The Nine Pound Hammer

by John Claude Bemis

  “Yes!” Ray said.

  “I’ll kill him!” Buck shouted.

  “He doesn’t believe these men are agents of the Gog!” Redfeather urged.

  “What does that matter? He’s flagging down the Gog’s train. Now they won’t wreck on the track. We’ll be found out!”

  Conker said, “The Gog will back up for certain now. And we’ve cut the track off, so we can’t follow.”

  “Jolie’s lost …,” Ray said.

  “Not yet,” Buck said, grinding his teeth. “There’s not another track for miles for them to turn their locomotive.”

  “So we should go after them on foot—” Si began.

  “The fire. We can’t reach them,” Buck said.

  “What if we followed the track?” Ray offered. “The fire doesn’t get all the way to it and we might be able to use it as a path.”

  As he said this Ray felt the rabbit’s foot grow warm in his pocket. Ray said, “Too late. They’re coming!”

  He looked down the hill. The Gog’s train—The Pitch Dark Train, as Hobnob had called it—was a looming shadow against the glowing fires. It chugged to a stop and a dozen men dismounted and passed the front of the locomotive. In the smoke and half-dark, it was hard to discern what the men looked like except for round-topped bowler hats on their heads. Ray was certain that not all the long objects they carried were tools for repairing the track.

  “What are they doing?” Buck asked.

  “They’re going to fix the track,” Conker whispered.

  “At least they’re not backing up,” Si said. She whipped her long ponytail around as she turned to grab the satchel from Ray. “The phials from Nel! If we knock them out now, we can—”

  Buck shook his head. “We need to save the phials for rescuing Jolie from the train.”

  Conker looked over at Buck. “But how can we get down to the train? We need some sort of cover. What about you, Buck? Could you get them from here? With your rifle?”

  Buck took several deep breaths, holding the air in his lungs each time. “Maybe. It’d be tricky with all this smoke. And it might force them into a retreat. We don’t want a gunfight. We need to keep the train where it is until we get Jolie back.”

  Shadows moved about the broken track as the Gog’s men set to work. One man’s voice called orders, and Ray wondered if it belonged to one of the three they had fought in the clearing. As several men picked up the disassembled pieces of rail, more than half spread out with rifles to keep watch. The locomotive reversed and began to slink away in the dark like a viper curling back into its den.

  “Oh, no!” Si said. “They’re pulling the train back.” She held up her hand and examined the swirling designs. After a few moments, she said, “They’re stopping about a quarter of a mile back.”

  Buck cursed sharply.

  “What?” Conker asked.

  “They know we can’t get to Jolie with the train back there,” Buck said. “They’re using the fire as a shield.”

  Ray said, “Even if we could sneak past those men and follow the track, they’d expect us to come that way. We’d be too obvious. We’re stuck!”

  “No, we’re not. I can go through the flames,” Redfeather said.

  “By yourself?” Buck said.

  “No. I can take others.”

  “What! How’s that possible?” Ray asked.

  Redfeather bent his head forward and pulled a necklace over his long braids. “You’ll hold this.”

  Ray looked at the copper that Eddie had been pestering Redfeather to loan him.

  “What is it?” Buck asked, cocking his head to the side.

  “A charm from my great-uncle. It can protect whoever wears it from fire.”

  “You don’t need it?” Ray asked.

  Redfeather shook his head. “Fire doesn’t affect me anymore.”

  “Who should go?” Ray asked.

  “I’ll go,” Conker said, heaving the Nine Pound Hammer up on his shoulder.

  Redfeather hesitated before saying, “You’re pretty big, Conker. I’m not sure it would work for you and Jolie … and Seth.”

  “Seth!” Buck barked. “We’re not risking Jolie to take that backstabber back.”

  Redfeather cringed. “I’m still worried Conker’s too big.”

  “I can go,” Si said. “You might need my hand.”

  “What about me?” Ray asked.

  “Yes, you go, too,” Buck ordered. “Especially if the Hoarhound is around. Will the copper cover both of them?”

  “Yes,” Redfeather said.

  “Good.” Buck motioned toward Conker. “There’s a lot of smoke. I’ll need you to keep an eye to those men at the track. If they start to finish the repair too soon, we might need to slow them down.”

  Redfeather handed Si the copper. “Just wrap the necklace around your wrist and Ray’s.”

  “Take the bottletree,” Conker said, pulling it from the soft earth. “You’ll need it more than us.”

  Redfeather nodded as Conker handed him the staff covered with a dozen securely fastened colored bottles. Ray picked up the satchel holding the phials and followed Si and Redfeather down the back of the hill. As they made their way into the field, the smoke began to grow thick. Ray pulled the dampened handkerchief from around his neck and slid it up over his nose. Even so, the smoke caused him to cough.

  “Go ahead and use the copper,” Redfeather said. “It’ll help you breathe.”

  Si helped Ray take the copper and wrap the cord in several loops around his wrist. It was awkward for them to walk so close together and find the right rhythm for their steps, but when Si took Ray’s hand in hers, they were able to maneuver better.

  “Here’s the fire,” Redfeather said as they neared the field. It was so consumed by lapping flames and thick smoke that they could see nothing beyond. “Can you tell which way, Si?”

  She spent a moment observing the movements on her hand in the orange illumination. As she found the route, she turned to Redfeather. “Are you sure this copper will work?”

  “Of course. Just walk like you would normally. Trust me.”

  She and Ray exchanged nervous glances. Several feet ahead chest-high flames licked the dried grass of the field. Redfeather went first. The flames danced against his legs and clothes but didn’t even blacken his pants. It was as if he were doing nothing more than walking through tall grass.

  “Come on,” Redfeather encouraged. It was scary to see him standing in the fire.

  Ray had to work against every natural impulse of survival to take those first steps toward the heat and flames. He squeezed Si’s hand once and began; she jumbled her steps to catch up with him. As they approached the edge of the fire, the flames damped beneath their feet as if a heavy wet blanket had been extended before them. The embers crinkled and popped as they continued forward, the flames extinguishing in a circle around them, rising up again after they had passed. Not even the heat from the cindered ground passed through the worn soles of Ray’s brogans.

  “See,” Redfeather said. “You’re fine. Keep going.”

  Ray and Si looked again at one another and laughed at the impossibility of what they were doing. Ray could not get over the sensation of being completely encased in fire but feeling no scorching heat, much less the quick roasting that should have occurred.

  Within several minutes they came to an area that the flames had not yet reached. Looking across, they saw the long black wall of the Gog’s train. Enveloped in smoke, The Pitch Dark Train waited on the rise of the tracks, its locomotive puffing and heaving. Ray slipped the copper from around his and Si’s wrists. He could feel the dull warmth of the rabbit’s foot in his pocket. The three knelt in the unburned grass and surveyed the length of train, dark against the glow of the surrounding fire.

  “Looks like we’ve got a leg up on them,” Si said.

  “How’s that?” Redfeather asked as he laid the bottle-tree at his side.

  “They’re expecting us to come from the front along t
he track,” she answered, pointing to the locomotive. “See how they’ve got most of their guards stationed up there? They don’t know we’ve got you, Redfeather.”

  Ray smiled. Si was right; it was hard to see in the dim light and smoke, but it looked as if a dozen or more guards were positioned down at the locomotive, rifles ready, scanning the smoky railroad track between the Gog’s train and the section of rail beyond where the others were repairing.

  “So let’s head straight to the train and start searching for—” Ray began.

  “Not that easy,” Redfeather said. “See that car about four from the caboose? Look close.”

  Ray spied them. “There’s guards on both ends of the car. Which is bad and good,” Ray said. “Bad ’cause we’ve got to get past those guards, but good—”

  Si picked up on his thought: “—because we now know where Jolie’s being held. And I think I know how we can get to her.”

  “How?” Redfeather and Ray asked together.

  Si knitted her brow as she thought out her plan. “They’ll certainly spot us coming across this field if we head straight there. So let’s circle back through the flames to the caboose. Ray, you and I will sneak down the side of the train. When we reach the agents, you’ll hide under the car behind the one they’re guarding. I think if I go along the roof of the car where they’re keeping Jolie, they won’t see me, and I can be plenty quiet. When you hear me give a low whistle, I’ll hit the ones in the front vestibule with one of Nel’s bottles, and you hit the ones in the back. They’re clustered together, so one phial each should get them.”

  “What should I do?” Redfeather asked.

  “You come with us but stick back a ways. If we run into trouble, you use the bottletree. And if something goes really wrong and those guards up at the locomotive come for us, you distract them while we get Jolie away. The bottle-tree should protect you. If we get separated, at least you won’t need the copper to escape into the flames.”

  Ray and Redfeather thought over Si’s plan. Ray could think of a million ways it could go wrong, but it seemed better than any plan he could come up with. Finally Ray nodded. “Let’s do it. First, eat the leaves.” They took the herbs that would protect them from the soporifics and popped them in their mouths, wincing at the horrible taste.

  The three went back into the flames until they reached the track by the caboose. As they got closer, they saw a single guard standing on the platform at the end of the caboose. He was dressed in the same type of black suit and bowler hat that they all wore. A rifle rested over his shoulder. Sipping a cup of coffee, he had a slightly bored look on his face, as if he didn’t expect to see much trouble at his post tonight.

  In the shadows, Si reached for a phial in Ray’s satchel. Ray put his hand to her arm and whispered, “I got him. Played loads of stickball back in the city. I know how to throw it.”

  Ray nestled his fingers around the small phial, getting the proper grip. With a quick flick, he fired the phial toward the guard. As the phial flew harmlessly over the caboose like a grouse taking flight, the guard’s gaze followed it curiously.

  With a growl, Si shoved her hand into the satchel and took a new phial. The guard peered out in the dark and set down his cup of coffee. Cocking his rifle, he swung it up. Si threw the phial square into his forehead, knocking the guard backward with a shattering of glass.

  “Stickball!” Si scoffed.

  Ray mouthed a few incoherent utterances as Redfeather ran up onto the caboose to check the guard. “He’s out cold, but I’m not sure if it’s from Nel’s sleeping potion or from getting knocked out by Si’s throw.”

  Ray looked at Si. She shook her head at him and began trotting forward.

  “Okay, we’ll keep close to the side of the train,” Si whispered to the boys. “When we get down to that car just before the one they’re guarding, Ray, you crawl underneath and get into position. Redfeather, you stay back with the bottletree. Got it?”

  Redfeather clutched the bottletree and nodded.

  “Ray, listen for my whistle,” Si said. “Then throw the phial, but hit them this time.”

  They moved down the train cars slowly and cautiously, stepping into the shadows between the cars to check that no guards were coming. Just as they reached the car behind the one where Jolie was imprisoned, a guard stepped down from her car. Fortunately, he looked toward the locomotive and not back to where Ray, Si, and Redfeather were standing.

  Quickly Ray, Si, and Redfeather dropped under the car, Redfeather holding the bottletree to his chest to keep the glass from clanking. Ray held his breath as the guard walked past. After a moment, the guard turned back and returned to Jolie’s car.

  “That was close,” Redfeather whispered, little more than moving his lips.

  Si grabbed a pair of phials from the satchel, slipped out from under the car, and climbed up the ladder. Ray crawled on all fours toward the end of the car. When he reached the gap between the cars, he peeked up at the vestibule.

  From his low vantage, Ray saw four guards standing together, all holding rifles. They didn’t speak to one another, and Ray felt a grudging respect for the discipline of the Gog’s agents. A quick shadow flickered over their heads. Not a single guard noticed. These were disciplined guards, but not sharp enough to catch Si quietly moving above them.

  Ray held a phial and waited. The tense seconds felt like hours, but then he heard a low, quick whistle. The guards looked at one another curiously just as Ray flicked the phial up into the vestibule. It hit a guard in the chest and fell to the iron platform at his feet with a tinkle of breaking glass. The guards swung their rifles toward Ray, but all collapsed into a heap before firing a shot.

  Ray exhaled sharply and listened to determine if Si was as successful. There was a collection of groans and then the clatter of tumbling bodies from the front of the car. Ray crawled out from under the train car, peering cautiously for other guards.

  Si leaped down from the train and ran back to join Ray. “Got them.”

  A guard stepped out of the doorway on Jolie’s car, looking down at the heap of men on the vestibule. “What the—?”

  Si threw the other phial and shattered it on the man’s temple. He fell forward stiffly onto the others. “Oops. Guess I missed one,” she murmured.

  “Check if there’s others!” Ray whispered, shoving another pair of phials in her hand. Si leaped onto the vestibule and peeked around the doorway before heading into the car. She came out a moment later. “All clear. Think anyone heard us?”

  Redfeather shook his head firmly. “Nobody heard that.”

  “I’ll go get Jolie,” Si said. “You two keep an eye out for any others.”

  Redfeather slipped between the train cars to watch on the other side. Putting his hand in the satchel, Ray counted the remaining phials. Seven left, including the pair Si had.

  Coming up onto the vestibule, Ray took Redfeather’s copper necklace from his wrist and slipped it into his pocket, noticing the heat intensifying from the rabbit’s foot. A shiver coursed down Ray. The Hoarhound was near.

  And with the Hound surely was its master. The Gog was here, somewhere aboard this dark train. Although part of him was curious to know what the Gog looked like, Ray hoped they would get away without finding out.

  Ray poked his head into the hallway and whispered, “Did you find her?”

  Si answered from about halfway down, “This door’s plated with lead! She’s here but the door’s locked. I’m trying to get it open.”

  Ray was getting more nervous. As he stepped down from the vestibule to look up and down the train, a gunshot erupted; out of the corner of his eye Ray saw the bullet spark off the side of the train just inches from where he stood. A bowler-capped man came down from a car just a few in front of Jolie’s. He ran toward Ray, shouting. Ray quickly pulled a phial out and threw it just as the guard reached him. It hit the man square in the nose and shattered. The man dropped instantly.

  Carrying the tinkling bottletree, Redf
eather came between the cars and looked from Ray to the man lying on the ground. “They heard that.” Redfeather’s voice trembled.

  “Redfeather—” Ray began.

  But Redfeather finished the thought. “I’ll distract them.” He grabbed the bowler hat off a slumbering guard’s head and began to run.

  “Hey, Redfeather!” Ray called.

  He turned.

  There were a lot of things Ray wanted to say, but he settled on, “See you back at the hill.”

  Redfeather gave a grim smile. “You too.” With the bottletree, Redfeather ran out from the side of the train into the smoky field, where a wide gap remained between the train and the surrounding fire.

  Ray jumped up the steps and went into the hallway. “Can’t you get it open?”

  “It’s a tough lock!” Si growled, working her knife into the keyhole with one hand, and holding up the tattooed hand for guidance. “Some sort of complicated mechanism …”

  “Want me to look for the key?” Ray said, looking around at the unconscious guards littering the vestibule. Ray began digging around a guard’s pockets for a key but found nothing. Exasperated, Ray called down the hallway to Si, “I can’t find it.”

  “Keep looking,” Si said.

  A moment later, Ray said, “Got it!” and held up a key triumphantly.

  A sharp click sounded, and Si turned the handle and opened the door. “Never mind.”

  Jolie was waiting behind the lead-plated door as it opened; she rushed out into the hallway, a bundle in her hands. Si held her hand over Jolie’s nose and said, “Wait. Hold your breath. Ray, give Jolie some of the herbs.” Ray ran down the hallway, digging them out of the satchel before handing them to Jolie. As she ate, he noticed how ornately decorated the dark hallway was: the detailed paneling on the walls, the unlit brass lamps lining the corridor.

  “Eat them quickly,” Si said to Jolie. Her eyes fell to the bundle in Jolie’s hands. “What’s that?”

  “A book,” Jolie mumbled as she chewed the leaves. But before explaining further, she asked, “Ray? What is it?”

  Ray frowned. “Something about this train …”