The Delivery

by James Edwin Branch

  He was a free man, thanks to the War Between the States, but he wasn’t used to a white woman going out of her way to help a man like him. He promised himself that if he ever got the chance, he’d repay her favor. Had she not distracted the security men, they might have caught him sneaking aboard the train.

  Boarding the railway car would have at least gotten him a beating and perhaps more. The railroad didn’t take kindly to freeloaders and vagabonds riding the rails.

  He was traveling light; all he carried was a roll containing an extra pair of trousers and a shirt. He had no food. He had to either trap or work for food as he made his way back to the south.

  He was hoping to find some sense in his existence. It had been several years since he’d been back to the place outside Atlanta where he’d grown up. He couldn’t return during the civil war for obvious reasons. He thought now it might be safe to go back and see what happened to the other slaves he remembered from his past.

  What he truly wanted was to learn anything he could about his parents. In his youth, he was afraid to ask about them. Now he was hoping someone there still remembered his parents and could give him information about them.

  Chapter 3

  The Southbound to Atlanta!

  It wasn’t long before Millicent heard the sound of the conductor walking the platform as he called out, “All aboard, southbound to Atlanta.”

  She listened from her seat in the Pullman car and wondered if the stranger that she’d distracted the security men for had found a safe place to hide for the rest of his journey.

  She knew she didn’t have to cover for him, but it appeared as though he needed a helping hand that was easy for her to provide. She’d rendered her assistance without anyone being the wiser.

  Finally, on the train and feeling fresh and rested after her night in the Pittsburgh hotel, she was ready to begin the next leg of her journey. Her excitement was building. This was supposed to be the easy part of the trip. All she had to do now was get comfortable and enjoy the ride. She could knit, read or sleep, and except for a few days delay in Atlanta, she was on her way to Texas. It wouldn’t be long now before she could finally meet Jason and put all her questions and insecurities to rest.

  A modern train was such a fast mode of travel that it would rapidly cover several states. Millicent would be traveling quickly towards her new life. Each mile of her travel brought her closer to the man that she hoped was everything he seemed.

  She could feel the powerful locomotive begin to move beneath her as it slowly picked up speed.

  “WHOOF, WHOOF, WHOOF,” was the sound as the steam poured from the engine’s stack.

  “Chuga chuga chuga, chuga chuga chuga, chuga…..”

  The train made wonderfully distinctive sounds that made her smile as she listened.

  It was all part of the new life that was ahead of her. The rhythmic rocking of the train against the rails quickly began to soothe her.

  Hours passed as the train gently rocked her. She drifted in and out of consciousness as the train lulled her off to sleep. Her mind was filled with questions that only time could answer. Was he really tall? Were the words in his letters his own, or had someone helped him? Could he really have that gentle spirit his letters portrayed?

  Would the connection between them be magnified when they met? Would there be any connection at all? So many questions that only time would answer.

  The sound and the movement of the train began to take over her. An odd, relaxed state overwhelmed her. For now, peace and tranquility consumed her.

  She felt comfortable as she listened to the steady “clicking” of the train at speed. There were times when they pulled the mountain slopes that it slowed down, but there were very few towns along the route to the south to slow the train. For the most part, the journey seemed to be going at an incredible rate.

  After several hours, the porter walked through the car and called out, “Virginia state line.”

  She looked out the window and watched as the trees and brush of the Virginia countryside came into view. She was surprised; other than the porter’s announcement, there was so little difference between the landscapes. She wasn’t sure what to expect, but she thought something should be different. It was hard to believe they’d come this far so quickly. The train had to be averaging an incredible rate of speed, maybe as high as 35 miles per hour. It was a blinding speed in those days.

  Just before 5 a.m., the train began to slow. As the porter passed though the car once more, Millicent asked him why they were dropping off the pace. She could tell that this time, instead of a grade, they appeared to be stopping.

  “We’re going to make a water stop, ma’am,” he told her. “We’ll be stopped for about half an hour before we can continue. Passengers will be able to step off the train to stretch your legs.”

  She nodded, and after a moment, she wondered about the stowaway that she knew they had onboard. She was curious whether they would check the train again after it stopped. They were out in the middle of nowhere so it seemed highly unlikely to her.

  The train came to a halt, and there were several short bursts on the whistle as the engineer directed the engine under the water tower. A stream near the train tracks fed the tower. The whistle blasts were signals to the switchman as he directed the engineer to either pull back or move the train forward. They were lining up the trough on the tank at the side of the rails with a water tank on a rail car up near the engine.

  There were two soldiers onboard the train in the car with Millicent. She hadn’t spoken to them as she had little interest in where they were going. There wasn’t anything unusual about them, but they seemed to be on edge as the train came to a stop. Both men immediately clutched their rifles and looked around cautiously.

  She found out later that the men were carrying U.S. Currency notes bound for the cavalry post in Atlanta.

  Feeling confident that no one knew their business, the Army had arranged travel for the two men with the idea that having them in plain sight would probably be safe. Two armed men on a fast moving train guarding a secret payroll shipment seemed secure enough.

  The Army had no way of knowing that the man who arranged their travel was working in chorus with a notorious train robbery gang operating out of Richmond, Virginia.

  The robbers were prepared to meet the train at the water stop and murder the cavalrymen if need be to get their cargo. It was one simple little satchel that was easy to carry and even easier to steal. It was heavy, but not much heavier than a fine leather suitcase of the day. The prize was one the robbers intended to grab no matter the cost. With several thousand dollars inside, the satchel held a lion’s share for every man involved in the robbery.

  When the train came to a full stop under the water tower, the robbers made their move. As soon as they heard the engine expel a long burst of air pressure, they started.

  The engineer, brakeman and the switchman were all busy getting the engine ready to continue. Not one of them was paying much attention to the wilderness that surrounded them.

  The robbers, who were hiding about a hundred yards to the west of the tracks, suddenly rode in on horseback. Their arrival took the engineer and the brakeman completely by surprise. Soon after that, the switchman quickly surrendered to one of the robbers, who was brandishing a Colt. The railroad men were unarmed and easily controlled by the six riders sporting Colts and rifles.

  One of the cavalrymen caught sight of the robbers as they began to move the captured men to contain them. He hollered at his traveling companion, they aimed their weapons through the windows, and they began to fire on the intruders. One of the soldiers, a captain, risked his cover to warn the passengers.

  As he moved through the car, he urged the passengers to get down and hide on the floor beneath their seats. This maneuver earned the captain a bullet wound for his trouble.

  The gunfight lasted for a quite a while even though the captain was wounded early in the fight. Both cavalrymen fought valiantly but c
ouldn’t hold the gang off for long.

  The six-armed gunmen proved too much for the two soldiers. They had wounded the captain with a shot through a window. The other soldier, in fear for his captain’s life, eventually threw his rifle from the car and surrendered his pistol.

  The captain was bleeding, and as the other soldier watched the life flow out of him, the soldier hoped his surrender might get the captain some medical attention. He did not want the robbers to kill his superior officer. Although the soldier had no way to know it, the officer was already mortally wounded.

  Millicent and the other passengers were at the mercy of the robber gang. The armed men not only boarded the train, but also herded the passengers out onto the siding and lined them up next to the train cars, disarming any remaining armed men in the process.

  Dawn had yet to break when they began to rob the passengers of their belongings. The train had three passenger cars, and the passengers were lined up in front of each car. There appeared to be approximately 15 passengers besides Millicent.

  As the robbers started at the front of the train and made their way slowly down the line of people, Millicent felt a strong tug at her dress and then a powerful hand went over her mouth.

  She was immediately pulled backwards and under the car behind her. Her eyes bulged as she saw the large black hand that forced her silence. She was in a panic, not sure what to expect next.

  She’d been pulled back so quickly the robbers hadn’t even noticed her missing, except for one man who shook his head and remarked to one of the other robbers, “I could have sworn there was a pretty woman in a brown dress inside the last Pullman car.”

  “Just line them up and take their money,” his fellow robber bellowed. “Stick to the plan. We don’t want any changes now.”

  As the darkness closed in on Millicent, and she felt herself slipping into the brush on the other side of the Pullman car, the man who’d pulled her away began to whisper.

  “I mean you no harm, missy!” the large black man told her as he pulled her to safety.

  His voice was calm, reassuring, and his tone seemed peaceful, not threatening.

  Hearing his words, she began to relax in his grip. Now she knew who it was. Although she didn’t know him, for some reason, she knew not to resist.

  She felt much safer than she had the moment before when she was waiting for the robbers to take what little she had. She wasn’t sure what they had in mind for the passengers. At least this man was talking calmly to her.

  He had pulled her beneath the baggage car, then back underneath the coupling and into the brush on the other side of the train. Once they reached the bushes where he was certain they were safe in the dark and couldn’t be seen, he removed his hand and smiled at her gently as he urged her not to scream.

  “I’m sorry I had to do that to you,” he began, “I wasn’t sure there was any other way to get you out of there without those men seeing me help you.”

  She was uncomfortable with him, but an odd feeling of trust seemed to be growing within her.

  “Why did you help me?” she whispered.

  “Because you could have told them about me on the platform and you didn’t.”

  She nodded and watched off in the darkness as the robbery progressed.

  “Can’t we help them?” she asked softly.

  He shook his head, indicating no as he put his finger over his mouth and conveyed their need for silence.

  They huddled together in the darkness and watched as the gang robbed every person on the train. They put all the money and jewelry they collected in a saddlebag.

  The cavalry officer that had been wounded died during the robbery, and his companion appeared to grow even angrier with his partner’s passing. His eyes welled up with tears and he shouted defiantly at his captors.

  “You killed my captain,” the soldier shouted. “They’ll hang you for this.”

  Millicent could hear him shout obscenities at the robbers just before a single gunshot took his life.

  She started to cry out, and again the stranger placed his hand gently over her mouth. He whispered something she hadn’t thought of that made her realize how desperate these moments were for the other passengers.

  “They’re not wearing any masks. Not one of them has their faces covered.”

  His implication was clear; the robbers might kill all the passengers if they intended to eliminate any witnesses.

  The robbers had killed both cavalrymen and were herding the passengers off into the brush while one of them boarded the engine. One of the men was shouting at the passengers and firing his gun into the air. Millicent shook with fear as she watched the scene unfold.

  “Take off into those woods and don’t you stop running or I’ll shoot each and every one of you.”

  The robber was sporting several days’ worth of beard growth on his face and had a strong southern accent. He looked dirty and ill tempered, but all the passengers seemed to notice was the fire and smoke from his Colt as it parted the darkness and broke the silence around them.

  The passengers began running into the woods as if their very lives depended upon it and they were probably right. The gunman watched as they all disappeared into the darkness of the nearby woods. After they were gone, he laughed with a calloused voice and nudged one of his fellow robbers.

  “Those folks will be lucky if any of them leave these woods alive.”

  “Why are you so certain?” his companion asked.

  “Without supplies in the woods, it’s likely the bears or a mountain lions will get them. That’s one of the reasons we chose this place.”

  The robbers rigged the train and started moving it forward. The man that had set the engine rigged the brake so that there was a heavy weight on it. After the train began to move, he jumped clear of the engine, falling hard to the ground when he landed. The gravel on the side of the tracks seemed to steal his stability as he clamored onto his feet.

  The train began to pick up speed as it rolled off in the distance. It was a runaway now; there was no way to stop it unless there was someone onboard the engine. With the crew of the train off in the bushes with the other passengers that seemed highly unlikely.

  “What should we do?” she whispered as she watched the light of the engine disappear.

  He urged her to keep her voice down and whispered again to her softly, “I’ll get you to safety, ma’am, you don’t have to worry. If you’ll trust me, I’ll get you to safety.”

  He encouraged her to keep still, and they waited while the gang gathered up their horses and began to leave. The other passengers had been scattered into the densely wooded area to the west.

  Millicent watched as the robbers took their loot and mounted their horses. She could hear them laughing in the distance. They were confident and secure that there was no one who could stop them now. They seemed relaxed and unrepentant over their deed. She could almost sense the evil that rode in with them.

  The gunmen finally rode off into the darkness. When they’d been gone about ten minutes, the man with Millicent spoke to her in a clear voice.

  “Those other passengers are somewhere in those woods. It’s unlikely we’ll find them.”

  “What do you mean?” Millicent asked.

  “Those robbers picked this spot on purpose,” he began, “Those woods are thick and there are bears and mountain lions all over these parts. It’s highly unlikely that most of those city folks will ever find their way out of there.”

  “Can’t we help them some how?” she asked.

  “Likely we’d get lost in there too, ma’am,” he replied.

  “We can call out to them and see if some of them come back out but I don’t think we should go in there looking for them.”

  He spoke with softness in his voice that clearly denoted his concern for the other passengers, and yet it was obvious that he understood their situation.

  “It would be better if we just followed the tracks to the south and tried to get some help along t
he way to come back and search for them.”

  She didn’t like what he was telling her, but in her heart, she knew he was right. Searching for them now was only likely to add to their own confusion and loss.

  “I want to wait for a while to see if anyone finds their way back here,” Millicent exclaimed.

  He nodded, and although he thought it was a waste of time, he understood her dismay and agreed they’d wait for a while.

  They waited there as the sun began to rise, and for good measure, she called out several times before they started walking south.

  “Can anyone hear me?”

  “Is there anyone out there?”

  Her voice crackled from the volume as she called out repeatedly. Her newfound traveling companion called out as well but there was no response to either plea.

  Nearly two hours passed while they tried to get a response to their shouting. They would call out then pause and wait for a response. Time and time again, they cried out.

  No one answered as Millicent stood on the tracks listening. The only sound she heard was the rustling of the trees and a few wild birds singing as they prepared to greet the new day. Occasionally, they could hear the brush move as if there was a large animal moving in the wooded area only a short distance in front of them.

  After the sun was solidly up in the sky, they began to follow the railroad tracks south, walking along the rails. Their hearts were heavy as they left the robbery site. The countryside was lush and green and there was no sign of another human being for miles.

  She could see him looking around as they walked. He seemed interested in the leaves falling from the trees and the breeze that was blowing up from the south.

  “What do you suppose happened to the train?” she asked as they walked.

  “Those things have got a strange brake on them,” he told her. “If they found a way to hold it down and keep the train moving, it’s likely to continue south until it runs out of steam or hits something along the way.”

  “Oh dear,” she exclaimed. “That doesn’t sound very promising, does it?”