Alright, sorry it took me so long to get this written and posted. There's just been a lot of things going on at the moment. So read it and tell me what you think in the comments area. Thanks.
Chapter 1
June 6th, 1869
The sun burned my neck as our horses clopped through the dusty dirt. Sweat trailed down my forehead and onto my beak even though I had on a tan wide brimmed hat. My brown leather vest felt heavy on my shoulders as did the Colt pistol in my holster. The worn down red shirt I was wearing seemed to also be getting heavier. The black pants I was wearing seemed to soak up the sun's heat and concentrate it on my legs.
To the right of me a short raccoon was riding a black mare. He was wearing a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, tan pants, and boots. His wide brimmed hat was hanging on the back of his neck by a string. The raccoon's name was Rigby. He was my best friend.
To the left of me was a scrawny man. He was thin with long arms that hung down past his holsters when he stood straight up. The man wore a tan shirt and blue pants. His gun belts holding two pistols barely stayed around his waist. When he joined the group no one knew his name so we all called him Weasel.
There were three more men in the group. The leader of our gang, Gordon Griffin or just Gordy, was riding in front of me. He was a strong man who could get any girl and could frighten a grizzly. His pistol holster fit just right around his waist. Gordy's light blue button up shirt seemed to be soaked through with sweat and his yellowish pants seemed to be turning darker with sweat.
The other two men, Johnson and Barker, were colored men who had joined us after the war of the blue and the gray. They were good to have for any job. They always kept their mouths shut and never argued.
I looked around at everyone. Rigby looked like he was about to complain, Weasel had a tired look on his face, and the two colored men had blank faces. I couldn't see Gordy's face.
"Hey Gordy," Rigby said.
"What?" Gordy asked.
"Are we there yet?"
"Almost, just two more miles," Gordy said.
"Okay." Rigby fell silent again.
Nothing made a sound. Sweat ran down my forehead and onto my beak. One mile later, Rigby spoke up again.
"How 'bout now?"
"No," Gordy said sounding a little agitated.
"Alright," Rigby said.
Ten minutes later Rigby asked,
"What about now?"
"Rigby, what do you think?"
"Sorry."
Twenty minutes later we finally reached our destination. Welcome to Ground Zero the sign read. It was riddled with bullet holes. Our horses clopped into Ground Zero.
"Alright," Gordy said as we entered the main street. "I need to get some information. You guys do whatever you want, just stay out of trouble."
"You got it," I said.
Then I lead my stallion, Dusty, over to the bar. I tied him up to the horse post outside and walked in. It was dark inside even though it was daytime outside. Smoke was heavy in the air as men played cards, argued, and drank.
I walked over to the bar and sat down. A flat nosed bartender appeared in front of me a few seconds later.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"Whiskey," I said.
"We're all out," he said.
"Then get me a coffee," I said.
"One coffee for the blue-jay," the bartender shouted.
Two minutes later a man came out of the kitchen with a hot mug.
"Thanks," I said.
He just nodded his head and left. I paid then got up with the coffee and walked out. I stood leaning against the bar wall sipping my coffee until Rigby came running up.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Nothin' much. You?"
"I' m fine. Just waiting for Gordy to tell us what our next operation is," I said.
Our group had a lot of code words for things. Operation was code for robbery. All of us also had a code name. Mine was Jay.
"So what do you want to do?" Rigby asked.
"Nothin'," I said.
I sipped my coffee some more. Suddenly Gordy came ridding up.
"I've got the info, come on," he said.
I guzzled the rest of my hot coffee and jumped onto Dusty's back. Rigby ran to get his mare.
Rigby and I followed Gordy to the main square of the town. Johnson, Barker, and Weasel were already there waiting for us. We tied up our horses and walked over to a porch outside an abandoned hotel.
"Alright," Gordy said when we got there. "Gather 'round." As we got closer Gordy pulled out a map. "At four o'clock a train leaves the station with eighty pounds of gold and roughly forty passengers. The train will go forty miles west, cross a bridge over a canyon, then turn east. It will go east until it arrives at its destination, a small town called Bellbuck. We are going to wait ten minutes after it leaves before following it. We'll catch up to it and sneak on as silently as possible. Mordecai," he looked up at me. "You're gonna be scout."
"Yes sir," I said.
Being the scout meant I had to be the first person on. I had to make sure it was safe to board the cart I was on.
"Anyway," Gordy said. "We're only taking one percent of the gold. Got that?"
Everyone nodded.
"Good," Gordy said, scratching his stubby haired chin. "This has got to be quick, in and out," he snapped his fingers. "Like that. When we're done we'll ride five miles north to a town called Dodge City. So everyone ready."
Everyone nodded again.
"Okay, Johnson, what time is it?" Gordy asked.
"Three-fifty, sir," Johnson said, his voice rumbling like thunder.
"Let's get going then," Gordy said stuffing the map in his pocket.
As we walked toward our horses, Gordy remembered something.
"Oh yeah. And guys, remember, you don't kill anyone unless they're about to kill you."
We all understood. I mounted my horses, as did the others, and rode to the station. Gordy made us wait outside. Ten minutes later, the train left. Ten minutes after that, I kicked Dusty's side and started riding. The rest of the guys followed. We rode hard to catch up to the train.
"Come on Dusty," I said to my horse as we pulled up alongside the caboose. "Just a little faster," I whispered in his ear.
Dusty galloped as fast as he could, passing the caboose and onto the next traincar.
"Good," I muttered.
Steadily, I got my feet up to my settle. Then, slowly, I stood up. I noticed how fast the ground was going by under my horse.
'Crap,' I thought.
"Well, it's now or never," I muttered.
Then, I jumped.
Did you like the cliff hanger? I'll try to get the second chapter of this story up before I go back to working on the Vietnam story. Thanks for reading.