Mackey smiled in spite of himself. “Wish I could tell if I was against Grant in particular or against change in general. Wonder if my opinion of the man is clouding my judgment of him.”
Billy wiped down the barrel of his rifle with a cleaning rag. “Him coming out of that man’s tent just before I was attacked isn’t a matter of opinion, Aaron. That’s a flat-out fact. And him meeting an anarchist at all is damned suspicious, much less meeting him in Tent City. Trust your instincts, Aaron. They’re usually pretty good. I ought to know. They’ve helped keep me alive for the past ten years.”
Mackey looked away from the window. Billy had a knack for saying the damnedest things at the right time. “Thank you for that.”
“Shut up.” Billy tossed his rag aside and began feeding cartridges into the Sharps. “You can thank me by quit doubting yourself. Dover Station and Grant will take care of themselves. Right now, we’ve got a passel of murderers stalking this train.”
A heavy knock came at the door and Mackey told them to come in. It was Kennard the conductor.
“The train engineer reports seeing that bonfire right where you said it would be, sheriff. On the far side of the Talon River. We’re already starting to slow down, just like you ordered.”
“What did I tell you, Aaron?” Billy loaded the last cartridge into the Sharps. “Focus on the business at hand.”
Mackey stood up and began putting on his gun belt. To Kennard, he said, “Anyone complains, just say we’re letting the engine cool down.”
“Most of the passengers are either asleep or too drunk to notice,” the conductor said, “but I’ll tell them that if they ask.”
Mackey and Billy pulled on their coats and hats. Mackey holstered his Peacemaker in the belly holster and grabbed the Winchester. Billy had kept his gun belt on the entire time and grabbed the Sharps.
“Lead the way,” Mackey told the conductor. “The sooner the better.”
* * *
The conductor led Mackey and Billy through the sleeping cars and the dining car, and through the passenger cars where people were attempting to sit upright in various states of unconsciousness.
The train had come to a gradual, but complete stop by the time they reached the head of the last passenger car before the tender car that stored the water and coal for the engine.
Kennard opened the door and they were immediately greeted by a cold nastiness in the night air. Mackey was glad that the wind was little more than a breeze or he and Billy would freeze while they waited.
The conductor lit a lantern but stayed close by the doorway. He looked nervous, and it was not just due to the cold. “Are you sure that fire is a good sign, sheriff? I mean, we usually don’t stop for such things, being out here on our own and all, especially at night.”
“I told our scout to ride ahead and signal us if he found anyone waiting for us farther down the line. That bonfire means he must have found something.” He saw the worried look on Kennard’s face hadn’t changed and added, “It’s good news. I promise.”
“I’ve already lost two good friends on this run, sheriff, so forgive me for being cautious. But what if the bandits caught one of your friends and are using that fire as a trap for us?”
Since Mackey was beginning to get annoyed, he let Billy answer that question. “We’ve got two good friends out scouting for us. They’ve been hunting and trapping in this territory their whole lives. There’s no way anyone could get close enough to them to hurt them, much less make them betray us.”
Mackey could see Billy’s words still had no effect on the conductor. He didn’t want that kind of concern around him. Fear could be as infectious as the plague, and the sooner the man was out of his sight, the better.
Mackey took the lantern from the fat man. “We’ll take it from here. Why don’t you head back to the boxcar and make sure the stableman has our horses saddled? But he’s to leave Adair where she is. She’s liable to take a bite out of him if he tries to take her outside. She doesn’t like people much.”
“Kind of like her owner,” Billy added.
If Kennard heard that, he did not show it as he hurried inside to the general warmth and safety of the train.
Mackey stepped to the edge of the stairs and held the lantern high, swinging it back and forth three times before stepping down the stairs and doing the same thing from the ground. “One of the Boudreauxs should’ve seen that.”
Mackey set the lantern on the bottom step and leaned against the train, waiting. It was better down on the ground. He could see better, too, though it was still too dark to see much, even with the moon.
The dust from the coal and the smoke from the boiler engine were beginning to hurt his eyes. And even though he had fully recovered from his bout of pneumonia several months before, his lungs were still a bit raw. “Could go for a cup of coffee right about now,” he admitted. “Take some of the chill out of the air.”
Above him, Billy leaned against the railing, keeping an eye out. “Coffee would just make us jumpy. Or make us have to make water. Either way, best if we don’t have it.”
Mackey glanced up at his deputy. He had a way of putting things into perspective. “There’s that, I guess.”
Billy pulled out some paper from his shirt pocket, then a pouch of tobacco from his coat, and began rolling a smoke. The lack of wind made this possible. “Think we should tell Lagrange about this?”
“If he wakes up, we’ll include him,” Mackey said. “If he doesn’t, no loss. I don’t want to have to worry about him pushing to come with us.”
Billy tapped tobacco into the rolling paper. “He handled himself pretty good up until now.”
“That’s because everything until now has been indoors. Lagrange is a smart man and probably a capable one. But I don’t know how he handles himself outside, and going up against a group of train robbers is a damned awkward time to find out.”
A skitter of rocks hitting the railbed snapped Mackey and Billy alert. Each man brought up his rifle, but did not aim it as no target had yet presented itself in the darkness.
“I did that on purpose,” Jack Boudreaux called out from the darkness. “Didn’t want you shooting me on my way down here. But you two should be quieter. I could hear you all the way at the top of the hill.”
Mackey knew Billy could never pass up an opportunity to tease the Boudreauxs. “Wanted to help you find your way in the darkness. Was afraid you’d get lost.”
“Never got lost in the dark yet, goddamn it.”
Jack, like his twin brother, Henry, was land-work lean and of medium height. Both sported thick dark hair and strong features that women seemed to find irresistible, not that the boys put up much of a fight when a lady tried to charm them. Mackey had pegged the Boudreauxs to be around twenty-five years of age, but given their affection for single and married women alike, the sheriff was amazed they had lived even that long.
Mackey waited until Jack had made it all the way down the incline before asking questions. “You lit the fire, so I take it you found something.”
“I most certainly did,” Jack said. “Me and Henry found a camp about three miles away. Five men, all of them armed. Two pack mules with them. They didn’t do too much to hide themselves, because I don’t think they care much about anyone finding them.”
“Recognize any of them?” Billy asked.
“We didn’t risk getting that close,” Jack said, “even at night. But they’re armed to the teeth. We watched them strip down while they made camp. Each man’s got two rifles and two pistols, though they only sport one. Second pistol’s either tucked in their shirt or in the back of their belt. They’re not big talkers, didn’t call each other by name, either. They just ran through what they’d just done to the track and how they planned on robbing it first thing in the morning.”
“You see what they did to the track?” Mackey asked.
“They pulled up a couple of sections and cast them off to the side,” Boudreaux told them. “Figure they’ll either
derail the train if it can’t stop in time or they’ll get it to stop and rob it when it does. They’ve got the men and the guns to do it, Aaron. Those boys move like they know what they’re doing.”
Mackey was not as concerned as young Boudreaux. “So do we. Where’s your horse?”
“Up the hill about a hundred yards back tethered to a dead tree. Why?”
“Head back up there and wait while Billy gets his horse,” Mackey said. “He’ll ride with you to meet your brother. Billy will place you boys where he needs you.”
“Needs us?” Jack repeated. “Hell, we figured we’d surround the bastards from behind and disarm them that way.”
Mackey wished that would have been possible. “You said these boys knew how to handle themselves. You behind them and me in front of them. One of us is liable to be dead including all of them. Was kind of hoping to keep one of them alive. The way Billy will show you is better.”
Jack was not a dumb man, but he had never been the assertive type. He held out his hand to gauge the weather. “Better hope the wind stays this calm or the long guns won’t offer much from a distance.”
“We’d better hope for a lot of things.”
Mackey stepped off the other side of the train and walked back toward the boxcar where their horses were stored. Billy followed.
* * *
“Feels good to be off that damned train for a bit,” Billy said as they walked. “Miss not having the ground under my feet. Miss not having all the room I want to spread out.”
“The more room you have, the less money they make,” Mackey said, mindful of where he stepped in the darkness. The muted light from the shaded windows of the train cars did not offer much in the way of guidance. “You clear on what I need you to do?”
Billy began to repeat it verbatim. “Spread the Boudreauxs and myself on either side of the tracks in a raised position. I draw a bead on the leader. The Boudreauxs aim at the two on either side of him. You drop your left hand, we kill them.”
“Good memory.”
“Hell, Aaron. We’ve only gone over it twenty times since dinner. When you weren’t brooding, that is. Only problem is the math. Since there’s five of them and we shoot three of them, that’ll leave two remaining. How do you want to handle them?”
“They’re my problem,” Mackey said. “Just make sure you don’t shoot anyone else unless I’m hit or dead. I’d like to grab one of these bastards and get them to talk if I can.”
“You think they’ll give you the chance?”
“One of the last two just might,” Mackey allowed, “especially when they see their leader dead. But I suppose we’ll find out soon enough, won’t we?”
The sky began to darken as the majesty of the false dawn faded before the true dawn began. Mackey glanced back at Billy as they approached the boxcar. “I can hear your mind working from here, so might as well spit it out.”
Billy came clean. “Don’t like you going up against five men alone. Not strangers, anyway.”
“I won’t be alone. I’ll have you and the brothers backing me up with the rifles. That makes all the difference.”
“Four against five is better odds,” Billy said. “Might make them think twice about doing something stupid.”
“Robbing the train in the first place was stupid,” Mackey said. “Whatever happens today is their doing. Besides, the leader is looking at three murders. He’s less likely to go peacefully.”
The boxcar came into view in the weak morning light. “You know I’m with you either way.”
“Yeah. I know.”
Chapter 16
When they reached the horse car, the stableman was already outside holding Mackey’s and Billy’s mounts. Billy’s horse was a chestnut roan mare he’d never gotten around to naming.
Mackey’s horse was a black Arabian named Adair, a gift from the men of his last post before he was asked to resign from the cavalry. The men had found her in a herd they had taken from a Mexican horse thief, though no one knew how the man had come upon such a majestic animal.
Adair strained against the rein when she caught Mackey’s scent on the wind. The stableman seemed just as anxious to let her go as she was to be free. She trotted over and nuzzled against Mackey’s shoulder.
“I know you hate it in there,” he said as he patted her neck. “Time to get to work.”
The stableman handed Billy the reins of his horse. “You’ve got yourself a damned nasty animal with that one, mister. I’ve heard Arabians are spirited, but that demon tried to bite me three times.”
Mackey slid his Winchester into the scabbard, then checked his gear to make sure it was all still there. “Conductor tell you to leave her alone until I got here?”
“He did,” the stableman admitted, “but I’ve been handling horses my whole damned life and never backed down to an animal yet. Don’t intend on starting now, either. That mare is spoiled. Needs a good beating if you ask me.”
Mackey slid his foot into the stirrup and hauled himself up into the saddle. He never felt quite as comfortable on the ground as he did on horseback.
He brought Adair around and looked down at the stableman. “What the hell did you just say to me?”
The stableman looked like the sort who was accustomed to speaking his mind whenever it suited him, but at that particular moment in time, looking up at Mackey peering down at him from atop his horse, speaking his mind did not appear to suit him very well. Instead, he quietly pushed the ramp back in the cattle car.
“Yep,” Billy said. “Like owner, like horse.”
Mackey and Billy brought their animals about and began moving south along the tracks at a decent trot. The horses had been standing still for a day or so. He wanted to warm them up first before they met the robbers.
“You’d best run ahead and join Jack. I’ll give you three plenty of time to get into position. Figure on me being there just after sunup.”
“We’ll be waiting.” Billy brought the roan around and took off at a gallop to meet Jack Boudreaux at the head of the train.
Mackey reached down and patted Adair’s neck again. “Come on, baby. Let’s go to work.”
He clicked his teeth, and the horse began walking toward the roadblock. Mackey didn’t even have to use his heels. She knew where she was going and seemed eager to get there.
* * *
The edge of the sun had just begun to appear over the eastern horizon when Mackey saw the five mounted men standing in a line across the ruined track bed. The rails had been pulled up and the ties cast aside.
Mackey had never been a railroad man, but he knew enough about them to know how much work it took to pull rail. It was hard work, harder than men who stole for a living should have been willing to do.
He remembered what Agee had said back in Chidester. How he had always been paid fifty dollars in gold after tipping off the gang about which trains to rob. Not greenbacks, not jewelry, but gold. The whole system—the intimidation, the listening in on the telegraph signals, and even the payoff—seemed too organized for common bandits. Yet three people had died since the robberies began, and Mackey couldn’t understand why. A train engineer, a brakeman, and a passenger protecting his wife. The robbers had been so disciplined about some parts of their scheme and so careless about others.
Mackey nudged Adair to walk up on the railbed as they approached, her shoes clapping loudly against the wooden ties still intact. The mounts of the robbers in front of him stirred as Mackey approached, but the line held.
He didn’t look around to see if the Boudreauxs and Billy were in position. He knew he would not be able to see them anyway.
Adair stopped twenty yards in front of the men without any prompting from Mackey. She had been through similar situations with her rider many times before. She knew what to do.
Now that he was closer, Mackey saw all five men had bandanas covering their faces. The man in the middle sat taller than the other four and was much broader than his compatriots. He had a rifle resting by
its stock on his left hip. The others were all leaner and smaller. The one on the far left looked to be the youngest, but the bandana made it difficult to tell.
The man in the middle leaned across his saddle toward Mackey but did not break the line. “Morning. You lost, mister?”
Even in the dim light, Mackey could see the man examining his rig, the Winchester tied to his saddle and the Colt holstered on his belly.
Mackey looked the men over as he spoke. “You the leader here?”
“Yes, sir, I suppose you could say I am.” The voice was unfamiliar. “And just who the hell might you be?”
“Name’s Aaron Mackey, and I’m placing all of you under arrest.”
The name hit each of the men like a gust of wind. Every one of them reared back a bit and looked at each other.
The only one who did not react was the leader. “That so? Last I heard, Aaron Mackey was the sheriff up in Dover Station.”
“Still is,” Mackey said. “Mr. Rice asked me to put a stop to these robberies personally and that’s exactly what I’m doing. Right here and right now.” He looked at each of the four other men in turn. “You boys throw down your guns nice and easy and come along with me. You have my word that no one will get hurt.”
“Mister Rice?” The leader spoke to his men without taking his eyes off Mackey. “You hear that, boys? Sheriff Mackey’s mighty respectful for a lawman with such a dangerous reputation, don’t you think?”
The man to the left of the leader said, “Sure is, boss. The way I heard it, he beat Bear Harper to death with his bare hands.”
The man to the right of the leader added, “I heard he handed over Darabont to be skinned alive by savages.”
“Heard that one myself,” the leader said, “after he savaged the good sheriff’s woman, of course.” He leaned forward in the saddle. “I get all them details right, sheriff?”
Mackey stopped looking at the men and focused on the leader. “Some, not all. Doesn’t matter much anyhow. Only thing that matters is my breakfast.”
Three of the men in the center of the line laughed. The two on the outside just sat as still as they could manage and looked scared.
Dark Territory Page 13