them up in one of the adobe houses. Inside Jacob and Jane saw a couple of cot-like beds made out of wood and straw. It was not the best accommodations they to endure, Jacob thought as he sat down. El Cato said before he left them alone that he and his band will be leaving first thing tomorrow morning. Around six o’clock he had said.

  “You sure you can trust him Jacob?” Jane said as she sat on the other cot.

  “I don’t know, but what choice we got?” He replied.

  The sun shone brightly in the little adobe, but was not the reason Jacob awoke. A sharply gunfire sound that almost shook the bed made Jacob’s eyes open widely. He sat up and heard the gun blast again. He first looked for Jane, but she was missing. He looked out the window as he got out of his cot and saw El Cato with Jane out in the fields. He wondered what they were doing. He grabbed his coat and headed out side.

  “No, no Señorita. Hold it, like you were holding…someone you love,” El Cato instructed as Jane tried again.

  Jacob saw Jane wielding an 1874 Smith and Wesson handgun. El Cato was helping her aim the silvery weapon with his hand. The Mexican was behind her, guiding her arm. The target was an old tequila bottle that sat on top of a wooden fence. Jane squinted one of her eyes as she looked down the barrel. When she got to where she wanted the bullet to go, Jane pulled the trigger. A loud bang emitted from the weapon as the force of the gun kicked Jane back a step or two. She had closed her eyed when the gun shot, but when she opened them she was that the bottle was gone. Jacob saw a big grin on her face.

  She turned around to El Cato and said, “I did it!”

  “You sure did Señorita! Ha Ha!” El Cato said brightly, “That’s how you do it eh?”

  Jane giggled as she saw Jacob, “Did you see darling! I shot that bottle!”

  Jacob smiled and clapped for her, “That’s great Hun, I’m proud of you.”

  “Your lady friend is a good shot eh?” El Cato commented, “You never told me her father was in the war.”

  “Yeah, the civil war,” Jacob replied.

  El Cato just smiled at him.

  “Well then, you two are ready?” He asked as the couple nodded. He then wrapped his arms around them and said, “Good, here is the plan. Take the ten fifteen train out of Albuquerque. Ride it for about…An hour. We’ll be waiting high on top of Bareback Ridge just twenty miles out of town. At precisely eleven fifteen, I want to see that train stop. You got that amigo?”

  Jacob nodded.

  “Good, well, two better get going. You got a train to catch yes? Ha ha ha.” He padded Jacob on the back, “Oh, last thing. If for some chance, you two bump into a local sheriff and, I know you wouldn’t, but if you do and tell him of our plan, I will have you both shot.” They looked at him astonishingly, “But don’t worry, because we are all friends and I know you not double cross me right?”

  “R-Right,” Jacob said unsurely.

  El Cato grinned like Cheshire cat and laughed. Jacob smiled friendly back to him, but on the inside, the guilt started to creep back in. He really did not comfortable about all this, but as he and Jane mounted their horses, he thought of his brother Gabe again and wondered how he was holding up.

  Chapter 8

  The Robbing of the Santa Fe

  The night before, Gabe and his new cellmate Paco, met. Even though Paco did not say much except “qué”, it felt good for Gabe to talk about his misfortunes to someone who would listen.

  The sheriff quipped to Gabe before he left them alone, “Don’t expect him to talk, less much than English.”

  Gabe wondered if Paco did something innocently wrong, like himself. Gabe must have talked nonstop for three hours until he decided to drift off to sleep. It was around twelve o’clock mid-night when the light in the office went out. Paco crept over to the edge of the next cell where Gabe was sleeping on his small cot.

  “Señor,” Paco whispered.

  He repeated again, this time a bit louder. Gabe opened one eye. The cot was not comfortable as he first thought which made h
im a light sleeper that night.

  “No problemo,” Paco told him. He barely knew the English language, so he did his best for Gabe to understand what he was saying. “Hermano…Us…Escapar…Pronto.”

  Moreover, it was all the same as Gabe barely knew the Spanish language, but it was enough for him to understand what he was saying. He got to escape and soon, but Hermano, he wasn’t familiar with the word. Gabe laid there as Paco quickly lay in his cot. He wondered what he meant on what he said. He then thought of his brother Jacob and Jane and wondered what they were up too.

  The loud whistle on the 4-6-4 engine of the Santa Fe blew as Jacob and Jane rushed with their horses towards the Albuquerque station. It was the first time they been to Albuquerque and they were at awe as they entered through the mountain pass.

  As they gotten to the station, they quickly brought two tickets for the Clayton stop. There were few people walking around the platform trying to get on the train and the porter bellowed for passengers to get on, as it was the last call. Jane and Jacob rushed towards the coach’s door. Once inside they found a car that had only six passengers on it. They sat down in an empty seat somewhere in the back of the car as the second whistle blew and a moment later, they felt movement as the train chugged out of the station heading eastward.

  Their stomachs started to flutter like butterflies as the conductor approached them.

  “Tickets please,” he said.

  Jacob looked to Jane then back to the conductor as he handed him the two tickets they had brought at the station. The conductor smiled at them as he punched a few holes in the paper, then handed it back to them. The couple thanked him as the railway worker went on to the next passenger. They both sighed in relief.

  “You nervous about doing this?” Jacob asked softly.

  “A little,” Jane replied, “You?”

  “You know I never done anything like this before. So yes I am nervous as hell.”

  Jane placed her hand on her lover’s hand as Jacob did the same, and then she smiled at him. He did not know why, every time she did that it seemed that butterflies stopped fluttering.

  “Just think of Gabe, love.”

  He then did and a smile formed on his face. She leaned forward and kissed him lightly. He then took out his gold plated pocket watch his father gave him, opened it up and looked at the time. One hour, El Cato told them. He sighed, closed the watch, and sat with Jane as they rode on the Santa Fe line.

  Ten after eleven, that is what the pocket watch read when Jacob looked at it. He looked at Jane and wondered if she was ready. She revealed the gun that El Cato had given her from her handbag. She then nodded to him. Jacob just drew in his breath. Five, no, four more minutes remain.

  Outside, El Cato and four of his men waited on the ridge. He held his spyglass out and peeked through it. In the distance, far from the track, he saw smoke. It was the locomotive smoke. The Santa Fe train was barreling its way towards them.

  “Ok hombres! ¡Prepárese!” El Cato told them.

  11:13…11:14.

  Jacob looked up and saw the break line, just above the window. Thirty seconds to go. Jacob stood up slowly as Jane followed. Jacob, being closer to the isle, reached over behind Jane’s head to the rope. He placed his hand on it and waited. Then when he finally looked down at his watch, the second hand just reached the number twelve. Jacob then pulled the cord. The force of the momentum flew them forward on the backrest that was across of where they were sitting. They also heard a high pitch screeching noise as the train stopped.

  Once the train finally stopped to a standstill, the couple stood as Jane drew her gun and aimed at the other passengers. The people in the train panicked in fear as Jacob drew Jane’s knife.

  “All right everyone!” Jacob said, “This is...A robbery! Take out your wallets and throw your handbags on the floor in front of us.”

  The passengers in the car hesitated. That was until Jane raised her gun to the ceiling and fired a shot. Jacob winced, hearing the loud bang. A quarter a mile from the track, the sound of the gun took noticed from El Cato, as he ordered his men in Spanish to ride. They galloped their horses towards the disabled train aiming for the boxcar that was four cars behind the locomotive. Once they got there, El Cato shot off the lock that was protecting the precious cargo. Two of his men dismounted their horses and slid opened the door. To their surprise, a guard was waiting for them. With a Smith & Wesson in hand, he shot one of the bandits.

  El Cato then in retaliation blew the guard’s gun out of his hands. The guard screamed in pain as blood trickled from his now trembling hand.

  “Not too smart amigo,” he said as the others climbed inside.

  Inside the passenger car, Jane waved her gun at the other travelers. They trembled in fear. Jacob saw that they threw their valuables on the floor. Then Jacob noticed another man coming through the connecting doors. It was the porter. Jacob then cursed at himself.

  “All right everyone on the floor now!” Jacob ordered as the porter opened the door.

  “What in god’s name is goin on in here?” He said as Jane raised her gun at him.

  “Don’t do anything heroic or stupid,” She said to the porter, “Just get down on the floor! Now!”

  The porter upon seeing the gun raised his hands, nodded to Jane and did as she asked. Then they heard a loud bang, as if someone fired a cannon ball. Jacob moved over to the window, looked out and saw smoke from a couple of cars behind them. El Cato was already working on the gold. He already blew off the safe using nitro glycerin. He saw him and his men loading burlap sacks on to top their horses. Now the hard part was to figure how long they had to hold this charade up.

  Two minutes had passed when Jane took noticed El Cato and his men were galloping away, back to the ridge.

  “Jacob! He’s leaving!” Jane informed him.

  “What?!” He looked out and saw the same scene.

  He cursed and ran swiftly to the door that leads outside. Jane ran after him, but it was too late, Jacob was already on the desert floor, bolting towards the ridge where El Cato was.

  He then heard El Cato shout from a distance yelling, “Adios Amigos HA Ha ha.”

  “Get back here you son of a bitch!” Jacob cried as he continued to climb the ridge.

  Once he had gotten to the top he saw El Cato and his men at a good distance, but Jacob did not care. Jane, behind him, constantly told Jacob to stop, but he did not. He just ran out on to the basin and chased El Cato on foot. The distance between them was too great, but Jacob ran as fast as he could. That was until the arid heat of the sun started to get him. He panted and gasped for air, and finally the desert beat him. He slowed down to a slow jog, and then collapsed on his knees. He saw the horsemen disappear beyond the horizon and sighed in defeat. Jane ran out to him, but before she said a word, they heard a whistle blow in the distance. They looked back. It was the Santa Fe. They both got up and ran back as quickly as they could towards the ridge, but it was too late. The train was chugging down the track, leaving them be-hind.

  “Wait!” Jacob shouted from the top of his lungs as he started to do down the hill, but Jane stopped him.

  “No Jacob! It’s too late,” she told him.

  Moreover, she was right he was already too tired and the train was gone. They were out in the middle of a desert, miles from any civilization. Jacob frowned, cursed loudly and sat on a large flat orange looking rock just beneath the edge of the ridge. He leaned forward and placed his head on his arms as he tried to catch his breath. Jane sat beside him. She then heard something unexpected from her fiancée, Jacob was sobbing.

  “It’s going to be ok love,” she said to him.

  “No,” he said softly, “I failed.”

  “What?”

  He raised his head to her. She saw tears and sweat running down his face and cheeks. She frowned, as Jane did not like to see him like this.

  Jacob repeated, “I failed him. And now he’s going to die and it’s my fault.” She did not quite underst
and then continued. “I’m sorry that I led you two out here in this god damn wasteland!”

  He picked up a rock and threw it in frustration.

  “No, don’t say that,” She said, “You didn’t know that this, all of this was going to happen, right?” Jacob looked at her and frowned some more. “We’ll get Gabe out of jail. You have to have faith. Look, let’s just...Follow the tracks back to Albuquerque and get a stage coach...”

  “Forget it Jane,” Jacob interrupted, “It’s at least eighty to ninety miles away and will never make it in this heat without food or water.”

  He was right Jane thought, but before she could ask what they should to next, a shadowy figure blanketed them in shade. Both of their raced in fear, think it would be wild hungry animal perching over at them. When they turned their heads slowly to see what was making that shadow, Jane screamed.

  It was not animal, it was worse. He stood about six foot tall wielding an 1855 Springfield musket at them with a white feather on the front of the barrel dangling in front of them. Jacob recognized him and knew it was Native American Indian.

  Chapter 9

  The Spirit Journey

  He was tall, six feet Jacob estimated. He was well built, young, maybe in his twenties. His long shimmery black hair gently waved from the wind. He had few feathers in his headband that did the same as well as the one dangling at the end of his rifle. The only thing he was wearing was tanned colored leather chaps on his legs. He then began to speak to them. They may have heard a language like his before, perhaps in college.

  “Um, hi or howe,” Jacob said to him uneasily, “We come in peace. No harm?”

  Then the native stopped talking, cocked his head in confusion. He then turned to the basin and spoke loudly. It seemed that he was not alone. They heard thunderous galloping as they both stood with their hands in the air. Jane dropped the handgun on the ground as they saw four more Indians galloping over on bare back.