“They’re in the Manhattan Hotel for the night. Don’t worry though they’ll be back here in the morning. Are they armed? I mean there’s just you and another policeman in the carriage.”
The cop put the diamonds in his pocket. “How did they get here?”
“By cab. They sent it back.”
“Good. Whenever someone eludes us the first thing we do is to stop and grill the cab drivers. I’m sure that by the morning if not sooner my men will have stopped their cab and will be on their way out here in force. As for the three of them, we wait here and let them come to us. I like that. Nice and clean: they walk in and never get to leave and you get three more bodies to sell. Nice and clean. Now, show me this guy.”
He followed the doctor across the hallway and into Matt’s room.
“Can he talk?”
“No. He has the paralyzing fluid in him.”
“When will he be able to talk?”
“He was supposed to die at sunrise when I give him the final drink.”
“That can wait. I want to see if he has any more friends running around with diamonds. Then you can give him his final drink. Speaking of drinks let’s go downstairs and have one.”
He stepped out of the room and was hit square on the chin by Rocky and fell flat out on the floor. Bill grabbed the doctor and covered his mouth before he could call for help. Within ten minutes the cop was unarmed and taped up to a bed and the doctor was taped to a chair. Both men had their mouths taped closed. Bill removed the diamonds from the crooked cop and they dressed Matt. They carried him down the stairs and out the back way. Bill and John passed Matt over the fence to Rocky and as they headed towards their carriage they saw that they had to pass the parked police van.
“Wait one minute,” said Rocky as he ran back into the building and returned holding a scalpel. He walked towards the police van keeping the horse between himself and the van’s front window. In a few moments he cut through the horse’s reins and carriage attachments.
“He’s not going anywhere,” he said as they lay Matt down in the rear seat and covered him with one of the blankets. A moment later they took off with a soft swoosh.
The four time travelers had the wind at their back, which made it easier for them and the horse. The road they were on was almost completely invisible with only the ever-so-slightly raised section that denoted the side of the it. There was only a slight indentation in the snow that showed where the police van had come along and even that was fast disappearing beneath the new snow.
“Can you see the road, Rocky?” shouted Bill.
“Just about.”
Suddenly out of the dark appeared a group of tents off to the right of the road. As they passed them John shouted over the wind,
“That’s the beginning of Coney Island as we know it. The early comers lived in tents where they opened the front to allow people to play whatever game they ran. Later, as it became the place to go swimming and play the games, the tents where exchanged for wooden buildings.”
Suddenly two small lights appeared out of the dark and Rocky quickly pulled the carriage off the road and stopped. “Cops,” he said as they stayed still until the tall black police van passed them. “Glad we don’t have any lights and the wind is in their face.”
“Are they going to the hospital?” asked John.
“Beats me,” quipped Rocky as he took the sleigh back onto the road. “How could they know that we were way out in Coney Island?”
“The cab driver!” said Bill. “I once read that they were the eyes and ears of a town and the police would stop them to see if a fugitive was in the cab or quiz the driver about his last couple of fares. It’s just like that crooked cop said. I bet ours was stopped and he told them that he had a fare of three men that he took to Brooklyn Mental and then to the Manhattan Hotel.” He shook his head and snow cascaded down on to his lap. “Sure hope Mary is a good actress.”
“I say,” added Rocky, “that they’ll find the taped up cop and be after us in about an hour.”
It was then that the horse slipped and went down. Although the carriage stayed on its runners, it slid against one of the few trees that lined the road. Bill jumped down as John checked on Matt.
“The runner is bent and it looks like the horse is hurt.” He shook his head, “Looks like we walk.”
“We’ll never make it,” John said. “We have about seven miles to go to the ferry while carrying a man. And like Bill said those policemen will go from the hotel to Brooklyn Mental and find those guys. From there they’ll start to follow our runner’s tracks. I say they’ll be here inside of an hour maybe less” He looked around and went on. “I think we should go back a bit and see if we can get a ride from someone in the tent town. We leave Matt in the carriage and we walk along side which will make it easier for the horse.”
“I agree,” said Bill. “Let’s start out right away before it gets light and we are easy pickings for the cops.”
Mary proved to be quite an actress when the police entered the hotel with drawn pistols. She raised her hands and the policeman in charge motioned for her to lower them. In a low voice he asked, “Have three men taken refuge in this hotel tonight?”
“N-No officer. I-I’m alone.”
Another came through the back door and said, “Do you have a horse and sleigh?”
“Yes. In my stable.”
“Well, your horse is missing and there are drag marks going out the front of the stable.”
The first cop asked as he holstered his pistol, “They robbed your horse and carriage and you never heard them?”
She put on a sheepish face and said, “Sometimes I drift off, officer.”
A third policeman came in and said excitedly, “Sir, there’s a police van about a block away. Near the hospital.”
“Let’s get on over there.” He turned to Mary and said, “M’am, I suggest you put in a robbery report.” He left and joined the other four men in the van. The driver turned down the two oil lamps as they approached the parked police van. A policeman ran towards them. “Sir! Lieutenant Doyle is in the hospital. Someone cut the reins and carriage attachments on my rig and I just now pulled the bell to have the gate opened.”
“Did you see them?”
“No. It was too dark.”
The sergeant whispered to the cop next to him, “Hardly any snow on him. Likely he was asleep.” He then shouted out to his men, “Over the fence you go then. Bang on the door and wake them up to let us in.”
After a few moments of banging on the door Demeter opened it still dressed in his nightshirt.
“Police! Open the gate immediately!”
Demeter stuttered, “I-I can’t I must ask permission from the doctor.”
“Do it now!” shouted the policeman.
Demeter quickly grabbed the key hanging on a peg next to the door and ran out and opened the gate letting the rest of the police in.
“You two check the downstairs,” ordered the sergeant, “and you two come upstairs with me.” The sergeant went up the stairs carefully and at the second floor he peeked down the hallway. He motioned and the policemen slid past him and all stood by a door with their pistol in hand. At a nod from the sergeant they quickly opened their door and entered their room. The room he entered was dark and he was reaching for an oil lamp when he heard a grunt from the bed. The policeman raised the wick and in the now brightly lit room saw Lieutenant Doyle taped down. He pulled the tape from his mouth slower than he would do to someone he cared about.
“Cut me loose! Cut me loose! There are four killers out there and we have to catch them.”
Within five minutes the policemen were in the police van following the fading sleigh tracks.
The cold, wet time travelers walk back was into the wind and quickly tired them. Finally they spotted the tents again and soon parked the carriage out of the wind.
The tent was a large 30 by 20 foot wood and canvas structure and stood ten feet high. There was a large opening that was ti
ed closed and a small door-size one that was also tied shut. The men could see a light coming from within through the small opening in the door-sized one and John knocked on the wooden frame.
After a few knocks a young man untied the flap from the inside and pulled it open. He was tall and dressed in a clown’s outfit, which made the time travelers step back a moment.
“Hello. Can I help you?”
Bill stepped forward, “Sir, we are sort of lost and one of our friends is hurt. Can we step inside for a few moments?”
The man held the flap wide, “Yes. Please come in. It’s cold outside.”
The four men entered and the young man pointed to a cot and said, “Please lay him down. I’ll get some hot tea.”
As they lay Matt down he moaned and moved his hand. A smiling Bill reported, “Hey guys, Matt seems to be coming around.”
“It was probably the word ‘tea’ that stirred him,” joked Rocky.
The young man returned with a wooden tray holding a teapot and five cups, “I just made a pot before you fellows arrived.”
Unable to hold it any longer Rocky asked, “So what’s with the red and yellow striped outfit?”
The man bowed and said, “Allow me to introduce myself: Danny the clown.” He grinned and went on, “I was trying out some new material and decided to get in costume. As you can see I didn’t get my face makeup on yet.”
“Danny, it’s our pleasure to meet you. I’m Bill and this is Rocky, John and Matt. We thank you for your hospitality but after our tea we must be moving along as soon as possible.”
“In this storm? Why not wait it out? There’s plenty of room in here as the rest of the crew are stuck in New York.”
Matt moaned again and Danny said, “Is he all right? There’s a hospital a few miles from here.” He quickly added, “Ah, I mean Brooklyn City, not the one near the ocean.”
“Brooklyn Mental?” asked John.
“Yeah, not that one. I wouldn’t bring my cat there.”
“We’ve heard stories,” said Bill as he held a cup of tea to Matt’s lips.
Danny nodded. “Yeah. One of our acrobats got kicked in his head by a mule and they brought him there. He was paralyzed for a week before he died.”
“Tell me, was there a funeral?”
“Yes. It was a nice service and he was buried in a small cemetery owned by the hospital. But the strange thing was that about six months later the strong man got hurt when he dropped a weight on his neck. He was taken there and once again became paralyzed and died a week later.” He took a sip of tea and gazed at the ceiling. “You know carnival people are superstitious and two of us enter the same hospital and end up with the same ailment followed by death, well that’s just too much for us. Rumors started flowing and one was that the place somehow made a patient become paralyzed and die. Then they dig up the body and sell it to other hospitals so they can use them to practice operating on.”
Bill shook his head. “Well, my friend, that’s what we think too and we went and took our friend out by force. Now we have to find a mode of transportation as we believe the police and the crooked doctor are chasing us.”
“But you have a horse and carriage.”
“The horse hurt its leg and one of the carriage’s runners was bent in a collision with a tree.”
“Bottom line,” added Rocky, “do you have a horse and carriage we can rent?”
“Or buy,” added Bill.
Dan shook his head, “No. The rest of the crew have it with them in the city.”
“Is there another group here that has one?”
“No again. Even the balloon guy is in the city.”
John perked up, “The balloon guy? Who is that?”
“A new guy. He just joined the group a week ago. He plans to take people up in a balloon for five cents a ride.” He grinned and went on, “I have to laugh because he wants to take people up high and his name is Low.”
“Low, do you mean Thaddeus Lowe?”
“Yes! We call him Thad but I do believe that’s his given name. Do you know him?”
“Yes,” John answered knowing it was a white lie as he will get to know him during the coming American Civil War when Lowe becomes the ‘eye in the sky’ for the Union Army.
“Well, his tent is three down. You can’t miss it as it’s very large to house his balloon.”
“Gents,” John said as he downed his tea, “I say we go visit my old friend.”
The three time travelers stood and Bill offered Danny his hand. “Danny, believe me when I tell you to stick with Coney Island as it will become the summer place to go to.”
“Thank you, sir. I will do that and good luck in this storm.”
The policeman driving the van saw lights coming their way and halted as the lieutenant and him took their pistols out and the rest of the police exited from the rear of the van.
“It could be them,” said Lieutenant Doyle as he waved his men into a line across the road.
“Why would they return?”
“I don’t know why, you idiot! Maybe they got lost in this crappy weather! Who else would be traveling this road in this storm?”
The other carriage almost rammed into them and all at once they saw that it was another police van. Doyle jumped down and walked over to the van. “Who’s in charge here?”
“Sergeant Molloy, lieutenant. We thought you might need some backup.”
“Did you pass a sleigh going the other way?”
The big red headed man shook his head, no, which made the snow gathered on his red mustache flick off. “No lieutenant. We passed nobody at all. This weather stinks.”
“Follow us!” the lieutenant said as he and the others climbed into the van. He said with a snarl to the his driver perched on the exposed seat out front, “What kind of a driver are you? You must have gone right past them. Turn this rig around and pick up the trail.”
The lieutenant didn’t see the freezing driver roll his eyes as he turned the van around.
The three time travelers carried Matt out and placed him back in the carriage as they began the short trip to Lowe’s tent. Once there Bill gave a sharp rap on the wooden frame and getting no answer he nodded to Rocky who opened the ties of the door-sized opening. It was dark inside and John found an oil lamp and wooden stick matches which he lit. The men stood in awe as their eyes adjusted to the light.
A large brown wicker basket with about thirty sandbags tied around it sat in the middle of the tent. A huge red linen gasbag lay rolled up on the floor attached to the basket by long strong ropes.
“It’s not inflated,” said Rocky.
John went over next to the basket. “Here they are.”
“Here’s what?” asked Bill.
“Coal bags. It’s a hot air balloon. Once we have the bag filled with hot air we are off to New York City.”
“How long to fill it?”
“With a good fire, slightly less than one hour.”
Rocky looked into the basket. In the center of the wicker basket there was a round iron pan three feet wide and one foot deep. “So what do we do, start a fire in that frying pan thing?”
“Yep! The fire throws off heat and we hold the opening in the bottom of the balloon over the fire and soon the balloon is filled with hot air and she expands and wants to rise up.”
“With us in it?” asked a nervous looking Rocky.
“Us and as much coal as we can carry.”
Rocky shuttered, “Johnny boy, I know that you are a balloonist who has flown many times, but forgive me for being nervous about this.”
“You nervous? You who climb up in the rigging of an old-world sailing ship? I don’t believe it.”
Rocky nodded, “Believe it, John. Believe it.”
“Well,” said John with a shrug, “let’s get started because sooner or later those cops will realize that we never made it out of Coney Island and will start checking every tent around.”
There were bags of coal stacked around the tent and th
e men emptied two into the so-called frying pan and lit it. They then lifted the round open end at the bottom of the gasbag and held it over the flames.
In slightly less than an hour the balloon was three quarter full and floating lazily above the basket. John said, “Okay guys here’s what we have to do. Open the large flap and drag the basket out. The balloon will follow and once outside we throw another bag of coal on the fire and the gasbag will fill up fast. I checked outside and there are tie-down rings driven into the ground so we tie her down until we’re all in and set to go. We’re going to have to stand around the frying pan and hold tight to the ropes that carry the basket beneath the balloon.”
“What about Matt?” asked Rocky as he started to drag the balloon close to the tied large flap of the tent.
“I’ll hold him up,” said Bill as he helped drag the basket along the hard-packed dirt floor.
John and Rocky untied the large flap and pulled it to the side. Next the three men finished dragging the balloon out into the snow-covered ground. The wind almost took the balloon away but they were quick enough to tie it down by the tie-down rings.
“John,” Bill asked, “how do you steer this thing? I mean the wind is blowing the opposite way that we need to travel.”
“The wind blows one way near the ground and another way as we go up. The trick to balloon travel is to move up slowly until you find a wind that’s blowing in the direction that you want to go.”
Bill shrugged, “You make it sound easy.”
“Actually in this weather the wind changes quickly at any height so you need to be ready to drop some of the sandbags to rise or cut off the heat to the balloon and drop.”
Matt stirred and moved his legs.
“Matt,” said Bill, “can you hear me? Can you move your legs?”
The three watched as Matt slowly moved one leg and then the other. He opened his eyes and quickly shut them again as he whispered, “Are we to go aloft sir?”
Bill patted his arm and grinned as he answered, “Yes, we are flying back to New York City.”
The balloon was full now and Bill climbed in and they passed Matt to him. The basket was chest high and he helped position Matt so that he sat with his back against the basket and his legs pulled up against his chest. Then as a precaution he tied a rope around Matt’s waist and then around one of the supporting ropes. “Just in case she tips a bit,” he said.
Time Travel Adventures of the 1800 Club, Book 14 Page 5
