A Rocky Mountain Christmas (16 page)

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Authors: William W. Johnstone

BOOK: A Rocky Mountain Christmas
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C
HAPTER
N
INETEEN
Big Rock
When Smoke and Duff returned to the depot, Phil was talking to a customer, so Smoke waited for the conversation to finish.
But seeing him, Phil called out. “Hello, Smoke. I’m afraid there is still no word from the train.”
“No word means they haven’t gone back to Buena Vista, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. If the train had gone back, we would have been informed by now.”
“So what you are saying is that the train is still up there, possibly trapped in the pass so it can go neither forward nor backward.”
“That’s a possibility.” Phil nodded his head.
“That’s not good. If they are up there too long, they’ll run out of food, won’t they?”
“I wouldn’t worry too much about anything like that happening. A couple winters ago we had a train get snowed in up on top of the pass, and it was a week late getting here,” Phil said.
“A week without food?”
“It wasn’t anything all that significant. These trains carry enough food with them so that, by rationing, they could survive for two weeks or longer. I’ve no doubt, within two weeks enough snow will melt and the train will be able to proceed, or at worst be relieved by a rescue train.”
“All right, Phil, you’ve been through this before,” Smoke said. “I guess the best thing Duff and I can do now, is go back to the ranch and wait it out.”
“You may as well,” Phil agreed.
Smoke walked over to the telegraph office, where Eddie sat in the corner, reading. “Eddie, when the train comes in, I want you to meet a man named Matt Jensen. Tell him to wait here for me, and I’ll come get him.” Smoke gave the boy a five-dollar bill. “Then, I want you to come tell me that he is here.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Jensen!” Eddie smiled broadly as he took the equivalent of a week’s pay.
 
 
Down the street, Hannah brought one of her girls into the parlor. The girl was in her early twenties, but looked younger. It was early in the day and she had not yet painted her face and lips, nor had she donned the garish costume of her profession. The dissipation of the trade had not yet worked its evils on her, and she looked like any young woman you might see on the street or in a shop.
Ironically, Ward found that much more appealing than if she was in full garb. It made her look innocent, and he was aroused by the idea of taking a young girl’s innocence. “How much?”
“It will be three dollars, sir,” Hannah said.
“Three dollars?” Ward replied. “What do you mean? There ain’t a place in Colorado where you can’t get a whore for two dollars.”
“This isn’t just anywhere in Colorado. This is Hannah’s,” the owner said proudly. “If you want one of my ladies, it is going to cost you three dollars. If you think I am charging you too much, you might try one of the saloons.”
Ward ran his hand through his thin, blond hair and looked at the girl. She had dark hair and large, brown eyes.
“How long can I stay?”
“You can stay all day if you want. At least, until we get busy tonight.”
“Yeah? Well if I leave to go get somethin’ to eat, can I come back?”
Hannah smiled at him. “Why would you have to leave to get something to eat? We have a kitchen.”
Ward chuckled. “So, I can stay here all day and eat here besides? All for three dollars?”
“I told you, there is no other place in Colorado like Hannah’s.”
Ward took out three dollars, handing the bills to Hannah. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
“This way,” the girl said, turning and walking away from him.
 
 
Returning to the sleigh, Smoke and Duff drove back to the ranch house. When they arrived at the house they were met by a smiling Sally, though the smile faded when she saw that Matt wasn’t with them.
“The train never made it to Big Rock,” Smoke explained. “Or, perhaps I should say the train hasn’t arrived
yet
.”
“What happened to it?”
“It’s probably hung up in the pass somewhere, blocked by snow . . . from coming through and maybe even from going back.”
“Oh, my, Smoke! Do you mean those people are trapped up there?”
“It’s not as bad as all that. Phil says this has happened before, and the train probably has enough food for them to survive.”
“Probably? That doesn’t sound all that good.”
“We may be imagining the worst. The train may yet get here today. If it does, Eddie will come tell us.”
“Oh, I certainly hope it gets here before Christmas.” Sally looked out the window at the depth of snow.
“We have a few days yet. We’ll just wait and see.”
On board the Red Cliff Special
By late afternoon everyone was beginning to get hungry. One of the dining car porters came hustling into the rear car with a message for the conductor.
“Troy!” Bailey called out. “I thought you were trapped in the dining car!”
“Yes, sir, I was. But the men with guns let me go so I could bring a message.”
“What is the message?”
“Don’t be mad if I say a bad word in front of the ladies, but it’s the message they told me to say.”
“Go ahead,” Matt said. “We know it’s not your words.”
“Yes, sir.” Troy nodded and took a deep breath. “Here is the message. The men with guns say, send them the whore, and they’ll let the rest of the folks on the train have some food.”
“What?” Luke shouted angrily.
Troy drew back. “I tol’, you, sir, that’s not my words. That’s the words of the men with guns.”
“And that’s what they said?” Bailey asked. “Send them the whore and they’ll give food to the rest of the passengers?”
“Yes, sir, that’s what they said all right.”
“Just who is the whore they would be talking about?” Bailey asked.
“I don’ know, Mr. Bailey. All I know is what they said.”
“We all know who the whore is.” Daniels looked directly at Jenny.
“Jarred!” Millie scolded.
“I’m just saying what everyone else knows,” the senator insisted. “They’re talking about you, miss.” He pointed to Jenny.
She was sitting in a seat with Luke. He put her arm around her, drawing her close to him.
“It’s up to you now,” Senator Daniels continued. “You could do something good with your life. If you go to them, we’ll all get to eat.”
“No,” Jenny said in a quiet, frightened voice.
“What do you mean,
no
?” Daniels shouted. “Good Lord, woman, it’s what you do! It’s who you are! Instead of doing it for money for yourself, do it for others. For my wife and my little girl. It can’t have escaped your notice that my daughter is sick. Perhaps all she needs is a little food. And you can make that possible. Is that asking too much? It isn’t as if you are the total innocent in such things.”
“You don’t understand.” Once more, Jenny tried to explain. “You have the wrong idea about me. I’m
not
a prostitute and I’ve
never been
a prostitute.”
“Don’t lie to us, woman. We all saw that sign back at the depot,” Senator Daniels said sharply. He pointed toward the front of the train. “I am a sitting state senator, which makes me an officer of the state government. And as an officer of the state government, I am ordering you to go to those men . . . for the good of everyone on the train.”
“I won’t do it.”
“Oh, yes, you will.” The senator moved toward her.
Luke stood up and stepped in between Daniels and Jenny. “If you so much as touch her, I’ll throw you off this train,” Luke said in a cold, intense voice.
“What?” Daniels barked. “You, a jailbird, are threatening a state senator?”
“It’s not a threat, Senator,” Luke said calmly. “It’s a promise.”
“You, conductor!” Daniels looked toward Bailey. “You are in charge of this train. What are you going to do about this?”
Bailey looked at Luke, then back at Daniels. “Senator, I clearly am not in charge of this train at the moment. It has been taken over by armed brigands.”
“What?” Daniels sputtered. He pointed at Bailey. “The Denver and Pacific is going to hear about this. We should never have left the station in the first place. Now we are trapped in the mountains for who knows how long, and armed men, which you allowed to board this train, have taken us all hostage. And you stand by and let this man threaten me, but do nothing about it. Yes, sir, the Denver and Pacific will most assuredly hear about this.”
“Jarred, you are frightening Becky.” Millie tugged on the senator’s arm. “Please, calm down.”
“How can I calm down when our very lives are at stake? And this . . .
harlot
has the means to save us all.”
Matt had heard enough. “Senator, even if the girl did go to the dining car, do you think they would let her live?”
“I don’t know,” Senator Daniels ranted. “But that’s the chance you take when you become a prostitute.”
“I told you, I am not a prostitute!” Jenny screamed.
“Then what are you doing on this train, can you tell me that? You were run out of town, were you not?”
Jenny didn’t answer.
“I thought so.”
The senator made a move toward her, but Luke stepped between them again, and with a vicious backhand blow, sent the senator reeling back. The blow cut the senator’s lip and it began to bleed.
Daniels pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and held it over his lip, glaring at Luke. “Young man, you have just made a huge mistake. Whatever your sentence is, you have just added fifteen years to it for striking a government official.”
“Oh, Luke!” Jenny said anxiously.
Luke smiled. “Well, Senator, if I’m going to get fifteen years just for hitting you one time, I might as well make it worth my while. If you don’t go back to your seat, sit down, and shut up, I’ll beat you to within an inch of your life.”
“What?” The word was filled with fear.
“Jarred, for heaven’s sake, get back over here and sit down,” Millie ordered.
Senator Daniels pulled his handkerchief away from his lip, looked at the blood, then glared once more at Luke. He neither made a move toward Luke and Jenny, nor did he speak again. Instead he acquiesced to his wife’s demand and returned to his seat.
Matt watched the drama play out before him, but made no move to interject himself into the situation when it was obvious Luke had things well in hand. When he saw Senator Daniels return to his seat, and Luke and Jenny sit back down, he knew it was over.
“Troy,” Bailey said, “you can go back and tell the gentlemen who have taken this train that the young lady will not be joining them.”
“Yes, sir,” Troy answered. “That’s exactly what I would tell them if I was goin’ back to the diner car.” He shook his head. “But I ain’t goin’ back.”
“What do you mean you aren’t going back?” Bailey asked. “Good Lord, man, don’t you understand the situation? We have no food here. All the food is in the diner. At least you would get to eat.”
“No sir, it wouldn’t do me no good to go back. The men with the guns, they had themselves a fine breakfast and a fine lunch, but me ’n Fred ’n Pete, we didn’t have nothin’ to eat at all. And if it’s all the same to you, I won’t be goin’ back.”
“All right, you can stay here in the car with us,” Bailey conceded.
“Mr. Bailey, you may have noticed that he and the porter are colored,” Senator Daniels felt the need to point out.
Bailey made an exaggerated point of looking at Julius and Troy. Then he hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. “By golly, Senator, now that I look at them, I believe you are right. They
are
colored.”
Matt and Luke laughed out loud.
“Are you ridiculing me?” Daniels snapped.
“No, Senator, you are ridiculing yourself. Of course I know they are colored. What is your point?” Bailey frowned.
“My point is, they can’t stay here in the car with us.”
“Just where do you think the porters stay when the train is under way?”
“I don’t know. I never see them until I need something done, and then they just sort of appear. I’m just saying it doesn’t seem right that they are in the same car with us. But I suppose, if they stay to the back of the car, it would be all right.”
“The back of the car is getting pretty cold,” Matt said. “With only one stove going, just the front half of the car will be heated. These two men will stay in the front of the car with us.”
Senator Daniels glared at Matt, then he sat back down.
Julius stood up then. “Thank you, Mr. Bailey, and thank you, sir, for speakin’ up for us.”
“It’s only common decency,” Matt replied. “No thanks are needed.”

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