The Union Pacific chugged its way down the tracks not only delivering and picking up passengers to several towns along the line, but also carrying the payroll for the coalmine in Hope which was its next stop. Several men sat on their horses watching from the tree line as the train approached. Hannibal Heyes pulled out his pocket watch, grinning as he checked the time.
"6:45, right on time," he stated as he tucked the watch securely back into his pocket.
They had never attempted to pull a job this close to home before, but after hearing about the payroll it had proven to be too tempting. Stopping the train only five miles from town meant that the robbery had to be planned very carefully because time would be limited. The only unknown was the make and model of safe, which is why he had Kyle bring along the dynamite.
The gang waited and as the train began to slow in order to take the sharp bend they spurred their horses forward. Swooping down they raced toward the train as the brakes began to squeal, pulling alongside it as it came to a halt only feet from the tree they had placed across the tracks earlier. With guns drawn the men went to their assigned places…the Kid and Wheat took control of the men in the engine, while teams of two entered each of the passenger cars. Heyes tossed his reins to Kyle, who was in charge of the horses, making his way to the car that he knew held the money. Confident that his men would be able to handle things, he slid the door open taking his first look inside. His eyebrows lifted in surprise when he saw the rusty safe that the mine owners thought would keep their money protected from outlaws. With a grin he hopped in, took the few steps to the metal box, giving it an almost loving pat before taking his hat off and setting it on the floor by his knee as he squatted down.
xxx
Once the Kid was sure that things were under control, he left Wheat to cover the men in the engine while he made his way down the length of the train to check on everyone else. Stopping at the first car, he entered, and seeing that Preacher and Hank had managed to keep everyone calm, he nodded at them before stepping back out. As he neared the second car he could hear a woman crying. He stepped in eyeing the two men questioningly.
"What seems to be the problem?" he asked as he scanned the passengers looking for the source of the crying.
"Dunno Kid, we told 'em we weren't gonna hurt nobody."
The Kid walked down the aisle stopping when he reached a distraught young woman sitting all alone. He squatted down, placed his left hand under her chin, gently forcing her head up so he could see her tear stained face, her eyes still tightly closed. He figured she wasn't much more than fifteen.
"Miss? Ain't no cause for ya to be scared. We don't plan on hurtin' anyone and we'll be outta here in no time," he said softly.
Hearing the warm voice, the girl finally opened her eyes and found herself looking into a pair of the bluest eyes she thought she had ever seen.
"You travellin' all by yourself darlin'?" he asked smiling kindly at her.
"You'll be on your way again in just a few minutes," he said when she just nodded.
He winked at her, patting her knee as he got to his feet and strolled back to the front of the car. He looked at Salem and Lobo who were grinning broadly and shaking their heads, clearly amused. The Kid paused beside them rolling his eyes slightly.
"Think you can handle things by yourselves now?" he asked with just the slightest hint of sarcasm.
He didn't wait for an answer, just exited the car and continued on to see how Heyes was making out with the safe.
xxx
Inside the train car Heyes was crouched in front of the safe, his ear pressed against the small door, his eyes closed in concentration as he blocked out everything but the sound of the tumblers falling into place. A broad dimpled smile lit his face as he turned the handle and pulled. The door opened with a screech and hearing another sound behind him looked over his shoulder to see his partner appear and lean against the doorway. Heyes nodded at him, wasting no time as he emptied the contents of the safe into his saddlebags. Grabbing his hat he got to his feet, took four long strides to the doorway where he hopped down to join his friend.
The two men shared a triumphant smile their eyes alight with excitement as they hurried towards Kyle who was holding their horses at the ready. The Kid gave a shrill whistle which was the signal that the job was done and it was time to head for home. Once everyone was mounted they gave a quick glance around for sign of any possible trouble, relaxing slightly when they saw none. They had blocked the tracks on a bend only a handful of miles from town and knew it wouldn't be long before someone started to wonder why the train was late.
"Let's go boys," Heyes yelled.
All eight men urged their horses away from the train, heading back to Devil's Hole. They were unaware that the sheriff from the tiny town of Hope along with his two deputies, were on their way to a nearby homestead to check out a rumour that there was a stolen horse being hidden there. The sheriff, seeing the stationary train from a distance, headed toward it, and as he got closer he could see several people in front of the engine trying to remove something that was lying across the tracks.
The engineer seeing them approach straightened up, sighing in relief when his attention was caught by the sun glinting on the star pinned to the man's vest.
"What happened?"
"We were held up by the Devil's Hole Gang sheriff. Ya just missed 'em. Ain't bin gone more than a few minutes," he said pointing in the direction the outlaws had gone.
"Anybody hurt?"
"Nope, they never fired a single shot."
"All right men, change of plan, let's go."
And with that the men from Hope changed course, now heading off on the trail of the train robbers.
xxx
Heyes was still smiling as they cantered across the field in the direction of their hideout. Every man in the gang had done his assigned job perfectly and the safe had been so old that he'd been surprised the door hadn't fallen off as soon as he'd touched it. None of the passengers had caused a problem thanks to the men stationed in each of the cars, and while Heyes was in the car with the safe he knew without a doubt that the Kid had been keeping his eye on everything. Yes he thought, his plan had been flawless and now they had ten thousand dollars to split amongst themselves. Feeling very pleased with himself his grin began to widen once more but was brought sharply back to reality when he heard the Kid holler.
"Better pick up the pace Heyes, we got company."
Looking over his shoulder he could see the small cloud of dust not too far behind them.
"Where the hell did they come from?" he asked, his smile disappearing.
The Kid just shook his head as they spurred their horses to a faster pace.
Six months ago the gang, after pulling a successful bank job, had almost been caught by a posse so close to their hideout that Heyes and the Kid had come up with a plan. With all the men working together they had come up with four different routes that led to the entrance of Devil's Hole. They had all ridden these various paths many times in order for both men and horses to easily remember and make their way to the safety of the Hole if needed. And it had been unanimous that if they ever did have to split up they would veer off onto the nearest trail with whoever was riding closest to them when the order was given rather than waste precious seconds milling around.
On they rode as fast as their horses could carry them, but whoever was chasing them obviously had fresher horses because they were steadily gaining on them. When the gunshots sounded behind them Heyes and the Kid, without slowing down, exchanged a look and a nod and the decision was made.
"Split up," Heyes ordered.
And with that, four pairs of men went in four different directions. The posse being made up of only three men didn't split instead they doggedly continued to follow only one pair.
xxx
Wheat ducked low over his horses' neck when shots rang out behind them, wincing when he felt a bullet whizz close by his ear. He turned, gun in hand as he and the man riding slightly behind him returned fire. The posse eased back, disappearing from sight as the two outlaws spurred their horses on mercilessly, finally easing them back to a trot in order to let them try to catch their wind. Wheat was in the lead but he reined up sharply, looking back when he heard the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the ground. Quickly dismounting he ran over to check on the man lying unconscious face down, the back of his shirt red with blood.
"Dammit," he hissed glancing back for sign of the posse. He could hear them in the distance knowing they hadn't given up and would catch up to them again very soon.
Knowing they had no chance to outrun them now, he quickly made up his mind. Hurriedly grabbing the saddlebags, a bedroll and both canteens he then picked up a branch giving each horse a swat on the rump, praying that they would run the last few miles into Devil's Hole. Throwing the supplies he'd grabbed into the trees, he bent, pulling the younger man up and over his shoulder. With the branch he had used on the horses he scuffed up the ground to hide their footprints then disappeared into the trees. Hearing the thunder of horses he laid the unconscious man down, dropping onto his belly beside him, praying that he would stay unconscious and not make a sound. When the pounding of the horses' hooves had faded he rolled over onto his back wondering what the hell he was going to do now. He had to find someplace to hole up, had to see if he could stop the bleeding on the young man he found himself paired with. He also knew that he couldn't waste any time, the posse could come back at any moment. Sighing he pushed himself to his knees, reaching down to slap the unconscious mans' cheek a couple times…nothing. He saw the trickle of blood on his forehead and checking more closely he could see the lump forming, but didn't think it was too serious. Rolling him over, he pulled his shirt up so he could take a closer look at the wound. Grimacing when he realized the bullet was in too deep for him to dig out, he pulled an old shirt out of his saddlebags and tearing it up bandaged the wound up best as he could hoping that it would at least slow the bleeding. They had to get further away from the trail so getting to his feet he once again hoisted him over his shoulder, grabbed the few supplies he had and made his way deeper into the trees, keeping his eyes open hoping to find a suitable place to stop so he could better tend to the wounded man.
Wheat's legs were on the verge of giving out when he spotted a large tree that had been uprooted. As carefully as he could he placed everything he was carrying down before falling back for a full minute as he got his trembling muscles under control. Finally sitting up he took a long drink from his canteen before turning his attention to the man lying beside him. His shoulders slumping he sighed as he got to his knees turning him so he could remove the blood soaked bandage he had placed there just a short time ago. Taking the remains of the shirt he had torn earlier, he first cleaned the wound as best he could since all he had was the water from their canteens.
"You owe me a new shirt when this is over," he mumbled.
He was tying off the new bandage when the wounded man moaned and shifted. Turning him over Wheat tapped his cheek thankful when he saw the eyes flutter open.
"'Bout time," he growled softly.
"Wha…happened?" he asked hoarsely grimacing in pain.
"Ya stopped a bullet from that posse."
Wheat helped him take a couple sips of water.
"I reckon we're about four miles or so from the Hole."
"Help me up…I can ride."
"'Bout that…we ain't got no horses, we gotta walk."
A groan was his only answer.
"You gonna be able to walk if'n I help ya?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Nope," Wheat chuckled. "But I reckon we can rest for a bit here before we start."
The two men rested for nearly half an hour and Wheat knowing that they only had a couple hours before sunset, glanced down seeing the other man's eyes closed his face pale and sweaty. Looking around he decided to hide the two saddlebags and the empty canteen in the roots of the tree figuring they could come back for them later.
"Ya ready to get outta here?" he asked giving him a slight shake.
His eyes snapped open and without answering he struggled to sit up, taking hold of the hand that appeared in front of him. Once on his feet he wobbled unsteadily, grabbing at Wheat's shoulder to stop from falling over. Closing his eyes and taking a couple of deeper, albeit painful, breaths he nodded once as he released his shoulder and took a step forward, slowly followed by another…and another. Wheat shook his head, picking up the bedroll and one canteen before catching up, hoping that their horses had made their way into Devil's Hole. He knew if the others had made it safely back, once they saw the riderless horses they would come searching for them.
xxx
They traveled slowly, having gone perhaps half a mile when the blood loss had him starting to feel a bit dizzy and he knew he wouldn't be able to go on much longer. He stumbled almost falling, startled when he felt his companion grab his arm and place it around his shoulders, at the same time putting an arm around his waist.
"It's one o' Heyes' rules…no-one gets left behind," Wheat muttered.
"Smart…man."
"Pfft…don't tell 'im that, he's already got a swelled head."