Ironhorse

by Robert B. Parker

  “Yes,” Sam said. “Well, other than the scheduled South Express from Fort Smith had to stop in Division City and wait. Once the track is clear it will get on its way down. I figure them stranded passengers will board the Express when it’s up and runnin’ again.”

  “Nothing else from Tall Water Falls’ section gang?” Virgil asked.

  “Nothing,” Jenny said. “Just this, this telegram, but nothing else.”

  Virgil looked to the governor and pointed to the telegram the governor was holding in his hand.

  “Need to reply,” Virgil said.

  The governor looked at the telegram and nodded.

  The telegram was for certain cryptic but clear enough to understand.

  TO: The Great Governor of Texas—exchange engendered upon payment, 500K. Promptly comply for instructions or swift terminus will be guaranteed. “So wise so young, they say do never live long.”—RICHARD III

  Jenny pulled up the chair and sat at the desk in front of the key and readied herself. The governor looked to Virgil, thinking for a moment about what to say.

  “Um . . . how about, ‘Compliance agreed . . . Describe how, when, and where you wish to proceed’?”

  Jenny held a steady gaze on the governor before looking to Virgil.

  Virgil looked to me.

  “Sounds right,” I said.

  Jenny got a nod from the governor and scribbled the message on a piece of paper.

  “‘Compliance agreed,’” Jenny said as she wrote. “‘Describe how, when, and where you wish to proceed.’”

  Jenny looked to Virgil and he glanced up to the clock.

  “Yes,” the governor said as he slowly got to his feet. “Send that.”

  Jenny quickly pounded out the message on the key. She sat back in her chair and looked up at the clock on the wall. The time was half past seven o’clock. Jenny turned her chair sideways at the desk. She looked to the governor and Virgil before turning her attention back to the sounder sitting on the desk. All of us in the room looked to the sounder and waited.

  70

  UNCLE TED AND the Ironhorse continued working, clearing the track. The big engine towed the burnt Pullman into the yard, making the windows of the telegraph office rattle. It was now a quarter past eight o’clock. The sounder sitting on the desk in front of Jenny had remained silent, and we had heard nothing back from Richard III. There had been no activity at all on the line since Jenny sent the wire to Ernest C. in Tall Water Falls. Virgil sat in the corner of the office with his hat down over his eyes, the governor was pacing slowly back and forth in the corridor of the depot where Berkeley and Hobbs sat half asleep on a bench, and I stood looking out the window, watching Sam walking next to the Ironhorse. I turned from the window and sat in a chair next to the desk. Jenny looked up from a book she was reading about Egyptian pyramids and smiled. For a girl who fancied herself as a man, she was attractive. Her skin was the opposite of Sam’s weathered complexion; Jenny was honey-colored and smooth. She looked as though she had never spent a day in the sun.

  I looked at the connections on the key, relay, and sounder that were sitting on the telegraph desk in front of her.

  “Everything been working good here, Jenny?”

  “It has,” she said. “It’s all old as the hills, belonged to my father, but it’s J. H. Bunnell and Company equipment and works better than most of the new stuff.”

  “Batteries are good?”

  “They are,” Jenny said. “The whole series circuit from Paris to Fort Smith has been very reliable, no problems.”

  The governor poked his head into the office.

  “Marshal, Deputy?” the governor said.

  Virgil lifted his hat from his eyes.

  “I need to let my wife know what’s happening.”

  “We’ll be right here,” Virgil said.

  The governor gazed at the sounder sitting on the desk.

  “I’ll walk with you,” Hobbs said as he got to his feet.

  The governor glanced back to Hobbs and looked to Virgil.

  “Marshal,” he said, “if this madman responds, and I pray to God in Heaven he does, I implore you and your deputy might provide the necessary backbone and tactical maneuvers and whatever Lord knows what else might be needed for this exchange to be successful.”

  Virgil looked at me.

  “I will pay you handsomely,” the governor said.

  “No,” Virgil said.

  “No?”

  “No,” Virgil said as he got to his feet.

  The governor was at a loss for words.

  “Won’t be any need for your handsome pay. My deputy and me are territorial marshals. Wards of Congress. Federal government pays us, and providing we are still alive when each payday comes around, we get paid regularly.”

  “It’s what we do,” I said.

  “It is,” Virgil said.

  “Then you will do it?”

  “Sure.”

  “Good.”

  “Of course, we’ll need you to supply the necessary wherewithal for the exchange.”

  The governor took a step toward Virgil.

  “In that freight car out there,” he said, pointing out the window to the section of coaches now on the dead-end track behind the water tower, “you’ll find two crates addressed to the University of Kansas, Department of Epidemic Research. Each is marked boldly with warnings—caution, handle with care, deadly bacteria, hazardous materials, skull and crossbones stenciled on them—that sort of thing. Inside each, you will find two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in thousand-dollar bills. I want to make sure we give that son of a bitch that money, all of it, and get my daughters back.”

  With that, the governor turned and walked off down the long depot corridor, and Hobbs followed.

  Uncle Ted let out two long whistle blasts from the Ironhorse, and the windows of the telegraph office started vibrating again as the big engine moved away from the burnt-out Pullman and powered back onto the main track. Sam closed the switchgear behind Uncle Ted and walked back toward the depot beside the Ironhorse as it started building steam and heading north. Sam looked up to Uncle Ted and said something. Uncle Ted nodded and gave her a thumbs-up. The Ironhorse thumped loudly as it got closer to the depot. When the big engine passed the telegraph office, Uncle Ted gave a slight wave to Jenny and stomped on by up the track. After the loud rumbling of the Ironhorse passed and the vibration stopped, Jenny sat up like she had a fish on the line, and I heard what she heard, the clicking of the sounder.

  71

  THE GOVERNOR RUSHED back to the depot with Hobbs, and Jenny read the telegram:

  Sundown tomorrow, tethered under a redbud tree next to the last switch in the south mountain pass, you will find a mule. Fill the mule’s panniers, then set the mule free. Ample time is provided for your swift rouncey to make the pass by tomorrow night.

  “Rouncey?” Hobbs said, interrupting Jenny. “What in God’s name is he talking about?”

  “Rouncey,” Berkeley said, “is a horse. He’s talking about a horse.”

  “There’s more,” Jenny said.

  “Go on, Jenny, please,” the governor said.

  Jenny nodded and continued:

  When the freight is received, the operator will provide instructions where to locate progenies. Traveling north past the switch or trailing the mule (which would provide only levity) will prompt expiration of merchandise.—RICHARD III

  Jenny looked up at us.

  “That’s it,” Jenny said. “No sine on this, either, but this note was pounded by Ernest C. from Tall Water Falls for sure.”

  “Richard the Third. Levity. Good Lord,” Hobbs said. “Expiration of merchandise. A mule? My God. Absolute madness.”

  “Hell, that’s at least sixty miles from here,” Berkeley said. “He’s giving you what is left of today and all day tomorrow to travel sixty miles up rough country. Be hard pressed to get there by nightfall tomorrow if you left right now.”

  “That’s true,” Sam said. �
��The pass he’s talking about is five and a half miles past Crystal Creek. Ten miles this side of Tall Water Falls.”

  “From what we’ve seen of this line, most likely not an easy ride, either,” I said.

  “I’d say not,” Sam said.

  “Hell, no, that is what I am saying,” Berkeley said. “It is not.”

  “It’s rough, rocky,” Sam said.

  “Especially if you follow the tracks all the way up,” Berkeley said.

  “There is a trail that is straighter, but that’s rough, too,” Sam said. “Not really traveled much anymore, not since the rail.”

  “The last section was where Mr. Hobbs and Lassiter picked up the ride from the teamster coming down from the Half Moon mining camps to get here. That is a straight shot,” Berkeley said, “but above that, going north, it’s just hell, bad road.”

  “What is the terrain up there?” Virgil asked.

  “At the pass?” Sam said.

  “Yes,” Virgil said.

  “Steep up on both sides,” Sam said. “Damn near straight up.”

  “A mule?” Hobbs said. “What in God’s name is this man thinking?”

  “Smart,” I said.

  “Is,” Virgil said.

  “Like a homing pigeon,” Berkeley said.

  “Yep,” Virgil said.

  “And in this case, most likely just as hard to follow,” Berkeley said. “Not to mention it’ll be dark.”

  “I don’t understand,” Hobbs said.

  “Mules are used like that,” I said. “We used mules in the service to carry mail and supplies. It’s common. Mule can cover rough terrain, too. Most likely, like Sam is saying here, what we are dealing with is straight up. That’s what he means by ‘levity.’ He thinks it’d be humorous for us to try and follow a sure-footed mule. Unless a horse has been raised in rough country, they can’t do it. Best of riders, best of horses, couldn’t follow.”

  “You know any outfits up there with working mules? Mining, farming, timber, cattle?” Virgil said, looking between Berkeley and Sam. “Know anyone up there?”

  “Don’t,” Sam said.

  Berkeley shook his head.

  “No, can’t say I do, either,” Berkeley said.

  “There were mines up there,” Sam said, “but no more.”

  “Except for the depot towns, it’s sparse country up through there,” Berkeley said.

  “Maybe there is no mule,” the governor said. “Or muleteer. Might it not be a ploy with an ambush intended?”

  “Could,” Virgil said, “but doubtful.”

  “Why?” the governor said.

  “No reason to concoct it,” Virgil said.

  Jenny raised her hand politely.

  “Yes, Jenny,” Virgil said.

  “Something was different,” Jenny said as she looked at the sounder sitting on the desk.

  “What’s different?” Sam said.

  “The attracting and releasing armature on the upper and lower stops was weak.”

  “Weak?” Virgil said.

  “The signal’s weak?” Sam asked.

  “Um, yes. Odd, though,” Jenny said. “The first wire we got from Ernest C. was, as I said, from the Tall Water Falls depot, but this wire signal is weaker than the signal I normally get from Tall Water Falls.”

  “What are you saying, Jenny?” the governor said.

  “I think Ernest C. is someplace else, at another location now.”

  72

  “SAM, THIS LAST switch, in the south mountain pass this telegram’s referring to,” Virgil asked. “Where is this, exactly?”

  “Let me show you,” Sam said.

  Sam moved to a large map on the wall next to the desk. The map was detailed and colorful but faded. It showed the river and townships along the winding St. Louis & San Fran route, from Paris to Fort Smith.

  Sam pointed.

  “Here we are here,” she said, “at Half Moon, and this is where the pass is here, and the last switch the wire is referring to is here.”

  “How many telegraph terminals are there in Tall Water Falls?” I asked.

  “One at the depot and another in town, at the Western Union office,” Jenny said.

  “Do you correspond with the Western Union?” I asked.

  “Every now and then,” Jenny said. “But mainly our correspondence is with the depot.”

  “Does it seem like this wire might have been transmitted from that Western Union office?” I asked.

  “I’m not completely sure,” Jenny said. “But I don’t think so. I think it is from someplace, a weaker location.”

  “Are there remote terminals on the line for service and repair?” Virgil asked.

  “There are, but I don’t actually know where,” Jenny said and looked to Sam. “Do you?”

  Sam shook her head with the corners of her mouth turned down.

  “No,” Sam said. “Hard enough for me to keep up with all the train cars I have to push and pull around here. You’d have to ask one of the telegraph superintendents, or linemen.”

  “Regardless,” Hobbs said, “it’s imperative these demands are taken seriously, is it not?”

  I looked to Virgil, who was looking at the map.

  “This Richard the Third, not wanting us past the switch, is operating from Tall Water Falls, or somewhere near Tall Water Falls,” I said.

  “That sounds right,” Virgil said.

  Virgil moved closer to the map, looking it over.

  “What is all this in here?” Virgil said.

  Virgil pointed to a spot on the map above the pass where a bunch of X marks appeared across what looked to be a mountain ridge.

  “That’s the Division City mines,” Sam said. “Or what is left of them.”

  “The mines recently shut down,” Berkeley said. “The companies moved and are operating the fields down this way now, toward Half Moon.”

  “What kind of telegraph activity is there in Division City?” Virgil asked.

  “Gosh, quite a lot,” Jenny said. “Well, there are a number of telegraph offices there. Division City is a big place with a good number of businesses and factories there.”

  “What about these mines?” Virgil asked. “Are there telegraph offices in the mines?”

  “There were,” Jenny said. “There used to be a lot of activity from the mines, but like Mr. Berkeley was saying, they shut down.”

  Virgil stood looking at the map with his arms crossed over the buttons of his vest.

  “Marshal,” the governor asked. “What are you thinking?”

  Virgil moved a little closer to the map and made a circle with his finger in an area around where the pass switch was located.

  “They’re operating from somewhere in this area,” Virgil said.

  “Which means this crazy man could be anywhere near there?” Hobbs said.

  Virgil pointed to the X’s marking the mines.

  “You say these mines near Tall Water Falls,” Virgil said, “are called the Division City mines?”

  “They are. Even though those mines appear closer to Tall Water Falls here on the map,” Berkeley said. “There is a mountain ridge there, and those mines are accessed from Division City way.”

  “Unless you’re a mule,” I said.

  73

  VIRGIL TURNED FROM the map and looked at me. He nodded slowly and turned his attention back to the map. He looked closely at the X’s marking the mines.

  “Mr. Hobbs?” Virgil said.

  “Marshal,” Hobbs said.

  “You said you and Lassiter had contacts, relationships, up here in the territories, right?”

  Virgil turned from the map and faced Hobbs.

  “Yes,” Hobbs said. “That is correct.”

  “What kind of counsel?”

  “We were agents,” Hobbs said.

  “What kind of agents?”

  “Cattle operations, mostly, leasing.”

  “Leasing?”

  “Yes, when the eastern beef prices and demand soared, the ca
ttle drives north out of Texas required sustenance leasing for Chisholm, Goodnight-Loving, the Great Western Trail, and the like.”

  “Those trails run through the western part of the territories,” I said. “Cheyenne, Arapaho reservations.”

  “That’s right,” Hobbs said, “and the Cherokee outlet to the north.”

  “What about mining?” Virgil said. “Were you agents to mining operations, too?”

  “I didn’t, no.”

  “Lassiter?”

  “Lassiter I believe did handle leasing for mining, yes.”

  “You believe?”

  Hobbs looked at the governor.

  “Yes,” Hobbs said.

  “Do you know where?” Virgil said.

  “That I don’t know,” Hobbs said. “Could be the part you’re looking at there on the map for all I know. I believe the mining is in the eastern part of the territories.”

  Hobbs looked to Berkeley.

  “I don’t know all that happens border to border, but I’m pretty sure that is right,” Berkeley said.

  “You know of any particular outfit Lassiter was counsel, agent with?” Virgil said.

  “No,” Hobbs said. “I suppose there could be some way to find out. There must be records of such dealings, something that could show us the history.”

  Virgil shook his head and looked back to the map.

  “No time for that,” I said.

  “I take it, Marshal,” the governor said, “you think it probable they, whomever we are dealing with, are operating from one of these mining locations?”

  “Everett?” Virgil said.

  “Given the circumstances,” I said, “I’d say more than probable.”

  74

  VIRGIL MOVED TO the window, and looked north up the track.

  “Where would we find one of these telegraph lineman or superintendents?” Virgil said.

  “The superintendents are never,” Sam said, “or hardly ever, through here. They operate out of the north and south terminals.”

  “The lineman are stationed on each end, too,” Jenny said.

  “There are two of ’em,” Sam said. “LeFlore brothers. They pretty much live on the line, all up and down it.”