"You all know the routine," Kid said to the men milling around inside the bunkhouse. "Heyes always gets high strung before a big heist."
"Before every heist," Wheal Carlson mumbled.
Kid nodded his head. "That's right, Wheat, before every heist. That's how he's able to come up with all the minute details that make things run efficiently. And since you know Heyes so well, you also know that he'll be calling these meetings every day till the job's done."
"Kid, is Heyes being high strung what gets you all tense before a job?" Kyle asked.
Kid stared Kyle into a chair. "That and you asking lame-brained questions," Kid replied.
"Sorry, Kid," Kyle mumbled and gave his wad of tobacco a couple of slow chews.
"You all might want to get some more coffee brewing," Kid announced to no one in particular. "First meeting is usually a long one."
Kid walked over to the stove and poured himself a cup of coffee. The bunk house coffee was so much better that the brew Heyes made every morning, that Kid often found a reason to pay the bunkhouse a visit most mornings.
"Heyes says he'll be here at ten, so if you've got anything to do, you'd best do it quick," Kid added as he raised a foot to rest on the seat of an empty chair and rested his arm on his leg before taking a sip of his coffee.
"We gonna be using dynamite?" Kyle asked with an air of excited anticipation.
"You'll have to wait and see what Heyes says about that," Kid replied.
"Hope so," Kyle responded with a smile and turned to spit slimy brown tobacco juice into the spittoon. Kid winced and turned away from the ugly site.
"Kyle, you're spoiling my morning coffee," Kid lamented.
"Sorry, Kid," Kyle replied and shrunk back a bit in his chair.
Back inside the leader's cabin, Heyes paced the floor. Every few steps he stopped and checked the list he held clutched in his hand. Occasionally he added some minor scribbles to the paper.
In order to be well prepared on the day of a heist, Heyes had always insisted on daily briefings with all the gang present. If someone missed a meeting, they were eliminated from participating in the heist. Being that no outlaw worth his salt ever wanted to miss out on the excitement of a successful heist, the meetings were always well attended.
Alone in the cabin, Heyes practiced his speech to be sure he included every detail. Although these meetings seldom went exactly as Heyes planned, he always made sure he was as well prepared as possible, anticipating as many questions as he could and carefully planning his answers.
Promptly at ten, Heyes walked into the bunkhouse. All the men quickly found chairs and took seats. Kid, on the other hand, merely strolled over to Heyes' side. "Kyle's in usual form," Kid whispered into the leader's ear. The Kid turned and faced the men with a cold, hardened expression on his face.
"One week from today the Union Pacific Train out of Sheridan and headed to Cheyenne is scheduled to make a stop in Casper where an Oil Mining Company payroll will be loaded to be delivered to a company in Cheyenne. We will stop that train at a water tower twenty-seven miles south of Casper. The payroll will be in a Pierce and Hamilton 100 safe. This is a single action tumbler safe that should only take me a couple of minutes to open. The money will be transferred from the safe to four saddlebags and handed to four riders. Those riders will then set off back here. The rest of us will wait fifteen minutes before heading back to Devil's Hole."
"Why the delay, Heyes?" Kyle asked.
"So that if a posse does pursue us, they will be chasing the wrong group of outlaws, Kyle," Heyes explained with a patience he extended solely to Kyle.
Kyle smiled at the explanation. "That's a fine idea, Heyes."
"Kyle, just as a precaution, I want you to bring enough dynamite to blow up the safe, should that prove necessary," Heyes said with a condescending tone to his voice that went unnoticed by Kyle.
"Now, unlike any previous heist, I've decided to add some measures that will help guarantee a safe return to Devil's Hole. Fifteen miles east of the heist, I'm going to have one man waiting with four fresh horses for those riders carrying the saddle bags. When the second group of us shows up, that man and the spent horses will join us for the return to the Hole. Any questions?"
"Have you decided who will be doing what?" Lobo asked.
Heyes nodded. The leads will be the same as always, I'll crack the safe, Kid guards, and Wheat is first bandit. Because Kyle works the dynamite if necessary, he will be second bandit. Preacher will tend the horses. and Hank will be in charge of the four horses that will be waiting for us. The rest of you will guard the passengers and see that none of them get hurt.
"How you planning to stop the train?" Wheat asked.
"Bonfire is simple and always effective," Heyes replied.
"Ain't gonna pull up any track?" Wheat asked.
Heyes shook his head. "At the location we're going to hit it, the train is far enough away from it's next stop that we'll have more than enough time to make tracks before any posse can be formed."
"Then why the precaution of the extra horses, Heyes?"
Heyes forced himself not to sigh. "A year ago, the Pinkerton Agency had a posse poised in a freight car to pursue the Hole in the Wall Gang on a Union Pacific train they robbed. This heist that we're planning is our fourth Union Pacific robbery. Pinkertons know Devil's Hole is in close enough proximity to rob this train. I want the horses there as a precaution, Wheat."
Wheat nodded his understanding. "That's good planning, Heyes," he said.
"Well thank you, Wheat. Always nice when you boys appreciate the effort I put in to planning these jobs."
"How much money is supposed to be on that train?" Lobo asked.
"Thirty-five thousand dollars."
Kid couldn't help but let out a whistle. "That should buy us all a new pair of boots."
"Anybody else got a question?" Heyes asked.
When no one responded, Heyes adjourned the meeting. "Alright, from now till next Thursday, we meet right here at ten every morning. Understood?"
A collective mumble reverberated through the room.
"Alright then, come on, Kid," Heyes said and walked out of the cabin with Kid following closely behind.
"That went well, Heyes," Kid said, taking a double step to catch up to his partner.
Heyes shook his head. "I know I'm forgetting something, Kid."
"You say that every time we're getting ready to pull a job. You ain't forgetting nothing."
"What about the time table for the train?"
"Got that two weeks ago, remember?"
"Maybe we should send a couple of fellas to Sheridan, see if there's any talk about putting a posse on the train."
Kid grabbed Heyes' arm and stopped him in his tracks. "Pinkerton Company ain't gonna let that leak out, so just put it on a back burner. Now I know... hell we all know how you get the week before a heist..."
"What do you mean you know how I get?"
"Heyes, you always get all high strung and proddy. You've even said that yourself. The boys will all come to your daily meetings, but they won't get within shouting distance of you any other time. Now, we all know what we're supposed to be doing, and we'll get all the details ironed out at these meetings, so cut everyone some slack, Heyes."
Heyes stared at Kid defiantly, until he realized that Kid was the only person who could hold that stare longer than him.
"Maybe you'd better stay out of shouting distance too, Kid," Heyes said, pulling his arm free of Kid's grasp.
He instantly regretted the statement, but felt cornered and refused to conceded or apologize. Instead he turned on his heels and stormed back to the cabin, leaving Kid just standing still, shaking his head.
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Author's note: The train that traveled through Casper, Wyoming was actually the Fremont, Elkhorn, & Missouri Valley train, but for the purpose of this story, the line was changed to the Union Pacific.