The Wild Bunch
By
UCSBdad
Disclaimer: I don't own Castle or anything by Sam Peckinpah. Rating: K Time: The year 1902.
The Tucker gang stayed in the village for three more days. On the morning of the fourth, they were gone.
"Where'd they go?" Rick asked Dude.
"Don't know. Didn't ask. No where near New Mexico, I'll bet."
They decided to stay for a while longer in the village. Since Boss Bracken had been robbed, they bet that he'd have his men out looking for the Tucker gang and anyone else Bracken wanted.
They heard the single shot from the lookout, and everyone grabbed their weapons. Eventually, a lone villager came in and spoke to jefe. Jefe went to talk to Rick.
"Senor Rick. There is a man who wishes to speak with you. It's Captain Mapache, the commander of the battalion of Federales in the valley to the east of us."
"A captain and he's commanding a battalion? He must be pretty good."
Jefe laughed.
"President Diaz does not trust his own army. He fears that if any general becomes too powerful, they might overthrow him. So, units are kept very small. The battalion of Captain Mapache numbers only some two hundred men. They are armed with single shot rifles and have little ammunition."
"So, he's not very good."
"But, unlike most Federales, he is loved by the peasants in the valley."
"I understand that's unusual. How'd that happen?"
"When Captain Mapache first came here, a bandit named Caldera robbed every village in the valley in turn, taking what they wanted. Previously, the Federales did nothing. Why should they? Caldera was only stealing from the peasants."
"But Caldera made mistake. He stole twenty horses from Captain Mapache, including Mapache's personal horse. Most Federales would have just stolen twenty horses from someone else. But, Mapache's horse was a gift from his father. He felt humiliated. Worse, Caldera went around the valley, showing off Mapache's horse and telling the villagers that he, Caldera, was the power in the valley, not Mapache.
"So, Mapache tracked Caldera to a village. He waited until Caldera's men were drunk and attacked. All the bandits were killed. Mapache took their bodies to every village in the valley. He was the power in the valley, not some bandit. Other bandits heard of this and stayed out of the valley. So, there were plenty of supplies for Mapache to get as taxes. Since no bandits were also stealing from the villagers, they had plenty left over. Everyone was happy."
"So, what does Mapache want with me?"
"You must ask him."
Rick thought for a moment and then nodded.
"Have him come in."
Mapache rode in on a fine sorrel horse. He wore a khaki uniform and carried a pistol and a saber. A rifle was in a scabbard hung from his saddle. Mapache himself was tall and looked fit. From his facial features and coloring, Rick guessed he had more Mexican Indian blood in him than most Federale officers.
"Please dismount and join me." Rick said. "I understand you want to talk to me."
Mapache joined Rick at a table on jefe's front porch. Rick's friends and the rest of the villagers stood behind Rick.
"Perhaps the captain would like a drink of whiskey?" Dude asked.
"Yes. I would."
Dude poured drinks for both Mapache and Rick. Both drank.
"I understand that Boss Bracken has no love for you. Am I correct?"
Rick nodded and explained how he and his companions had gotten mixed up with Bracken.
"So, you and your friends have no love for Bracken?"
"None at all."
"Then perhaps you might wish to make some money at Bracken's expense?"
"That would depend on a lot of things." Rick said carefully.
"My battalion contains only some two hundred men. We are officially armed with the Remington rifle. A single shot rifle and a good one in its day, but now woefully obsolete. However, a man named Joshua Davidson stole two hundred US Army Krag-Jorgenson rifles and two hundred thousand rounds of ammunition from an army depot in Texas. He has arranged to sell them to Senor Bracken. They will be on a train soon from Texas to Socorro, New Mexico. I would like you to steal those rifles and bullets for me. I will pay you ten dollars per rifle and one cent per bullet, a total of four thousand dollars."
"Why not rob the train yourself?" Rick asked.
"A Mexican army unit, robbing a train in los Estados Unidos? Never. Both your government and mine would chase me down."
"Tell me more about the train."
"Ladies, the train to Socorro is almost here." Said the stationmaster. He would be very happy to see the last of the three women. The pregnant brunette was no problem, but her blonde sister and their Black maid were very bothersome. They constantly asked if there was hot water available? Was there clean linen anyplace? Was there a doctor nearby? And when the stationmaster told them "No" to each question, they acted like it was the fault of the Texas and Southern Railroad and the fault of the stationmaster personally. Then they'd go on and on about their need for hot water, clean linen and a doctor or at least a midwife. But they were finally getting out of his hair.
He walked them out to the platform and waited as the train pulled in.
"Which one is our car?" The blonde demanded. "We were told we'd have a first-class car. We paid for a first-class car."
"The first-class car is the second one, ma'am."
"What's that in front of it?" Demanded the blonde.
"That's a freight car."
"And behind our car?"
"Ma'am, that's the second-class car. It's carrying mostly lawmen from Socorro."
The blonde snorted.
"From what I've seen, lawmen in this ungodly part of the world are not gentlemen."
"Perhaps." Sighed the stationmaster. "But they're not allowed in the first-class car."
"What's that car behind them?"
"That contains horses for the lawmen and behind that is the caboose."
"Will the cinders from the engine blow into our car?" Asked the maid.
"No. Because it's winter, the car's windows will all be closed. No cinders or smoke will get in your car."
The three women boarded their car. As they did so, the stationmaster spoke to the conductor about the three. However, the conductor was happy to see that the three women settled down peacefully.
They did ask who the other first-class passengers were, however.
"The couple in the middle are Mr. and Mrs. Blum. They own a large store in Santa Fe. The gentleman at the end of the car is a Mr. Davidson. The lawmen in the next car are protecting whatever it is that Mr. Davidson is taking to Socorro. As you can see, Mr. Davidson is asleep."
"He looks more like he's drunk to me." Snapped the blonde.
The conductor had seen Davidson drink from a bottle, but he didn't think he had any business telling tales on another passenger.
After going thirty miles the train began to slow down.
"What's happening?" Demanded the blonde. "We were told this train went straight through to Socorro. Why are you stopping?"
"We're just taking on water for the engine, ma'am. We'll be starting up in a few minutes."
Unseen by the conductor, three men jumped into the engine with drawn guns.
"Just relax." Said their leader to the engine crew, his face covered in a bandana.
A fourth man used a mirror to flash a signal to the first-class car.
"Oh, dear. Something's happening." Said the brunette, touching her stomach.
The maid seemed to go into hysterics, yelling and screaming for help. The blonde headed to the other end of the car, loudly saying that she was going to find some hot water and clean linen.
As the conductor leaned over the brunette, trying to find out what was happening, the maid hit him over the head with the butt of a pistol, knocking him out. The blonde did the same to Mr. Davidson who went from an alcoholic slumber to being unconscious.
The brunette also pulled a pistol and smiled at the Blums.
"Don't worry. We won't hurt you."
"Well, you're taking a terrible chance with your unborn child with what you're doing." Mrs. Blum said.
The brunette reached under her blouse and pulled out a pillow.
"You're right. You should care for the little one." She threw the pillow to Mrs. Blum.
The blonde and the maid went to the first-class car's platform, where they met Freddie Sykes. The brunette covered the Blums and the door to the second-class car.
"Okay, ladies, we just have to pull the pin there holding the cars together." Freddie said.
Both women grabbed the pin and easily lifted it out.
"We're ready." The blonde said over her shoulder.
Kate Beckett stepped onto the platform, still covering the other passenger car.
"There's no door into the freight car." She said.
"The only doors are on the side." Freddie said. "Now run up to the engine and stay on the right side. Bracken's men can't see you from that side."
The three women and Freddie ran up to the engine and climbed aboard.
"I hope you know how to drive this." Kate said to Rick. "And I hope the guns are in the freight car."
"It looks just like Dude said it would. I should be able to drive it."
Rick then turned to the engine crew who were on their faces under the water tank tower.
"If either of you two move before we're out of sight, my partner will drop you. Understand?"
They understood.
Rick pushed down on the deadman's switch and pulled back the throttle. The train began to move forward. Espo shoveled coal in while Ryan, Freddie and Ann covered the rest of the train with their rifles.
In the second-class car, one of the deputies was sure he could hear the train pulling away, but their car wasn't moving. He walked to the first-class car and looked in. He saw the Blums, holding a pillow and the conductor and Mr. Davidson unconscious.
"What happened?" he yelled.
"The women pulled guns. I think they have the stolen the rest of the train."
The deputy looked out of the far end of the car. Sure enough, he could see the freight car and the engine headed away from them.
He ran back to the second-class car.
"Get your horses, someone's stealing the train."
The deputies ran to the horse car and began saddling their mounts. It took a good ten minutes to get the saddled horses off of the car and by then they could just barely make out the smoke from the engine.
"We can't catch a train." Said one deputy. "It can move faster than our horses can."
"One way or another, they'll have to stop. Then we'll catch them." The head deputy said. "Do you want to go back and tell Bracken that we didn't even try to catch the train?"
The deputies began chasing the train.
Back on the engine, Rick stuck his head out of the cab.
"We're coming up on the switch. I'll have to slow down. Ryan, Freddie, get ready to throw the switch to put us on the other track."
The train stopped and Ryan and Freddie ran to the switch and began moving the track to put the train on the other track.
"I can just barely see the posse coming up on us." Ann yelled.
"Are they too far away to hit with the Mausers?" Rick yelled.
"Yes."
Meanwhile, back on the stalled train cars. Davidson woke up. He had a hell of a headache, but he soon figured out what had happened. He ran back to the horse car and found his own horse. He saddled and mounted it and headed back to Texas. He'd been paid in advance for the guns and had no desire to see Bracken again.
TBC