Ironhorse

66

Sam opened the door of the depot and ushered us in with a slight swing of her hat.

“After you,” she said.

We entered, and Sam hurried past us, and we followed her across the long, narrow corridor of the depot.

“Last night we received a wire alertin’ us the Fort Smith Express out of Paris was off schedule,” Sam said. “When Jenny, our telegraph operator, opened up this mornin’, she got a number of messages right quick about what happened on the track last night.”

We entered a small glassed-in corner office overlooking the track, where a young woman sat at a telegraph desk.

“This here is Jenny,” Sam said. “Anythin’ else come in, dear?”

“No, nothing,” Jenny said as she swiveled around in her chair from the desk.

Jenny was smaller than Sam. She, too, wore men’s clothes: breeches, a bowler, and a pin-striped shirt under a corduroy vest. Jenny opened the top drawer, took out a telegram, and handed it to Sam.

“This wire we received,” Sam said. “Addressed to you, sir.”

Sam handed the telegram to the governor.

“I sent Charlie to fetch you right away,” Sam said, “first thing when Jenny received it.”

The governor read the telegram. His eyes narrowed. He read the note again and looked to Jenny.

“You’re certain this is correct,” the governor said.

“Yes, sir, it’s correct, sir,” Jenny said. “It’s the message that was sent.”

Jenny spoke quickly with crisp, precise diction.

The governor looked at Sam.

“Jenny knows telegraphin’ beyond her years,” Sam said. “Her daddy was a telegrapher, taught her enough and then some. She’s good with code ’n everythin’ comes through here, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee, heck, Greek—”

“Marshal?” the governor said.

He handed the telegram to Virgil.

“Sometimes wires get changed when repeaters are not in line,” Jenny said, “or if notes have to be retransmitted over long distances by other operators, or if someone is a novice on the key, but that wire is from just up the rail at the top of the Kiamichi. I know that operator.”

Virgil looked up at me and back to the telegram. He reread the message and handed it to me.

“Up the rail, top of the Kiamichi?” Virgil said. “Where are you talking about, Jenny?”

“As far as I can tell, the transmission came from Tall Water Falls.”

I read the note and looked at the governor. He sat slowly into an armchair next to the desk. He was doing his best to maintain his composure. He gazed out the window toward the iron rails tapering off in the distance and shook his head slowly from side to side.

“For God’s sake,” Hobbs said. “What in God’s name has happened? What are we dealing with?”

The governor took the note from my hand and handed it to Hobbs. Hobbs read the telegram and looked at the governor with a shocked expression on his face.