All Aboard

Like they didn't have enough problems?

For just a few seconds, Jimmy wanted to pick up the cane again and see if he could bash some sense into his own head with it. I mean, the train is really great, but how did I get myself mixed up in all this? I'm no secret agent! His sister and brother-in-law, they were the ones who did all the dangerous stuff. He only did the science. Just because he'd wanted to be treated like an adult, didn't mean he wanted to be treated like an adult.

But . . . you're Artemus Gordon's son. And you're named after James West. The two greatest Secret Service agents who ever lived. You can handle this!

I hope . . . .

Jimmy also hoped Tem and Mandy didn't notice how nervous he was. He didn't want to die of embarrassment before something else got the chance.

"So, uh, what's the problem? Aside from what we're already doing?"

Yeah, that sounded smooth, Gordon! I'm sure they won't notice any nerves at all . . . .

But if Tem did notice Jimmy's jumpiness, he didn't acknowledge it. He was looking much too stern and serious for that.

"The problem is with what our fathers were doing."

Huh?

"Because of our current status, I was granted unrestricted access to our fathers' case files yesterday. Apparently we're all to have that," Tem continued. "You know all those stories our fathers used to tell us? About all their old adventures?"

"Yes . . . ." Mandy said cautiously.

Jimmy nodded.

"And you know how we considered some of those stories to be . . . sort of exaggerated? Filled up with a lot of wild embellishments to make them seem more exciting and fairy tale-like than they really were?"

"I didn't," Jimmy said. He had never thought that his father was being anything less than honest with him. Mistaken, perhaps, in thinking that their mother didn't know about the purloined molasses cookies, but never intentionally dishonest. Artemus Gordon might not have told his children everything, but he wouldn't lie to them.

But Mandy was nodding her head . . . .

"Yes," she said again.

Tem crossed his arms, looked heavenward, and sighed.

"Well, I got a good, hard look at some of those files yesterday. Jimmy's more right than we are. It turns out that those stories weren't exaggerated one bit, not if the official records can be trusted. In fact, just the opposite is true. Our fathers may have been under-exaggerating to avoid scaring us!"

"You're kid-" Mandy was staring at Tem in wide-eyed shock. "You're . . . not kidding, are you?"

Tem shook his head.

"The invisible diamond thief? The man made of steel? Dr. Loveless' shrinking powder?" Mandy asked. "They weren't making those up?"

"Not at all, apparently."

Hadn't they known that all along?

"But . . . you guys knew about that, right?" Jimmy tried to keep a quiver he was starting to feel out of his voice. "That's the sort of thing you two handle too, isn't it?"

Why was Tem shaking his head like that?

"We've never handled anything quite like that," Tem admitted. "Jimmy, your sister and I have taken on plenty of ordinary criminals and some very dangerous ones. But we've only been in the field for a couple of years. If this is what the Secret Service thinks we're ready for, I'm flattered – and concerned."

"But you're not scared, are you?" Jimmy asked. "I mean – you and Mandy make jokes! You don't get scared!"

Tem and his sister exchanged glances the way they often did when they seemed to be having some sort of silent conversation he wasn't let in on.

"It isn't really that simple," Mandy said.

Tem nodded in solemn agreement.

Oh, great! If they don't feel ready for this, what chance do I have?

"I'm not saying that I'm not willing to go ahead with this assignment," Tem told him, as if reading his thoughts. "I am. I have to leave it up to you and your sister to make up your own minds about it, though. I think we all need to go into that decision with a clear idea of what kind of a ride we're letting ourselves in for. What the government may think we're prepared for, even if we're not. We all knew this work was going to be dangerous. Now I have a better idea of just how strange as well as dangerous it can be. You should too."

Tem had uncrossed his arms as he said this and let them hang at his side. Jimmy's sister, without hesitation, took Tem's nearest hand in hers.

"If you're on board, I am as well," she said. "For better and for worse, partners, remember?"

"Partners," Tem agreed, sounding relieved.

Partners . . . .

"Jimmy, you heard what the President said," Tem continued. "I'm not sure anyone could be ready for this, but if you don't want to take this on, no one is going to blame you, especially at your age. There's still time to say no."

Mandy was nodding. Yes, that would be the safe thing to do. The sane thing. Especially at his age.

Still time to say no . . . .

And go back to . . . what? A home in Illinois that didn't have his mother in it anymore? A house next door, up the hill, that no longer had Uncle Jim?

Because they were murdered . . . .

Just like all those doctors and nurses and guards and other patients and visitors had been murdered . . . .

Just like Mandy and Tem and I could have been murdered . . . .

Killed by evil people who had to be stopped . . . . or they would definitely kill again . . . .

Jimmy knew what Artemus Gordon and James West would do in a situation like this, whether they felt prepared for it or not. He knew what Tem and his sister would do, even though they weren't ready.

To heck with all of that.

What was James Ulysses Gordon going to do?

What he had to do.

"I'm in," he said. "I'm coming with you."

His sister put a hand on his arm.

"Jimmy, are you sure?"

He nodded. Somehow he had never been so sure of anything in his life.

"I'm scared. I may as well admit it. But Mandy, if we don't stop the criminals behind this conspiracy, who will?" He took a deep breath.

You can do this.

"I have to try, just like you two. It's not just about Mom and Uncle Jim. It's about everybody. All those other people who got killed at the hospital had families too. All the people who could have been killed by those weapons if Uncle Jim hadn't destroyed them . . . ."

You can do this. You have to do this.

"I don't want to get myself killed. I'm going to try not to. But I'd rather die trying to do the right thing than live looking the other way when I can make a difference. So let's do it."

At first Tem and Mandy showed no reaction to his words, then Tem nodded.

"All right then."

Mandy withdrew the hand on his arm and gave him a brief hug, saying nothing. He'd expected a scolding or an argument, or worse – more extreme politeness – but when she pulled back from the hug, she simply looked him up and down with an odd, assessing manner and emotion in her eyes that he didn't recall seeing very often. Is that what respect looked like? If so, he was going to have to earn it.

"I guess we can let Agent Hamilton and the others know what our decision is," Tem sighed. "Then we'd all better have a good, hard read of everything we can concerning the weapons ring, or rings, and our fathers' old case files as well. It will take at least a week for the Bureau to get Wanderer II ready for departure according to what I was told yesterday. We'll be involved in that preparation too, but we've got to study as much as we can while we can. I don't think we're going to be allowed to just bring our dads' case files with us on the train."

"We're going back to Illinois too, aren't we?" Jimmy asked, suddenly realizing how few of his own tools and gadgets he'd brought with him on what he had thought would be a short trip. Oh yeah, and there was the clothing too. "Most of my stuff is still back home."

"Yes," Tem said. "On Wanderer II as soon as it's ready. That will have to be our first stop. Amanda and I have most of our belongings at our apartment in Chicago or at the houses. We'll be needing it. And we're going to have to figure out who can look after the houses while we're gone – maybe Maisie and somebody else? I hate to ask Aunt Kate while she's got so much work to do taking care of Uncle Jeremy."

"The Secret Service won't do that for us?"

"Oh, they might," Tem shrugged, "but I shudder to think what their idea of taking care of them might be. Even if there's nobody still living at home," and that really did make all of them shudder, "they are still home, and that's not a task I want to leave up to strangers. We'll have to think of something."

[WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW]

As it turned out, getting the Wanderer II ready for departure was a more involved process than any of them had anticipated. Engineering touches aside, which Jimmy would have loved to immerse himself in, the train still needed to be armed, equipped and loaded with supplies. But more importantly, he, Tem and Mandy had to be introduced to their new crew, which didn't just include humans. They had all, Tem especially perhaps, assumed that the horse stalls in the third railcar would become occupied by the familiar mounts they had left back in Illinois, but the Secret Service had other ideas.

"She's mine?" Jimmy asked with a mixture of wonder and trepidation as he patted the chestnut mare that had been presented to him.

"She is now," an agency employee named Brenneman informed him. "Her name is Daisy. You may be able to change that if you like, but . . . ."

"No, no, I like it just fine," Jimmy said, rubbing the white splash that ran across Daisy's nose before offering the horse a chunk of carrot. Daisy seemed tame, but Jimmy was probably the weakest horseman of the West/Gordon clan and had to ask, "Is she pretty easy to ride?"

"She will be for you," Brenneman replied. "We'll make sure the two of you get well acquainted before you leave here. Daisy's very intelligent and well trained and will obey a wide range of commands. I think you'll find her a pleasure to ride."

As if affirming this, Daisy gave Jimmy's hand an affectionate nuzzle while chewing the carrot. He got the feeling this might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Mandy also seemed pleased with the dappled silver-gray gelding named Diamond that she was presented with, though she, like Jimmy, had been eyeing the auto-mobile as well. Mandy was a much better rider than Jimmy, and he knew that his sister was a fast and curious learner too. Jimmy wondered if either Diamond or the mechanized vehicle knew what they'd be dealing with. Diamond, at least for now, seemed as friendly and pliable as Daisy.

Only Tem, by far the best horseman of the three, wasn't pleased with the new mount he was being given, and Jimmy didn't blame him. Tem was particularly fond of the horse he'd been gifted with as an adolescent, which was still back home in Illinois. Jimmy knew Uncle Jim had picked out Canasta for Tem, and Tem didn't want a different steed. Tem didn't make any bones about it either, as the magnificent black stallion with the white streak on its brow was brought to him for inspection. This new horse's resemblance to Uncle Jim's old horse Blackjack was startling. Jimmy and the others had seen photographs of Blackjack because Uncle Jim had loved that horse so much he'd had professional pictures taken of it that adorned the West home mantelpiece to this day. But they'd all heard stories of how temperamental Blackjack was and how Uncle Jim had been the only man who could ride that ornery beast. Tem's new horse seemed to resemble that other stallion in terms of personality too, being led in to greet its new owner with its black-maned head aloft with pride, inspecting the human even as the human inspected it.

"It's not Canasta," Tem shook his head.

Jimmy could have sworn the new stallion understood what Tem was saying, and put its ears back and snorted with outrage at such a rejection.

"No, this is Baccarat," Brenneman said. "Like your other horse, Baccarat has been bred from Blackjack's line. But he has been specially trained with some help from your father, to be accustomed to locomotive journeys as your present horse is not. He is in his prime. Baccarat also knows and responds to an amazing number of verbal commands, gestures and whistles. He is the most intelligent, swiftest and strongest stallion in our entire stable."

So there, the new horse seemed to be saying with another snort and toss of its head.

Tem stared at Baccarat and Baccarat stared right back at him. This didn't look like the start of a beautiful friendship to Jimmy. It looked like the start of an interspecies grudge match. Jimmy wasn't sure which one to feel sorrier for, but he was glad he had a cute little chestnut mare instead of the ill-tempered black stallion.

Meeting up with the two new engineers had its share of tensions too, at least for him. Jimmy had also heard stories from his father of course about easygoing Orrin and savage-tempered Silas, the engineers for the original Wanderer. The new team of engineers for Wanderer II seemed to be another mismatched pair. Micah Jones, the gourmet cook of the two, was a big, cheery mountain of a man, friendly and considerate enough not to crush Jimmy's hand in his stronger grip when they shook. But Jimmy could only wonder if Cole McCreavey, who he instantly thought of as Cole the Colicky, wasn't somehow Silas reincarnated. The bony, cranky chief engineer didn't even offer to shake hands with the 'whippersnapper,' but warned Jimmy to keep himself and his tools away from 'my engine!' McCreavey didn't appear too pleased to have a woman aboard either. The only members of the crew he respected off the bat were Tem, Micah and 'that demon black horse.' Yet Cole McCreavey knew more about Wanderer II's inner workings and capabilities than anyone else, so they were just going to have to put up with him.

Jimmy's fondness for McCreavey wasn't improved any when the engineer told him, "it's my job to run the train, it's your job to get shot at." Jimmy didn't want to think of it in those terms, but as the day for departure drew nearer, he couldn't avoid it. Several of the Wanderer II's secret compartments, which he'd thought so fantastic, were already filling up with weapons of the most alarming sort. They would be going up against arms smugglers with their own smuggled arms. Jimmy preferred weapons like his little ball-of-chemical 'dazzlers,' which were meant to disable more than kill. No question about it, though – they'd be playing for keeps with an unseen foe who did likewise.

You can do this.

Could he?

If it came right down to it, could he kill if he had to? He'd never done it before. He hadn't fought in a war, like his father and Uncle Jim had. He didn't know what it would feel like if he did kill someone. He was pretty sure from conversations he'd overheard that Mandy and Tem both had experience with this sort of thing, but he'd been reluctant to ask them about it. Jimmy had learned how to fire a gun a couple of years ago, when it was his father and Uncle Jim training him, but that had been with wooden targets, not people, and he'd never practiced very much. It all seemed an abstraction back then. Now it didn't.

But like it or not, dangerous mission or not, this train was pulling out soon and they would all be aboard.