by CJ Quincy
Samuel scoffed. “What kind of business? I don’t have any trade mastered, you said it yourself – the only businesses that are thriving in this town are the brothels and the casinos. I doubt we’d succeed with a casino at 11,000 feet.” Samuel paced a little beside the bed. “I’m going home. I’ll get to New York and regroup.”
“I’m staying, Sam. I committed to this move, and I’m going to stick it out.” Benjamin said. He stood and walked to the hotel room’s window.
Samuel walked over to his friend, feeling the heaviness of guilt settle in his chest. How could he have expected this to work?
The two stood side by side for a moment, quietly watching patrons enter and exit the casino across the street. Samuel remembered when he and Benjamin had first celebrated their good fortune there. How many other patrons would shoulder crushing disappointment? How many other celebrations would turn sour?
Samuel noticed Benjamin’s attention flickering from the casino to the mining train sitting lifeless in the distance. His friend glanced at the train, the casino, and then back again.
Suddenly Benjamin turned to Samuel and grabbed him by the shoulders. His face was alight with enthusiasm.
“Sam, stop moping! I have an idea.”
Samuel sighed and Benjamin’s grin only made him more depressed. “I’m through with ideas, Benjamin.”
Benjamin gave Samuel’s shoulders a little shake. “Just wait, Sam. This won’t cost you much; just hear me out.”
“Okay, I’m listening.”
“Like we said, the casinos and brothels are the only businesses that are succeeding in this town.” Samuel arched an eyebrow and Benjamin held his hands up in a cautioning gesture. “We obviously can’t open a casino on our property, but what if we used those old passenger cars as our casino on rails? We could put poker tables, roulette tables, blackjack – you name it, in each passenger car. Then we would just sell tickets on our gambling train, along with chips for games.”
Samuel rubbed his forehead and sat on the edge of Benjamin’s bed, taking it all in.
Benjamin’s eyes were wide and he pointed out the window. “We’d have captive gamblers all the way up and down the mountain. We can hire bartenders, dealers and waitresses.” He clapped his hands. “There’d be nothing like this train anywhere!”
Samuel stared at his friend and then looked over Benjamin’s shoulder at the window. He glanced at his suitcase and said, “This is quite an idea, Ben, but it would cost me what little money I have left.” Samuel’s already tense stomach was burning with nausea.
“It would, and I don’t want you to risk more than you have already lost. It was just an idea, Sam. I understand if you want to leave.” Benjamin put his hands in his pockets and the light dulled in his eyes.
For a moment of agonizing indecision, Samuel chewed the inside of his cheek and let silence fill the room. They’d already taken one huge risk in coming here, and look where that got them. However, at this point, what was one more?
“Let’s do it.” he said.
“What? Seriously?” Benjamin shook his head in disbelief.
“Let’s get down to those passenger cars and assess the situation.” Samuel smiled, once again feeling fueled by Benjamin’s optimism and enthusiasm. Despite his sweating palms and slightly twitching left eye, Samuel had once again found hope.
Chapter X
Samuel and Benjamin hopped across the tracks to the last row of rails, where the passenger cars sat, dusty and dirty, looking almost ancient.
“We got our work cut out for us” said Samuel, hopping onto the back end of one of the cars. He squeezed through the entryway and stepped into the car. The dust tickled his nosed and he suppressed a sneeze. The afternoon sun cast shadows from the trees through the windows, creating ghostly shapes across the old, rotting seats.
“Whew, smell the mildew in here.” Samuel scrunched his nose as Benjamin followed him deeper in the car. “We could remove all of these rows of seats, put a bar there and tables there, there and there.” Samuel mused quietly, pointing to different sections in the back of the car.
“We’d have to have the blacksmith weld the tables into the floor, Sam, especially with the movement of the train up the mountain.”
“Great idea, Ben.” Samuel smiled at Benjamin and clapped a hand on his shoulder. “Get the miners and tell them they are all hired again and meet us at the depot at first light.”
Skepticism crossed Benjamin’s face. “You’re going to give those miners a second chance, Sam?” He furrowed his brows.
“This whole train is a second chance, Ben.” Samuel gave Benjamin’s shoulder a
reassuring pat before he turned and imagined what might be. For the first time since he learned
of the fraud he felt like maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t going to end up a failure after all.
*
Samuel didn’t want Kingsley to get a hint that anything was different, so he arranged to have all of the miners arrive at the mine like normal on the following day. As far as Mr. Kingsley needed to know, he was a young, inexperienced businessman who was going to work himself to death trying to find silver before he gave up.
As the miners assembled near the front of the mine, Samuel and Benjamin approached them, this time in standard clothes instead of mining uniforms. The men were anxious, their restlessness rippling through the crowd through the sound of their crunching boots as they shifted their weight and the dark clouds that had settled over their brows. Some whispered amongst their fellows and others stood and silently stared at Samuel, watching his every move with desperation.
Samuel and Benjamin talked to one another for a moment, letting the breeze and the birds be the only sounds for the miners’ ears. It was their own small way of revenge for the betrayal, however understandable, that they’d experienced on the miners’ behalf. Letting them squirm for a few minutes wouldn’t do any harm.
The low rumble of thunder sounded far in the distance, and Samuel figured that was as good a sign as any to begin.
“Fellow miners,” he raised his voice high over their increasing chatter, bringing them all to silence,” I’ve gathered you here today not to fire you, but to offer you another opportunity.”
Relief transformed the faces of some of the younger miners, suspicion the faces of the older.
“Now, I can’t pay you double like our old friend Kingsley did, but I can guarantee you jobs in this godforsaken town.” The looming clouds drew closer, casting a shadow over all of the men and sending thunderclaps through their bones.
“What will we do without any silver to mine?” Kenneth stepped forward and asked. Samuel felt a pang of connection with this man who’d obviously only been brought to deception through Kingsley by desperation. Well, Samuel was desperate now, and he needed their help for this to work.
“You all have seen those rotting, useless passenger cars, right?” Samuel said. The miners nodded and exchanged glances with one another.
“Well, we’re going to put them to use!” Benjamin finished Samuel’s thought and infected Samuel with his beaming grin.
“That’s right!” Samuel confirmed. “For any man willing, there’s the opportunity to help us refinish, refurbish, and revitalize those cars. Benjamin and I plan to turn them into something Durango’s never seen: a gambling train.” Samuel shivered, exhilarated, in the cool breeze.
Some of the miners laughed, others cheered; all seemed enthusiastic about gainful employment.
“We need polishers, cleaners, upholsterers, you name it. We need your talent and willingness to work out in the open sun instead of that empty husk of a mine! We also need your trust, and not a word of this can be breathed to Mr. Kingsley. He has no part or say in this mine anymore! Let’s make it ours!” The miners applauded and clapped one another on the back. A slight rain began to fall.
Samuel and Benjamin shook hands, and the rain threatened to draw a heavy curtain between the friends and their employees. “Let’s go home! Everyone meet here first
thing next week to start our plans!” Samuel called out through the increasing intensity of the pelting fat drops. As everyone scrambled onto the mining train, Samuel relished the dampness of his clothing as it stuck to his back, the slosh in his boots from his soaked socks, and how truly alive he felt as they prepared to embark upon the biggest risk they’d taken since moving out West.
Chapter XI
Over the coming weeks, Samuel learned that he was sorely mistaken if he ever thought mining was the hardest work he’d ever done. Mining certainly was physical labor, but it was also pretty straightforward: put forth the effort, get silver, cash in your load. Suddenly, though, he and Benjamin were faced with myriad different decisions: which brass and silver accents to add, which upholstery they could afford, even down to the color of the drapes for the windows of the passenger cars.
First, Samuel, Benjamin, the miners, and the blacksmith descended upon those derelict cars like a fury of locusts, stripping anything too damaged or of too little value before the real work began. Samuel and Benjamin threw themselves into the work alongside their employees, crouching on aching knees to polish baseboards, inhaling the tickle and burn of dust clouds, wiping windows and polishing wooden surfaces until their elbows throbbed.
Once the cars were gutted and cleaned, they began bringing them back to life. The empty husks transformed before their eyes as tables were welded to the floor, mahogany racks were hung above the bar, and the seating and drapes were made a brilliant crimson. The miners and blacksmith taught Samuel and Benjamin some of their respective songs that the occasionally used while working to pass the time and lift spirits, and their clear voices carried as one above the pounding, hiss of the welding, and scraping away the old to invigorate with the new.
*
Samuel and Benjamin helped lug buckets of soapy water to the passenger cars once the insides were completed and stocked with all the liquor and glassware Durango could offer. When the last glass was settled in the mahogany racks hanging above the bar, all that was left was to clean the outer hulls.
The men spent hours underneath the blazing summer sun scrubbing away dirt, dust, and rust, getting those old dented cars to gleam in preparation for their new coats of paint. To match the interior, and because they got a great deal on a shipment to the general store, they chose bright red with yellow and black trim and accents. Instead of the grime of the mine, the miners’ fingers were soon coated in the bright-colored paint, and despite the near suffocating heat that plastered their shirts to their backs and their pants to their thighs, Samuel had never seen these men smile so often.
The tightening burn of sunburn covered Samuel’s his cheeks and forehead when he and Benjamin sat on the tracks for a water break.
“Wow,” Benjamin said, taking a long swig from the water flask.
“You can say that again. Now we need to hire some employees, maybe we can even clean up the miners.” Samuel smiled and took the flask from his friend. “Ben, tell the miners that we need bartenders, waiters, janitors, dealers, engineers, and God knows what else. Let them spread the word and keep this sort of underground. I don’t want to draw any more attention than we need to from Kingsley.” Samuel took another long drink, relishing the cooling sensation as the water glided down his parched throat. “This Monday we will interview prospective candidates to work on our train.”
“You got it, boss,” smiled Benjamin. He stood and walked off to a cluster of miners to begin spreading the news. It was finally beginning. Samuel squinted into the bright afternoon sky and couldn’t believe that all their labor was finally going to pay off.
*
Early Sunday morning Samuel was relaxing in the hotel room, sprawled out and already sweating on the bed and nursing an aching shoulder, when Benjamin entered with news of their word of mouth advertising campaign.
“Well I think I’ve finally gotten to all of the miners. I told them to spread the word on the positions we’re looking for employees and that the interviews begin at 9 a.m. Monday at the Durango train depot.”
“What did you tell them they were interviewing for? I mean, aside from the types of jobs.” Samuel asked, sitting up and tugging at his damp shirt.
“I just listed it as casino train. We never gave it a name.” Benjamin shrugged.
“Our train needs a name, Benjamin.” Samuel laughed as he pulled The Durango Herald from his bag, unsure as to how this one obvious detail could have escaped them for so long. For a moment they sat in silence while Samuel scribbled different ideas onto the top blank area of the newspaper: “The Colorado,” “The Durango,” and even “Take a Gamble,” which made him wince.
As he scanned the front page of the paper in frustration, suddenly it hit him like a lightning bolt.
“The 777!” Samuel smiled.
“What?” Benjamin scrunched his nose in confusion.
“That’s the name of our train: The 777.”
Benjamin sat in the wooden chair by the desk. “I like it, but why that?”
Samuel circled the date at the top of the newspaper and handed it to Benjamin. “Well, today is the seventh day, of the seventh month of 1907 – 7, 7, 07.”
“Haha, that’s clever, Sam.” Benjamin said. “Let’s paint that on the train, today. It can be the finishing touch before the interviews tomorrow!”
“Let’s.” Samuel said.
Samuel and Benjamin spent the rest of the afternoon painstakingly painting the new
name in big, black letters on the train and each passenger car. As the miners brought the engine down and connected the cars, forming the completed train, Samuel marveled at their ingenuity and resilience. The excitement of their endeavor was filling him with such white hot enthusiasm he barely felt the July warmth anymore. He was his own furnace, roaring.
Chapter XII
When Samuel and Benjamin arrived on Monday morning, an hour before the interviews were supposed to officially start, they were met with a long line already wrapping around the tracks.
The air crackled with the energy of the group, and Samuel marveled at the transformation that had taken place amongst the townspeople. The miners had scrubbed their faces clean, their cheeks and noses still red from the harsh soap needed to get years of soot out of their pores. The women were all in their best dresses, gleaming frocks of pressed summer colors like baby blue and vibrant green.
As Samuel examined the line, he noticed a flash of red hair about halfway down.
“That’s Penny.”
“Who’s the young lady speaking with her?” Benjamin asked.
“I’m not sure. Stay right here.” Samuel patted Benjamin’s shoulder and slowly walked down the line of hopefuls.
The miners straightened their posture and the women tucked away errant bobby pins or smoothed their skirts when Samuel passed, but his sole focus was on Penny.
“Excuse me, miss.”
Penny slowly turned away from her discussion with her petite, blonde, friend and toward Samuel.
“Yes, sir?”
“Are you here for a job?” Samuel bit the side of his tongue to suppress a smile.
“Why, yes, sir,” Penny replied with a demure smile.
“Are you sure you need employment, considering your current living situation?” Samuel asked, arching an eyebrow.
Penny’s playfulness melted away, and her eyes narrowed. “Not that I see the relevance of this question, but I am currently living alone, downtown off third avenue.” Regret immediately stung Samuel’s pride, and he glanced down at Penny’s collarbone where he noticed several dark blotches. She snatched her dress more tightly, to cover the ones near the edges of her shoulders.
Samuel’s mouth dropped open when he met Penny’s watering eyes. Worried that he’d draw attention, he smiled through his discomfort.
“I’d say there’s a strong chance you’ll be hired to work on this train.” He winked. “After all, I do know the owner.”
Penny took in a deep breath and ran her knuckle along her bottom eyelid. �
��Why I’d thank you for a recommendation.” Her smile slowly returned, and Samuel’s heart swelled.
Benjamin, who had apparently also been chatting up the applicants, sauntered over.
“Hello, Miss Penny.”
“Hello, sir Benjamin.”
“May I ask, who is your lady friend today?” Benjamin gave a slight bow and large grin at the blushing young girl who stood behind Penny.
Penny smiled wide, any previous uncertainty melted from her face.
“Why, this is Miss Elizabeth. Miss Elizabeth, this is Mr. Benjamin.” Elizabeth gingerly reached to give Benjamin her hand, and he bowed and kissed it.
“Well, hello, Miss Elizabeth.” Samuel rolled his eyes at Benjamin’s antics but a shiver of secret thrill burrowed through him at seeing Penny laugh heartily.
“Come on, Ben.” Samuel said. “Let’s get this started! These fine people have been waiting here long enough, I’d say.” He smiled and nodded at Penny once more, catching her blush and nod with an open heart.
*
Samuel’s throat was dry and sore after hours of interviews had passed. Benjamin had mostly been quiet, jotting notes down and crossing off names in their ledger until they’d narrowed the field to an acceptable number of favorites. This had been Samuel’s first time ever involved in such a rigorous hiring process; the mine had come pre-stocked with employees, after all.
No matter how tired he had been becoming as the line neared its end, Samuel was touched by the eagerness and hope in everyone’s faces, and he wished he could hire them all. He had also been impressed with Penny and Elizabeth’s professionalism. During their conversations, neither woman had betrayed a hint of familiarity, something Samuel had worried about. He didn’t want other employees to think he or Benjamin had chosen favorites.
When the process had wound down, Samuel and Benjamin conferred quietly among the loud talking and excited chatter of the people waiting on the results of their decisions. As Samuel circled the last lucky name, he called out to the crowd who had made the cut.