“I want you to—”
A deep and very loud roar interrupted what he’d intended to say.
Looking up, Parker saw an avalanche of snow cascading down the side of the mountain, set in motion by the sound of his gunshots. He barely had time to open his mouth in a scream before tons of snow swept him from the top of the tender, burying him, the engine, the tender, and most of the baggage car under hundreds of feet of snow.
The train to come to an immediate and jarring stop, causing many of the sleeping passengers to tumble out of their seats. A few shouted out in alarm.
“All right, boys, he’s got it stopped. This is it!” Kelly shouted, and he and the other three advanced toward the rear of the car. Proxmire’s back was to them as they approach, and he was sitting next to the window, trying to figure out what had caused their sudden stop.
“Hello, Santelli,” Kelly said.
“Do not speak to the prisoners.” Proxmire turned away from the window and was shocked to see a gun pointed directly at him.
“What are—”
Kelly pulled the trigger. The bullet hit Proxmire between the eyes, forming a fan-like spray of blood on the window behind him.
The other passengers in the car were either trying to recover from the sudden stop or staring out the window when they heard the shot fired. In alarm, they all looked around and saw Proxmire’s bloody head leaning against the window. A woman screamed.
“Shut up!” Morris shouted, turning his pistol toward the other passengers. “I’ll shoot the next person who makes a sound!”
Cowed by the threat, the others in the car grew quiet as they watched through wide, frightened eyes. A little girl started crying.
“Shut that brat up!” Morris shouted.
The father clamped his hand over the child’s mouth.
Santelli held his hands up, showing his cuffed wrists. “The deputy has the keys in his jacket pocket.”
Morris dug out the keys and opened Santelli’s cuffs.
“What about him?” Morris indicated Luke Shardeen. “Should we take off his handcuffs?”
“No,” Santelli said as he rubbed his wrists. “Just shoot him and be done with it. Better yet, give me a gun and let me shoot him.”
Acting quickly, so quickly it caught the others by surprise, Luke stood up from his seat and shoved Santelli back into Morris, causing both men to struggle to maintain their balance. With them distracted, he dashed out the back door, then leaped off the vestibule into a pile of snow nearly as high as the railcar itself. He disappeared at once.
The three armed men rushed out the back of the car and onto the vestibule. Kelly fired into the snowbank where Luke had jumped. They heard a rumble up above the pass, and more snow came sliding down.
“Don’t do that!” Compton shouted, reaching out to stay Kelly’s hand. “Don’t shoot again! You could bring the whole mountain down on us!”
Kelly swore. “Where did he go?”
“It don’t really matter much. Hell, it’s below zero and he ain’t wearin’ no coat,” Morris noted. “Like as not he’ll be froze to death in no more ’n ten minutes or so. What I’m wonderin’ is, what happened to Parker?”
“I expect he’s up in the engine, keepin’ the engineer and the fireman covered till we get up there,” Compton reckoned.
“So, what is the plan now?” Santelli asked.
“Soon as we get you free, we’re goin’ to go up to the front of the train,” Compton answered.
“Yeah,” Kelly added. “We’re goin’ to unhook the engine and go on down the pass, leavin’ the rest of the train up here.”
“Ha! Good plan,” Santelli agreed. “By the time anyone figures out what has happened, we’ll be long gone.”
The four men started forward then, tracing the same route Parker had taken, earlier.
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 at
tack.
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.
“What?” Senator Daniels sputtered angrily. “What are you doing? Don’t you dare set this prisoner free! Why, I’ll not allow you to do such thing!”
Ignoring the senator, Luke held his hands out. Opening the penknife Matt stuck it in where the handcuffs closed, wedging the ratchet down so he could pull the lock arm out. He did the same thing with the other side and within a moment, Luke was free.
“That’s a good trick to know.” Luke smiled as he rubbed his wrists. The severe shaking had stopped as the heat of the stove was beginning to take effect.
“What happened, Luke? Why did we stop, do you know?” Matt asked.
“Yes, I know. At least, I’m pretty sure I know. The entire front of the train is buried under snow.”
“What do you mean buried in snow?” Senator Daniels snapped.
“I mean buried. You can’t even see the engine or the tender.”
“Will we be able to dig out?” Matt asked.
Luke shook his head. “I don’t see how we can. It looks like the entire mountain came down on the engine; at least two hundred feet of snow. More than likely, the engineer and fireman are dead by now.
“Oh, my God! You mean we are trapped here?” Millie Daniels cried.
“Don’t listen to a word this man says,” Daniels prompted. “Can’t you see he is merely trying to justify his escape? I don’t believe we are trapped.”
“Then why aren’t we moving?” Purvis asked.
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask the engineer why he stopped,” Daniels answered.
Purvis stepped out of the car onto the vestibule, then leaned out so he could look toward the front. When he came back into the car, there was a look of shock on his face.
“It’s too dark to tell, but I think Shardeen is right. It sort of looks like the whole front of the train is under snow.”
“Oh! Then we are trapped!” Millie moaned.
“I wouldn’t worry about it so much. I’m sure they will send another train up to get us,” Senator Daniels informed her.
At that moment the porter came into the car, the expression on his face reflecting his concern.
“Porter, this man tells us that the front of the train is buried under an avalanche of snow,” Daniels barked. “Is he correct?”
“Yes, sir, he is. And it’s worse than that,” the porter answered.
“What do you mean it is worse than that? How can it be worse?”
“This wasn’t no accident,” the porter said. “And the men that caused it are up in the dinin’ car right now. They’ve taken it over.”
“So they’ve taken over a car. What good is it going to do them if the train can’t move?” Daniels asked pointedly.
“Well sir, that’s where all the food is,” the porter said.
“If they’ve got the dining car that means we are likely to get awful hungry before this is over,” Luke added.
“What’s your name, porter?” Matt asked.
“My name is Julius, sir. Julius Kerry.”
“Julius, do you know where the conductor is?”
“Yes, sir, he’s in the car just ahead. His name is Mr. Bailey.”
“Would you please tell Mr. Bailey to come back here?”
“I’m just the porter, sir,” Julius replied. “I can’t tell the conductor anything. I can ask, but that don’t mean he’ll come back here.”
Daniels spoke quickly. “Tell him Senator Daniels has requested his presence. Do you understand that? Senator Daniels wants to speak with him.”
“Yes, sir, I can do that.” Julius left the car, then returned a moment later with the conductor.
Bailey approached Daniels. “Senator, Julius said that you wished to speak with me,”
“Mr. Bailey,” Daniels jumped right in with his complaints. “I want you to know that I will hold the Denver and Pacific, and you, personally responsible should I be unable to fulfill my speaking engagement. Furthermore, I will also hold you responsible for any harm that may befall my family.”
“I’m glad to see the welfare of your family is almost equal in concern to your speaking engagement,” Matt said dryly.
“Of course it is,” Senator Daniels answered, not perceiving the sarcasm.
“Is that why I was summoned back here?” Bailey questioned.
“It is indeed.”
“Senator, I assure you, what happened here was entirely beyond our control, and certainly beyond my control.”
“Really? Are you telling me you had no idea the pass could be blocked in with snow?”
“The latest telegraph information we had indicated the pass was clear,” the conductor replied.
“Mr. Bailey, I’m glad you came back, because I would like to speak with you as well,” Matt interrupted. “But I have no intention of making any accusations.” He glared at Senator Daniels.
“Thank you, sir. What can I do f
or you?”
“It is our understanding that the engine is completely buried under a lot of snow. And that armed men have freed the prisoner Santelli and are now occupying the dining car.”
“I’m afraid that is true, sir.”
“How many are on this train?” Matt asked.
“When the train left Buena Vista we had forty people on board, counting the crew,” the conductor said. “That is also counting the sheriff and his two prisoners. But the sheriff is dead, and I fear that the engineer and fireman are also dead. I don’t know about Fred, Troy, and Pete.”
“Who are they?”
“The three who work in the dining car. I haven’t heard from any of them since the train stopped, and I am afraid they may be dead as well.”
“That leaves thirty-seven people still aboard, but even if the dining car porters are still alive, no doubt they are being held by Santelli and the others so we may as well discount them. We must subtract the five bad guys, which leaves twenty-nine of us.”
“That makes it twenty-nine to five,” Daniels said, changing his tune. “We ought to prevail.”
“Are you traveling with a gun, Senator?” Matt asked.
“A gun? No, of course not. What makes you think I would be traveling with a gun?” Daniels looked at Matt, perplexed.
“You can be sure all five of the men who took this train will have guns,” Matt said. “That tilts the odds in their favor.”
“Yes, if you put it like that, I suppose I can see what you mean.” Once again, Daniels back-pedaled.
Matt took a count of the passengers in his car, all seven of them. In addition, the conductor and the porter Julius had come into the car. “There are nine in here, leaving twenty more in the other three cars. Mr. Bailey, do you know how many of the remaining passengers are men and how many are women?”
“We have three more woman passengers,” Bailey said. “There are also six more children—four girls, the oldest about eleven and two boys, both about nine. The youngest child is about five.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
A Rocky Mountain Christmas Page 12