The first thing they saw was the engineer. He had been thrown from the cab when the engine overturned. They didn’t have to examine his mutilated body too closely to see he was dead.
The tender, baggage car, and express car also left the track, though the express car had not overturned. The express agent, who was uninjured, opened the door to see what had happened.
“Throw down that money shipment,” Jesse called up to him.
“Did you men do this?” the agent asked.
“The one hundred thousand dollars,” Jesse repeated. “Throw it down now, if you want to live.”
“Mister, you’ve made a big mistake,” the agent said. “We aren’t carrying that money shipment. They delayed it. It’s going on another train.”
“I’m coming onto the car to have a look for myself,” Jesse said. “And if I find you’re lying, I’m going to kill you.”
“Come on, look for yourself. I’m not lying, I swear to you, I’m not lying!”
“Open the safe,” Jesse ordered.
With shaking hands, the agent opened the safe and stepped back. Inside, there was a canvas bag marked, BANK OF DUBUQUE.
“What is this?” Jesse asked, holding up the bag.
“It’s two thousand dollars,” the nervous agent replied. “That’s all the money we’re carrying.”
“Damn,” Cole said. “All this for two thousand dollars?”
“Maybe we can get a donation from some of the passengers,” Frank suggested.
A trapped gas bubble in one of the logs popped, sending up a shower of sparks and jerking Jesse back from his thoughts. Tomorrow he and Billy would hold up a train. He was leading his son into a life of crime.
No, that wasn’t right. Billy had already taken up a life of crime. Jesse was just showing him how to survive.
The sign painted on the side of the water tank read: TANK NO. 27, TEXAS AND PACIFIC RAILROAD.
Jesse and Billy had come here an hour earlier, and they waited now behind some scrub brush that grew just high enough to keep them out of sight from the approaching train. They had ground-tethered their horses just on the other side of a tree line, which was about twenty yards behind where they were waiting.
“Pa, what are we going to do with the money?” Billy asked excitedly.
“Boy, haven’t you ever heard the term, ‘Don’t count your chickens before they hatch’?”
“Well, yeah, sure, I’ve heard that.”
“Then don’t spend the money before we’ve got it in our pocket.”
“Yeah,” Billy said. “Yeah, I see what you mean. I guess I’m just gettin’ excited is all.”
“Don’t. Don’t get excited; don’t get scared. Just stay calm. That way you won’t make mistakes.”
“Pa, how do you know about all this, anyhow?”
They heard a distant whistle.
“There’s the train,” Jesse said, not answering Billy’s question. “All right, get ready. And Billy?”
“Yeah, Pa?”
“Remember when I told you that anytime you pull your gun, you must be ready to kill if you have to?”
“I remember.”
“The other side of that is, don’t shoot anyone unless you absolutely have to.”
“All right,” Billy replied.
The train rumbled to a stop by the water tank.
“Wait until the fireman swings the spout over,” Jesse said quietly.
The fireman climbed onto the tender, then opened the hatch.
“Damn, Hank, this tank is as dry as a bone. Whatever steam we got in the pipes is all that’s left. Don’t think we coulda gone another mile,” the fireman called down to the engineer.
If the engineer answered, neither Jesse nor Billy heard the reply.
The fireman pulled the spout down from the tower. A moment later, there was the loud rush of water pouring into the tank.
“Now,” Jesse said.
Jesse and Billy closed the distance between them and the train. The engineer was on the other side of the cab, looking out the window, so he didn’t see Billy climb onto the locomotive deck.
“Mr. Engineer, I would like for you to step down onto the ground, if you would, please,” Billy said.
“What? You can’t be up here! Where did you come from? Get back down,” the engineer said, surprised by Billy’s unexpected appearance.
“My pa and I are the ones giving the orders now. Just do as we say.” Billy cocked his pistol.
“No, no! Don’t shoot! I’m gettin’ down!”
“Hank? What are you doin’ out of the cab?” the fireman called from the top of the tender. Because he was busy monitoring the water transfer, he had not seen Billy climb onto the locomotive.
Jesse stepped out where the fireman could see him. “Stop the water,” he said.
“What? I can’t do that. This tank is nigh empty.”
Jesse pointed the pistol at him. “I said, stop the water. Return the spout to the tank.”
The fireman did as he was ordered.
“Now, climb down into the cab and extinguish your fire, then let off all the steam.”
“Mister, if I do that, it’ll take near an hour to get the steam back up. We’ll have to clear the track before then ’cause there’ll be another train comin’ along.”
“You’ll just have to signal the train to wait until you can get yourself going again,” Jesse said. “Now, do what I tell you.”
“Yes, sir,” the fireman replied.
The fireman climbed back down into the cab, then under Billy’s watch opened the steam pressure relief valve. Steam began gushing from the drive cylinders on both sides of the engine.
“There,” the fireman said. “The pressure is at zero.”
“All right, now put out the fire.”
“How am I goin’ to do that?”
“If it was me puttin’ out the fire, I’d be usin’ that fire extinguisher,” Billy said, pointing to the copper instrument in the corner.
The fireman extinguished the fire.
“Now, climb down to join your friend on the ground,” Billy ordered.
“What is this?” the engineer asked as Billy and the fireman stepped down from the cab. “Paul, why’d you vent the steam?”
“I had no choice,” the fireman said. “This feller made me do it.” He nodded toward Billy. “Not only that, he made me put out the fire.”
“Good Lord, man, we have to reach the double track in San Martin in forty-five minutes, or we’ll be head-to-head with the eastbound.”
“There warn’t nothin’ I could do, Hank.”
“What is all this about?” the engineer asked Jesse.
“Isn’t it obvious? We’re robbing the train,” Jesse said.
“People don’t rob trains anymore.”
“Really? Well, I guess nobody ever told me that. Now, come with me, back to the express car.”
Jesse motioned with his pistol, and the engineer complied.
“Knock on the door and tell the express man to open up,” Jesse ordered.
“Don’t know as he’ll be able to hear me if I just knock with my fist. That door’s pretty thick.”
“Pick up a rock,” Jesse suggested.
The engineer picked up a rock from the ballast and knocked on the door. “Earl Ray?” he called. “Earl Ray, this is Hank. Open the door.”
The door slid open. “What do you need, Hank?”
“Hello, Earl Ray,” Jesse said, showing the express man his pistol.
“Who are you? What’s going on?” Earl Ray asked.
“What’s going on is a train robbery.”
“Are you serious? Who robs trains anymore?”
Jesse looked at the engineer and chuckled. “Tell him, Hank. Who robs trains anymore?”
“This feller does,” Hank said.
“Now, Earl Ray, this is what I’d like for you to do. I want you to drop down the money shipment bag.”
“What makes you think we’re carrying any money?”
> “How else do banks pay off checks, other than by money exchange?” Jesse asked. “Every train carries a money shipment now. And I know that you are carrying at least five thousand dollars to the San Francisco Bank and Savings to cover the check written by my friend Emerson Williams. Now, toss it down here, like I asked.”
“I can’t do that.”
“If you don’t toss it down, I’m going to kill Hank. And if that doesn’t get you to toss it down, then I’ll kill Paul. And if you still won’t toss it down, then I’ll kill you, and just go find another train to rob where the express agent has more sense than you do.”
“For God’s sake, Earl Ray, give him the money,” Hank said. “It’s not like it’s your money!”
“Hank does have a point, Earl Ray,” Jesse said. “It isn’t your money. Now, toss it down to the boy.”
“All right, all right, I’ll toss it down.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Jesse said.
The express agent tossed a canvas bag down to Billy.
“It’s got a lock,” Billy said.
“Drop it onto the ground,” Jesse said.
When Billy complied, Jesse shot the lock off. “Make sure there’s money inside.”
Billy glanced in, then, with a big smile, pulled out a bound packet of twenty-dollar bills.
“Look at this!” he said.
“All right, Paul, you can start the water going again, then get your fire going and the steam pressure built back up. I expect your passengers are anxious to get to where they’re going,” Jesse said.
“Yes, sir,” the engineer said.
“What’s going on here? What was that shot?” someone yelled several cars back.
The shout came from the conductor, who was on the steps of the car holding on to the assist rail and leaning out.
Jesse fired toward him, the bullet hitting the assist rail just above the conductor’s hand. The expression on his face reflected his panic, and he disappeared quickly back into the car.
“I tell you what, Earl Ray, maybe you’d better go back there and keep ever’one in the train calm, while Hank and Paul are getting the pressure built back up,” Jesse said. “Someone else is liable to get curious, and if I can’t scare him back the way I did the conductor, then I’ll have to kill him. And I know that neither one of us wants that, now, do we?”
“I’m going, I’m going,” Earl Ray said, moving quickly toward the passenger cars of the train.
Jesse and Billy waited until the fireman was once again filling the tank with water, and both Hank and Earl Ray were back onto the train. Then, they ran away from the track, disappearing quickly into the line of trees so they couldn’t be seen by anyone on the train.
“Let’s put some distance between us and the track,” Jesse said.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“How much did we get, Pa?”
Jesse and Billy were camped on the Brazos River, and it wasn’t until then that Jesse counted the money.
“Five thousand seven hundred and fifteen dollars,” Jesse said.
“Wow! That’s quite a haul.”
“It’s more than we could get from a grocery store.”
“Yeah, I guess it is,” Billy said, chagrined by the reminder.
Jesse chuckled. “Don’t feel bad about it. I’ve pulled jobs that brought in less money.”
“I knew it!” Billy said. “I knew you had done this before! What are we going to do next?”
“What about a bank?” Jesse suggested.
“Do you have one picked out already?”
“Yes, in Culpepper.”
“Culpepper?”
“It’s a small town north of here. It isn’t served by the railroad.”
“If it’s a small bank there won’t be that much money in it, will there?”
“More than you think. Culpepper is a coal-mining town, so the mine will keep a reserve of money on hand. And because it’s a small town and a small bank, the security won’t be that high. That means the risks will be less.”
“All right, that sounds good to me. Let’s do it,” Billy said. “What do we do first?”
“The first thing we do is scout out the bank and the town.”
“Pa, what about this money?” Billy asked.
“What about it?”
“I mean, what are we going to do with it? We can’t just carry it around with us, can we?”
“We’ll put it in our saddlebags,” Jesse said. “Have you ever heard of anyone robbing a saddlebag?”
Billy laughed. “No, I don’t guess I have.”
“We’ll keep it in our saddlebags and just act normal. It’ll be safe there.”
“But can we spend any of it?”
“Spend it on what?”
“You said we were going into the town to scout it out, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, won’t there be a saloon there?”
“I’m sure there will be.”
“And if there’s a saloon there, there will also be . . . uh, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. Billy, I’ve known men to get drunk and start trying to impress some doxie. Can I trust you not to do that?”
“I’ll be careful, Pa, I promise. Uh, how much money can I spend?”
“We’ll each have twenty dollars in our pocket when we go in.”
“Twenty dollars? Is that all? That’s not very much money. I mean, considering all this.” He took in the money with a wave of his hand.
“Billy, that’s more than a week’s pay for most men. Anything more than twenty dollars is going to get some unwanted attention. By the time we get to town, word will already be there that two men robbed a train. And I’m pretty sure there will be a fairly good description of us.”
“Yeah,” Billy said. “Yeah, I see what you mean. I guess I’ve got a lot to learn, haven’t I?”
“You’re coming along,” Jesse replied.
Culpepper, Texas
Jesse and Billy dismounted in front of the livery and were met by a thin, white-haired man with a prominent Adam’s apple.
“Wantin’ to put your horses up, are ya?”
“Yes. Probably, just for the night. Unsaddle them, but just leave the saddles in the stall with them.”
“That’ll be a dollar for the two of them.”
As Jesse gave the man a dollar, he was startled by a woman screaming. The scream had come from the saloon across the street, and he looked toward it but the scream was quickly followed by an outbreak of laughter.
“Pay no attention to that,” the stableman said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “That’s more’n likely Screamin’ Lily.”
“Screamin’ Lily?”
“She works over there at the Wet Mouse. She’s always screamin’ and cacklin’ ’n takin’ on so that that’s what she’s called.”
“Well I guess we’ll have to check it out,” Jesse said.
With their horses put up at the livery, Jesse and Billy walked across the street to the saloon known as the Wet Mouse. It was suppertime, which was peak business time for the saloon, so it was full. At the back of the room a man wearing a vertical striped shirt with sleeve garters, a bow tie, and a bowler hat was grinding away at a scarred piano. A beer mug sat on top of the piano, about one-third filled with coins.
There were seven or eight saloon girls working the customers, and when one of them suddenly cackled out loud, Jesse was able to identify Screaming Lily.
“Two beers,” Jesse ordered, sliding a piece of silver across the bar. The man behind the bar drew two mugs and set them, with foaming heads, in front of Jesse and Billy. The long ride had made the men thirsty, and they drank the first one down without taking away the mug. Then they wiped the foam away from their lips and slid the empty mugs back toward the barkeep.
“That one was for thirst,” Jesse said. “This will be for taste. Do it again.”
Smiling, the bartender gave them a second round.
With the beer in his hand, Billy turned h
is back to the bar and looked out over the saloon. One of the girls pulled herself away from the table and sidled up to the two. She had bleached hair, was heavily painted, but behind her tired eyes was a suggestion of good humor. She smiled at Billy.
“What a handsome devil you are,” she said. “I’ll just bet you’ve broken many a poor girl’s heart.”
“I’ve bent them around a few times,” Billy replied with a broad grin. “Don’t know as I ever broke any.”
“You aren’t going to bend Dolly’s heart, are you?” the girl asked.
“Dolly? That would be your name?”
“You guessed it, cowboy. What’s your name?”
“Joe. My name is Joe,” Billy said. Billy turned toward the bartender. “It looks to me like Dolly needs a drink.”
“Coming right up,” the bartender said, filling a glass from Dolly’s special bottle.
As Billy was visiting with Dolly, another of the bar girls came to visit with Jesse.
“Hello. My name is Sheila.”
“Hi, Sheila.” Jesse hesitated for a moment, then called upon a name he had used in the past. “My name is Tom.”
“I like you, Tom,” Sheila said.
Jesse chuckled. “I don’t have that effect on everyone. And, I’m a little old for you, aren’t I?”
“No, not at all. I have a thing for mature men. Why, you’re much more handsome than your little brother here.”
“How do you know he’s my brother?”
“Because you two look exactly alike.”
Jesse laughed. “If we look alike, how can I be a lot more handsome?”
Sheila laughed as well. “Let’s just say that when your brother gets to be your age, he’ll be more handsome.”
Jesse turned toward the bartender. “How about you give Miss Sheila here whatever it is she likes to drink. And tell me where might be a good place to eat around here?”
“I’d recommend Dewey Gimlin’s place, right next door,” the bartender answered.
“Joe, what do you say we go have some supper? I could eat a horse.”
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